Recap of Key Factors Driving Women Entrepreneurial Success

As originally published by GoDaddy’s Venture Forward Research Initiative

In February of 2024, nearly 100 virtual attendees joined the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, Wells Fargo Foundation and GoDaddy Venture Forward, a research initiative launched in 2018 that quantifies the impact 20+ million online microbusinesses have on their local economies, to discuss fresh data on women-led entrepreneurship.

In this interactive workshop, the panel aimed to shine a light on the experiences and success factors for women business owners, including speed to cash flow break-even and access to capital. The goal was for participants to leave with a deeper understanding and concrete ideas to support women business owners and accelerate their success.

For years, Venture Forward has noticed an increase in women-owned businesses, which are being created at a faster rate than those launched by men.

What hasn’t evolved however is the ease of access to capital. Venture Forward research shows that access to capital is among the top three challenges microbusiness owners encounter. And ease of accessing capital does not change with experience either. Both new microbusiness owners and experienced microbusiness owners noted facing similar challenges in accessing capital.

Watch and listen to a recording of the full event here. Discussion points included:

• New research about women business owners.
• Real-life applications on the data findings.
• Dialogue around how data can help shape strategy in support of women business owners.

Entrepreneurship is powerful in its ability to elevate communities economically and to make opportunities more inclusive, and this panel was a chance to come together with two great organizations in support of the women embarking on their entrepreneurship journeys.

About GoDaddy Venture Forward

GoDaddy’s Venture Forward research initiative analyzes more than 20 million online businesses with a digital presence (measured by a unique domain and an active website). Most of these businesses employ fewer than ten people, categorizing each as a microbusiness. While these microbusinesses may be small, their impact on economies is outsized even though they are often too informal or too new to show up in traditional government statistics. 

Since 2018, Venture Forward surveyed more than 36,000 small business owners with a digital presence, making it the source for microbusiness data and insights.