Glass Ceiling Sends More Women Into Business Ownership

Small business is in for a big change and it involves women who are saying "yes" to entrepreneurship. As a group, the people who go into entrepreneurship are different from those who did so a generation ago.

A new breed of entrepreneurs will emerge. Entrepreneurs will no longer come predominantly from the middle of the age spectrum, but instead from the edges. People nearing retirement and their children just entering the job market will become the most entrepreneurial generation ever.

Entrepreneurship will reflect an upswing in the number of women. The glass ceiling that still limits the career paths of women in larger companies will send more women to the small business sector. Locally, some of our most dynamic and noteworthy businesses are run by women, founded by women, owned or co-owned by women, or some mix of the above.

The Intuit Corporation and the Institute for the Future recently released a very interesting study (which includes above findings) on small business designed to identify, analyze, and forecast the significant trends and forces impacting small business over the next decade. Read more about it here.

And if you are a female entrepreneur, check out the Women's Entrepreneurship Institute conference at the Wharfinger on April 24.