Declined because of her GENDER.

This is a true story.

I have a woman friend who has owned her own business for 45 years. When she and her husband started up, they needed money to get going and so they looked to their bank and then to members of their community to give them some financing. Each time they were declined because of gender and race – as you might imagine this scenario was not uncommon in the 1950’s. A woman owned business was unheard of and finding capital was almost impossible.

Roll forward 60 years to last week. I got a call from a woman who wanted to talk with me about potential funding for her business. While I am not an investor, I have a few friends who are, so I thought perhaps I could help her.

Not all that unusual. What was unusual was her story. She told me that she had tried three other funding options, and been turned down.

What she told me seemed unbelievable, that straight up that she’d been declined and told: ‘We do not finance women-owned businesses. Sorry”.

“We do not finance women owned businesses. Sorry.” ?

How does that even happen in 2009?

Here are some stats about women-owned businesses in the United States:

10.1 million firms are owned by women and they employ more than 13 million people.

Women-owned firms generated $1.9 trillion in sales as of 2008.

Women-owned firms account for 40% of all privately held firms.

AND last year at Angel Capital Summit, 50% of women-owned companies who applied were chosen to present.

I don’t have to get on my soapbox about this, just offer some resources:

If you are a women-owned business or a woman with a great idea, consider Angel Capital Summit or University of Entrepreneur.

I am personally committed to helping YOU – man or woman - succeed!

To your success!

Dawn