Starting a business can be a complex and difficult process for anyone, but it may be even harder for women.
A book and accompanying video recently released by Kauffman Foundation reveal how the 8 million women-owned firms in the U.S. face hurdles and disadvantages that men-owned businesses don't.
Capital is just one area where many women business owners have fewer resources than men. Despite owning 30 percent of businesses, women receive only 5 percent of equity capital each year. And when it came to the first-year funding needed to get a business off the ground, women received about 80 percent less capital than men did, according to Alicia Robb, a Kauffman senior research fellow and co-author with Susan Coleman of a new book funded by the foundation titled "A Rising Tide: Financial Strategies for Women-owned Firms."
Even as women are showing gains in the labor force and higher education attainment, women entrepreneurs continue to face challenges affecting their ability to grow their businesses. Robb notes in the video that in terms of revenues, employment and payroll, women-owned businesses are growing at a slower rate than businesses owned by men.