Capstone Partners Celebrates National Women’s Small Business Month with Advice from 50 Female Founders & CEOs
Boston, MA - In recognition of National Women’s Small Business Month, leading middle market investment bank Capstone Partners, is sharing fifty pieces of advice obtained from our network of female business owners and C-suite executives in the middle market. See the full article here: https://www.capstonepartners.com/insights/50-pieces-of-advice-from-women-entrepreneurs/.
Female entrepreneurs have continued to lead a growing share of U.S. businesses, with women-led companies climbing from 4.6% of businesses in 1972 to 42% in 2019, according to American Express’ most recent State of Women-Owned Business report.1 Despite unique challenges, including being 63% less likely to receive venture capital financing than their male counterparts (Columbia Business School2), the number of women-owned businesses increased 21% between 2014 and 2019 alone to ~13 million, compared to a 9% increase in all businesses over the same period.
Notably, women CEOs running small and mid-sized enterprises (SME) have far outpaced those at larger organizations and are setting the stage for future generations. In 2021, just 8.2% of Fortune 500 companies are being run by women—and that’s the record high.3 The figure rose from 2020 with the additions of Karen Lynch as CEO of CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), Roz Brewer at Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq:WBA), and Thasunda Brown Duckett at TIAA (also marking the first time two Black women are CEOs of Fortune 500 businesses). Despite the gradual shift at the Fortune 500, progress is being made and 79% of women entrepreneurs surveyed reported feeling more empowered today than they did five years ago, according to Visa’s 2020 State of Female Entrepreneurs Report.
Advice to the Next Generation from Women CEOs
As we look ahead to the future landscape of the middle market, we asked our network of C-Suite female executives, “What advice do you have for the next generation of female business leaders?” Here’s what they said:
1. Step up. Speak up. Take credit for your work and look for mentors where you can find them. Hang with powerful women.
2. Choose your prospective investor audience carefully and understand their expectations.
3. Develop a robust network; become a technical expert; hire people who are good in the areas you are not.
4. Be strong, work hard, and never give up.
5. With the need for change on many levels of our society including business, politics, etc., now is the best time for women to influence and lead businesses.
6. Take yourself seriously or others won’t. Tell your personal story to add credibility to what you are currently doing and striving to do in future. Proudly take a seat at the table, any table. Know you have something to offer that is unique and important. Know that you are not alone, but also that you as an individual stand on your own very valid merits.
7. Work hard, be resilient and don’t get caught up on the “glass ceiling”
8. Speak up, push in, don’t hold back. And when you get discouraged, do it again.
9. Own your power.
10. Advocate for flexibility for working mothers. Very challenging to balance mom and work life balance. To have both makes for a happy long-term driven employee striving for the company’s greatest achievements.
For the full article, click this link: https://www.capstonepartners.com/insights/50-pieces-of-advice-from-women-entrepreneurs/.
ABOUT CAPSTONE PARTNERS
Capstone Partners is one of the largest independently owned investment banking firms in the United States. For over 20 years, the firm has been a trusted advisor to leading middle market companies, offering a fully integrated range of expert investment banking and financial advisory services uniquely tailored to help owners, investors, and creditors though each stage of the company's lifecycle. Capstone's services include M&A advisory, debt and equity placement, corporate restructuring, special situations, valuation and fairness opinions and financial advisory services. Headquartered in Boston, the firm has 175+ professionals across 12 offices in the U.S., and an international presence including over 450 professionals in 43 countries. With 12 dedicated industry groups, Capstone delivers sector-specific expertise through large, cross-functional teams on a global basis. For more information, visit www.capstonepartners.com.
For More Information Contact the Article's Author:
Sarah Doherty
VP of Research
719-242-1830
sdorherty@capstonepartners.com
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