The Women-Led Economy™ changes everything
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 9:36PM Dear Friends:
I am excited to share the birth of a powerful new future with you.
For over a decade, I have had the privilege of supporting the economic advancement of women and men through leadership as the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce. In founding the women’s chamber I vowed to tackle big, bold strategic steps that would make deep and significant gains for women.
The last decade has been a time of great change as millions of women – seeking greater opportunities for advancement and security, and the ability to secure better lives for themselves and their families – left the traditional workforce to establish their own businesses. But, while many women have seen great success as business owners, overall, our business revenues have not risen to the levels of our male counterparts. Even though women own over thirty-percent of all businesses in the United States, we account for only 4.2 percent of all business revenues.
Concurrent to the great Women’s Ownership Movement™ (the movement of women from the workforce into business ownership), I have witnessed several other important currents. Women’s purchasing power has grown exponentially as more women become breadwinners in their homes and as generational assets have transferred to women as heirs. But the long, hard fought battle for equal pay, equal opportunity, family-friendly work environments and access to business and credit markets has continued to drain our assets and put our families, our retirements and communities at financial risk.
We have the opportunity to lead positive change today.
I believe it is time for women around the globe to take a step back and view the power and opportunity of our new economic paradigm.
For the first time in history, the number, breadth, scale, capability and capacity of women-owned firms brings us to a new investment alternative. Instead of continuing our old habits of purchasing reflexively in response to targeted marketing messages, it is time we aligned our purchasing power with women-owned firms to raise the revenues of women business owners, increase our business power and influence in the marketplace, increase women-owned business hiring/employment demands, and work with firms who pay women fairly and care deeply about family-friendly policies and the economic advancement of women.
By simply focusing our purchasing power towards women, we create a better world for everyone.
The time is now – our ownership of over 17 million firms in America alone leaves us with many more options to advance our values on the business marketplace. No longer must we plead with political leaders and the courts to protect our rights and advance common sense family-friendly work environments. Today, we have the opportunity to lead the business marketplace by simply aligning our purchasing dollars with women-owned firms, thereby pushing and compelling market forces to compete for our dollars through creating better opportunities for women.
The Women-Led Economy™ changes everything.
Through the ownership of the power of our critical mass and the unification of our collective strength, we are moving beyond being just a sought-after consumer market – taking our rightful place as the most powerful economic force in America. To fully realize the benefits of The Women-Led Economy™, women must stop reacting like a target market and begin leading as a mature, major market force – coordinating our business activities, building our own business and financial structures, developing our own resources, and acting together to protect our interests.
Women-Led. Progress for all.
I know the most important financial story of the next decade will be how women consolidate the last century of economic gains to focus our financial clout placing our own “ownership” stamp on how businesses, services, and values are driven to create a better world for all.
The women’s movement is far from over. In many ways – we have just begun.
Sincerely,
Margot Dorfman, CEO
U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce™