Among Native cultures, women are celebrated as the core of family and community life. But what is known about women as entrepreneurs and the impact we have on the local, tribal and global economy?
It’s a fitting question as we come to the end of the 2018 National Small Business Week that began April 29th and ends May 5th.
Recent economic analyses indicate that women’s entrepreneurship is on the rise.* Native American/Alaska Native women-owned businesses are a significant part of this unrecognized economic engine. Over a 20-year period, Native women-owned business grew at substantial rates and contributed billions in revenues (see sidebar).
Other economic data suggests women are also more likely to invest their incomes back into their homes and communities, despite lower wages. It’s estimated that women reinvest 90 percent of their incomes in their families/communities, as compared to 30-40 percent for men. Also, while women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, the earn only 10 percent of world’s income (https://dreambuilder.org). In 2017, two-thirds of Native women were family bread winners, yet only earned 57 cents compared to $1 for white non-Hispanic men (http://nativewomenlead.org).
This is important and compelling information for all tribal communities, as business promoters and consumers. Even as entrepreneurship is growing, we can do more to achieve parity and help our communities address social ills. Whether you support the breakfast burrito lady, buy traditional clothing made by your sister or grandmother, or contract the woman-owned engineering firm, you have the power. Invest in Native women-owned businesses and they will invest back in you, our families/communities and the economy.
Key Trends about Native Women-owned Business (1997-2017):*
- Women engaged in entrepreneurship grew at an extraordinary rate of 114 percent over 20 years; that rate is more than four times higher – 467 percent – for women of color.
- Native women-owned businesses grew at a rate of 201 percent.
- Native American/Alaska Native women created 15 new business firms per day.
- As of 2017, Native women owned firms account for 1.4 percent of all women-owned businesses; an estimated 161,500 firms and employing more than 61,000 workers.
- As of 2017, Native women-owned firms generated an average of nearly $690,000 per firm and an overall $11 billion in revenues.
*Source: “The 2017 State of Women-owned Business Report.” Commissioned by American Express. Http://about.americanexpress.com/news/docs/2017-State-of-Women-Owned-Businesses-Report.pdf.
About Tinhorn Consulting, LLC:
Tinhorn Consulting, LLC is a full-service integrated marketing and communications firm specializing in telling clients’ stories in the most powerful way that has a lasting and far-reaching impact. Tinhorn Consulting, LLC works with clients from a variety of industry sectors, including health, government, education, nonprofit and business. Tinhorn Consulting LLC is a 100% Native American woman-owned business. For additional information, contact info@tinhorn-consulting.com.