Business Women Speak Out On the Issues 2011 National Survey of Women Business Owners on Top Issues March 2011 Study Design and Analysis Support Contributed by: AllPoints Research, Inc.

Table of Contents Overview of Issues………………………...…………..3 Executive Summary…………………………..……….4 - 12

Overview of Issues Annually, WIPP conducts a survey of its constituency of women business owners to gain insight and information, assess the importance of economic issues, and evaluate the importance of policy issues relative to their businesses. The economy continues to be at the forefront of women business owners’ minds, though the strain of the recession appears to be easing somewhat with predictions for increased revenue up from the previous three years. However, there is still an uneasiness regarding the future. Many women business owners do not plan to hire more employees and while fewer are likely to say they will downsize their companies in the coming year, more are uncertain regarding what the future will hold than in years past. Healthcare is also an issue of great concern for women business owners. Fewer of them are offering benefits than ever reported before due to prohibitive cost. Those who currently offer health care benefits fear they may not be able to continue coverage if premiums continue to rise in the future. WIPP believes these are the issues and initiatives which are important to women-owned firms and should be addressed by Congress and the Administration. Furthermore, attention to these initiatives will give many women entrepreneurs equal access to capital and funding, the ability to acquire and keep well qualified employees, become environmentally friendly and operate economically sound organizations in the competitive global economy.

Executive Summary Tax Reform While women business owners say tax regulations are a serious burden to their businesses, they are not overwhelmingly confident that currently proposed tax reform measures will provide relief. While more than half of women business owners are in favor of revisions to treat business deductions and credits equally regardless of organization type as well as measures to lower tax rates in exchange for fewer credits and deductions, a considerable number of women are unsure of how they feel regarding these potential reforms. However, as was seen in years past, just over half of business owners support Congressional revisions to the tax code that would treat business deductions and credits equally, no matter how the company is structured while one-third are unsure or have no opinion. Additionally, while tax breaks enacted in 2010 for small businesses were supported by women business owners, most do not see them as having an immediate impact on their ability to hire additional employees.

Executive Summary Healthcare Like the economy, healthcare is an issue of primary concern to women business owners. Significantly fewer (56%) are offering health insurance to their employees in 2011 than in years past. This is particularly true for very small companies (fewer than 6 employees) and those with less than 1 million dollars in annual revenue. These very small businesses are often unaware or unsure if they qualify for tax credits for providing insurance extended to companies with fewer than 25 employees. However, many simply do not perceive these tax breaks as an incentive to offer employee health benefits. Additional education on these issues is required. Competition for employees appears to be the driver for those who offer health benefits, while those who do not say insurance is too costly. Cost is an issue across the board with women business owners. Those who offer insurance report their premiums are very expensive and they fear increases may affect their ability to offer benefits. One in three women business owners agree that reforms regarding limitations of malpractice lawsuits are a necessary reform to the current healthcare law.

Executive Summary Retirement and Savings As with health insurance benefits, the percentage of women business owners offering retirement benefits to employees is lower than reported in 2010. Only 43% of women business owners surveyed offer these benefits to employees, usually in the form of a 401(k). Just over half of women business owners are interested in investing a portion of their personal savings into lifetime annuities in exchange for tax benefits.

Executive Summary Access to Capital Women business owners face a number of challenges regarding the growth of their businesses. The difficulty of competing with larger companies along with a general lack of new business opportunities or capital growth are the most significant barriers to financial progress. It takes an average of two attempts for WIPP members to successfully secure outside funding for their business and less than half of those who attempt to seek funding are successful, usually by way of a collateralized loan. Outside funding, when secured, is most often used to finance the existing business. Those who do not seek outside funding are often actively avoiding debt, but if they had additional funding, they would used it to hire more employees and pursue new opportunities as well as finance the existing business. Those who were unsuccessful in their attempts to get outside funding most often place blame on the tightening of credit at banks. This perception keeps one in five of those women business owners not seeking outside funding from doing so.

Executive Summary Energy and Environment Energy and environmental initiatives are important to many (though not all) women business owners. Two out of five companies are actively engaged in initiatives regarding technology or green business/service offerings and one in three have incorporated sustainable energy practices in their businesses. About a third of women business owners have positive expectations regarding the impact of government agencies’ promotion of green technology among vendors. However, 21% foresee these regulations as limiting their opportunities. The Administration’s offshore drilling ban is a divisive issue for women business owners, no consensus regarding rejection or endorsement is apparent.

Executive Summary Government Procurement It appears positive strides have been made to increase the number of women owned businesses seeking federal contracts. The percent of these business registered with the CCR has remained stable while the percentage of federal contractors has increased to 32% of the total respondents. These contractors are most often employed by the Department of Defense, followed by the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security. Nearly half of these government contractors perform at least some contracts under “Substantially Underrepresented “ NAICS codes, though the majority of them (77%) perform under codes in the “Underrepresented” Category. These percentages are consistent among those companies who are registered in the CCR but are not currently government contractors. Federal contractors are quite concerned the Administration's decision to focus on insourcing will have a negative impact on their business. The newly implemented Women’s Procurement Program has provoked interest among some women business owners with just less than half of them already planning to participate and an additional 37% saying they have yet to decide.

Technology & Communications Executive Summary Technology & Communications Women business owners as a group are very engaged with new developments in technology. Nearly all report they try to stay abreast of innovations that could be incorporated into their companies. When asked what else might be helpful in encouraging further innovation, they most often cite government incentives for partnerships between public and private companies as well as generally increased government incentives and decreased regulations.

Executive Summary Economic Plans for 2011 It appears the worst of the economic crunch may be abating for women business owners with two in three projecting increased revenues in the coming year, the highest percentage with a positive outlook for growth observed since 2008. However, some anxiety regarding the future is still evident among these business owners. While fewer of them project they will not hire in the coming year, intentions to hire have not increased since 2010. Instead, women business owners report they are as yet unsure of their hiring plans in 2011. Similarly, while fewer report they downsized last year and fewer plan to do so this year, they do not report being sure they will not downsize, but rather they are unsure regarding their plans at this time.

Executive Summary For more information please contact Krista Maloney, Communications Specialist, at kmaloney@wipp.org or (415) 878-1574.