Small Business Ownership in Illinois: The Effect of Gender and Location on Entrepreneurial Success

Forty percent of all firms in the United States are owned and operated by women. At current growth rates, women could own 50% of the nation's businesses by the turn of the century. Women have been prompted to start their businesses for many reasons, including the desire to avoid gender-based discrimination in the workplace. But female entrepreneurs who venture out on their own must still contend with gender discrimination. This study examines female entrepreneurship in Illinois through rural versus urban comparisons of male and female business owners. We surveyed 4,200 business owners to test the hypothesis that gender and geographic location combined to hinder the entrepreneurial success of women. Business owners were asked about personal attributes including gender, work experience, education, training, and prior career status. Entrepreneurs were also asked about firm characteristics such as financing sources, number of employees, revenues, problems encountered during startup, sector of new firm, geographic location, and the importance of selected community characteristics. Our results show that rural female entrepreneurs face more obstacles to business success than their male or urban female counterparts.