Analysis of 100,000 Firms Finds Revenues and Earnings Down; Texas and Georgia Are the Top States for Loan Requests from Women-Owned Firms
The annual Biz2Credit Women-Owned Business Study found that revenues and earnings dropped for women-owned firms in 2021, and expenses increased. $88,895 in 2021 from $119,654 in 2020.
Women-owned business earnings averaged $88,895, lower than in 2020, and $47,152 less than the average for male-owned firms ($136,147) in 2021. The analysis also revealed that the average credit score (580) for a female business owner decreased from 588 last year, it was 14 points lower than the average score of a male business owner (594) in the study.
The Biz2Credit study reviews 100,000 credit inquiries from across the country for the full prior year (2021) and examined the financial performance of women-owned small- to mid-sized companies in the United States. Despite austerity imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic many women-owned businesses continue to find growth opportunities.
In 2021, the effects of the pandemic were especially notable for women-owned companies, many of whom have been historically less well-financed compared to men-owned firms.
Rohit Arora
CEO Biz2Credit
The cost of doing business rose significantly in 2021, particularly labor costs, fuel costs, and raw materials and inventory prices, which skyrocketed because of supply chain disruption. These economic pressures hurt women-owned firms especially hard. Supply chain shortages negatively impacted the earning potential of small businesses 
PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES
Average Annual Revenues
Average annual revenue for women-owned businesses dropped from $493,401 in 2020 to $475,707 in 2021, a 4% decline.
Average earnings
Average earnings of women-owned businesses have decreased by 26% i.e., $88,895 in 2021 from $119,654 in 2020.
Average Credit Scores
The average credit score for women decreased from 588 in 2020 to 580 in 2021
COMPARISON OF WOMEN-OWNED AND MEN-OWNED COMPANIES
Women-to Men Borrowing Ratio
The average annual revenue for women-owned businesses dropped from $493,401 in 2020 to $475,707 in 2021, a 4% decline.
Average Annual Revenue Gap
The average annual revenue for women-owned businesses declined by 4%, i.e, $475,707 in 2021 from $493,401 in 2020 – outpaced by men-owned business with a decline of 2%
Average Credit Scores
The average credit score for women decreased from 588 in 2020 to 580 in 2021 whereas the average credit score for men decreased from 611 in 2020 to 594 in 2021
Average Loan Size
The average loan size for women-owned businesses ($36,981) were 33% lower than for men-owned businesses ($55,061) in 2020.
Average Age of Business
The average age of business (in months) for Women-owned businesses decreased from 56 in 2020 to 45 in 2021.
COMPARISON OF WOMEN-OWNED AND MEN-OWNED COMPANIES
Rohit Arora
CEO Biz2Credit
The emergence of the omicron variant at a time when the first wave of COVID began to wane and the persistence of restrictions hurt small businesses. This resulted in the reluctance of consumers to patronize restaurants, Broadway theaters and other entertainment venues, and travel and tourism-related businesses.
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Round 2: Women-owned vs. Men-owned businesses
The *weighted average approved amount of Women-owned businesses($41,304) for PPP (including PPP1 and PPP2) applicants across all SBA lending platforms was 47% less than the same for men-owned businesses ($78,229).
For PPP1, the weighted average approved amount for Women-owned businesses ($70,017) was 39% less than the same for men-owned businesses ($114,970)
For PPP2, the weighted average approved amount for Women-owned businesses ($29,560) was 44% less than the same for Men-owned businesses ($52,508). This is also 57% less than the weighted average approved amount for Women-owned business in PPP Round 1 ($70,017).
“The PPP loan I received from Biz2Credit helped me very much. When I received the funds, the first thing I did was pay any past-due bills that I had with my pharmaceutical vendors.”
Marie Bibum
“WBCs saw growth in clients served, starting businesses, and job support. Despite the pandemic, they were able to assist and support clients while helping new businesses get off the ground.”
Corinne Hodges,
CEO of the Association of Women’s Business Centers
Methodology
The dataset for the 2022 Women-Owned Business Study-PPP Analysis is comprised of both data on cases approved by SBA collected on the Biz2Credit PPP Round 2 platform as of February 21, 2022, and data reported by SBA as of November 21, 2021. We extracted all the information available for gender and took the first owner information as available in the database for each case in this study.
Key Findings
- Average annual revenue for women-owned businesses dropped from $493,401 in 2020 to $475,707 in 2021, a 4% decline.
- Average earnings (Annual Revenue - Operating Expenses) of women-owned business has decreased by 26% i.e., $88,895 in 2021 from $119,654 in 2020.
- Largely due to a 4% decline in overall annual revenue and a 3% increase in operating expenses.
- The average credit score for women decreased from 588 in 2020 to 580 in 2021
- Texas was the state where the most business loan applications originated (10.84%).
- Top Industry: Services (except Public Administration), the largest category of businesses represented nearly 31.93% of the Women-owned companies in the Biz2Credit study.
- The funding acceptance rate was quite consistent for men-owned applicants (41%) and the Women-owned Business (40%).
About Biz2Credit About Biz2Credit Founded in 2007, Biz2Credit has arranged more than $7 billion in small business financing and has several times been named to Crain’s New York’s Fast 50 and was recently ranked among the top 200 fast-growing companies on Deloitte's 2018 Technology Fast 500. Biz2Credit is expanding its industry-leading technology in custom digital platform solutions for leading banks and other financial institutions, investors and service providers in the U.S.
