Women Gaining in Business

Recently released census data reveals that the number of women-owned businesses “grew at twice the national rate for all private businesses from 1997-2001.”

As is often the case, the actual changes taking place have happened faster than society’s acceptance of these changes:

Margaret Smith, who owns a large kitchen and home accessory store in Los Gatos, Calif., has 25 employees and sales in the millions. She has owned the store, called Domus, for 10 years, yet she still gets mistaken for the owner's wife.

She took her husband on a trip to a trade show last year and several exhibitors ignored her and tried to do business with her husband. "Of course, he knows nothing about my business, but they had a very hard time accepting that," Smith said.

Nevertheless, it has been said that no army can stop an idea whose time has come. And the time has certainly come for women to have a greater share in the business world.

Source:
LA Times.com, “Women-Owned Business Growing in the U.S.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top18jan26,1,6298709.story?coll=la-ap-topnews-headlines