2025 Women Entrepreneurs Report – NerdWallet

A quarter of American women (25%) say they currently own a small business [1], according to a new NerdWallet survey.

The survey of more than 3,000 U.S. adults — among whom 406 are women who currently own a small business, referred to as “women entrepreneurs” throughout this report — conducted online by The Harris Poll, asked entrepreneurs about additional employment they hold outside of their business and whether they have expansion plans for 2025. We also asked those who don’t currently own small businesses why they’re opting out of entrepreneurship.

• Many women entrepreneurs don’t feel financially successful. According to the survey, just 23% of women entrepreneurs feel financially successful. This is compared with 32% of men who currently own a small business.

• Women who don’t own small businesses may lack the money, ideas or time to get started. Nearly 2 in 5 women who don’t currently own a small business (37%) say it’s because they don’t have the money to start one, while 27% say they don’t have a small-business idea and 19% say they don’t have the time to put into starting one.

• Most women entrepreneurs don’t have expansion plans this year. Just 13% of women entrepreneurs say they plan to expand their business in 2025.

“Many women have to juggle additional jobs on top of running their small businesses,” says Randa Kriss, a NerdWallet expert on small business. “And many women who don’t own businesses say they lack the money, ideas or time needed to get started. This suggests a greater need for dedicated funding and resources to support women entrepreneurs.”

Only 17% of women entrepreneurs say their business gives them time flexibility they wouldn’t have in a traditional job. This isn’t surprising considering many women entrepreneurs are juggling additional work on top of running their business. The survey found that 35% of women entrepreneurs work a full-time job as well, 12% work part time and 18% do occasional gigs or freelance work.

And despite all of this work, women entrepreneurs are less likely to feel financially successful than men who own small businesses, just 23% compared with 32%.

If you’re working multiple jobs and still don’t feel financially successful, it could be a good time to check in on your goals, evaluate your workload and explore options.

Start by defining what financial success looks like to you, and how you measure up currently. Small businesses can take time to get off the ground and if you’re committed to making it successful, identify ways to free up time to focus on it. Maybe that means leaving a full- or part-time job in order to work more on the business, if that’s financially feasible. You might also consider hiring employees — or more employees — so you can work a traditional job while the business is still in its early stages, in order to financially sustain yourself. These options may cost you in the short term, so consider whether you can handle it money-wise now, for potential gains later.

If you take a hard look at the business and realize it isn’t working, it might also be worth evaluating whether it’s time to close down.

Whatever you choose to do, keep desired lifestyle and goals top of mind. If the business is incredibly important to you, prioritize it. If the challenges of entrepreneurship have begun to outweigh the potential benefits, consider what’s next.

The most common reason why some women don’t own a small business? More than 2 in 5 (41%) say it’s because they have no desire to be a business owner. Fair enough, entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. But others say they’re lacking the money (37%), ideas (27%) or time (19%) needed to get started.

There’s a small, but notable, confidence gap between men and women who don’t own businesses. More than 1 in 5 women who don’t currently own a small business (22%) say it’s because they don’t think they have the acumen to be successful at it. This is compared to 18% of men who don’t own a small business.

Lack of time and money to pursue entrepreneurship can be hard to overcome and may require putting off business ownership to a later date. However, getting business ideas and building business acumen may be more achievable in the near-term.

If you have small-business aspirations but aren’t sure what business to open, start by researching small-business ideas that meet your qualifications, skillset and interests. A few ideas to start? Maybe you’re skilled at bookkeeping, woodworking, social media management or childcare, or perhaps you could start by selling clothing online, becoming a rideshare driver or organizing other people’s homes.

Once you have a business idea, there’s a lot to do to get it up and running, but plenty of information online about how to get started. Drafting a business plan is generally a good place to begin, followed by deciding on a business structure and getting a tax ID in place with the IRS.

New business applications have been on the rise since 2020 — exceeding 5 million for each of the past four years, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. This surge in applications has translated to a surge in new business openings.

Even if the recent surge subsides, millions of new business applications and openings occur each year. But not all businesses expand on an annual basis. The survey found that just 13% of women entrepreneurs plan to expand in 2025.

If you don’t want to expand this year, that’s totally fine. Maybe you’re happy with the size and scope of your business, or maybe you have expansion plans for the years ahead. But if you want to expand this year and just aren’t sure how to fund it, there may be options.

Small-business loans are available for different credit scores and loan amounts. Be sure to understand the terms of the loan — interest rates, length of loan, collateral requirements, fees — because they can vary quite a bit between lenders. There are also small-business grants for women from private companies, as well as federal, state and local governments. Grants don’t need to be paid back, but can be highly competitive and time-consuming to acquire. Many also have small application fees and specific criteria required to qualify.

This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet from Jan. 13-15, 2025, among 3,059 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact [email protected].

[1] For purposes of this survey, we defined a small business as “a for-profit business you own with 0-499 employees, including but not limited to traditional brick and mortar or online businesses, freelance work, multilevel marketing, DBAs, social media influencer, etc.”