Washington, DC – A new report explores how women business owners seek advice, gather information, and make decisions for their businesses.  One of the key findings, culled from nine studies done over more than a decade, shows that women are equally likely to rely on facts and information (47%) as they are on intuition, values and the quality of the relationship (53%) when making a decision.  The majority of men emphasize the left-brain focus on facts and information (71%) when making a decision, while nearly a third (29%) are more right-brain focused, relying on intuition and the nature of the relationship.  Although women business owners are nearly evenly divided between left-brain and right-brain decision-making styles, they are significantly more likely than men owners to be right-brained decision makers (53% vs. 29%).
 The reported entitled, Women Business Owners as Decision Makers, is released by the Center for Women’s Business Research and underwritten by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, LLC.

 “The implication of these findings is that a greater percentage of women business owners, when selecting service providers or developing partnerships, place a greater importance on  the values of the other company and its reputation than do men business owners,” said Marjorie Alfus, chair of the Center for Women’s Business Research.   “All of the studies examined for this report paint a picture of women business owners as practical, informed, independent, and resourceful decision makers with higher standards for quality and service than their men counterparts.”

The highest ranked factor influencing women entrepreneurs when making business decisions is being sure they have all the relevant information and data available. Second in importance is whether or not the decision is consistent with a strong gut feeling and third is being confident that the decision will result in the desired outcome and that it agrees with the advice of colleagues and external advisors.

 When asked about general consumer purchasing, the most important factor affecting women business owners’ decision-making is the quality of the product. Women business owners are more likely than other working women to be influenced by the quality of the product and less likely to be influenced by price.

When it comes to shopping for consumer goods and services, women business owners place a greater value on convenience than other working women.  For example, they are more likely to shop via catalog (30% vs. 23%) and conduct online transactions (50% vs. 35%).  They want to get in and out of stores more quickly (67% vs. 56%) and are less likely to shop at malls (42% vs. 59%).  Women business owners are more likely to use credit cards (30% vs. 14%) than other working women.
 Women owners of high revenue and fast growing firms are more likely than other women business owners to consult with professional advisors. There are stark differences in the ways women and men business owners purchase technology.  In every way, women business owners are more concerned about the quality and service of the products and vendors they use.  For example, women attribute far more importance than men do to post-sale technical support from information technology vendors. 

Center for Women’s Business Research
The Center for Women’s Business Research is the premier source of knowledge about women business owners and their enterprises worldwide.  The Center’s mission is to unleash the economic potential of women entrepreneurs by conducting research, sharing information and increasing knowledge about this fast-growing sector of the economy.
The Center shares its knowledge of the economic and social aspects of women’s entrepreneurship with policymakers, financial institutions, corporate leaders, government agencies, academia, and the media through research reports, press releases, newsletter publications, seminars, speaking engagements, and worldwide on the Internet at www.womensbusinessresearch.org.
 www.liwomen.com
June 2006