Women-owned businesses are on the rise. In fact, a new survey, the 2013 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, estimates that there are over 8.6 million women-owned businesses in the United States, generating over $1.3 trillion in revenues and employing nearly 7.8 million people. But with owning a business comes both obstacles and opportunities and American Express has created a ?boot camp? of sorts to help owners navigate.?
According to the American Express OPEN Mindset Survey, 34% of women entrepreneurs rate their networking skills as fair/poor and 85% report rarely/never seek advice from formal boards. To combat these statistics, women are advised to broaden their connections, network, find a mentor and develop a trusted board of directors.
The American Express OPEN for Women: CEO BootCamp, created last month, offers an online community to support women entrepreneurs in three key areas: gaining confidence, competence and connections.