Main Street Monday – Reliant Funding Releases Comprehensive Guide for Women-Owned Businesses

November 18, 2019

By Mary Miller
Contributing Editor, Main Street Monday

Main Street Monday – Reliant Funding Releases Comprehensive Guide for Women-Owned Businesses

According to Guidant Financial, 40% of U.S. businesses are owned by women. Despite performing well, female small business owners face more struggles with obtaining financing than male owners. As a result, only 6% of female entrepreneurs rely on SBA loans.

35% of female small business owners report their greatest challenge is a lack of capital and cash flow. Bonnie Crater, president and CEO of Full Circle Insights, says “venture capitalists tend to invest in startups run by people of their own ‘tribe’ – for instance, a Stanford-educated investor will want to back a Stanford alum’s business.” This means that venture capital firms with female partners are more likely to invest in women-run startups. However, according to the Babson report, only 6% of venture capital firms have female partners. Therefore, many female business owners rely on non-traditional financing options.

With the proper support and resources, SBA loans to female entrepreneurs perform well. The SBA Office of Advocacy lists several resources for female entrepreneurs and Reliant Funding recently released its first edition of a comprehensive guide entitled, “The Complete Women Business Owner Resource Guide.”

Reliant’s guide is designed to provide female entrepreneurs with the resources necessary to navigate the financing challenges women face. It includes information on topics such as small business certification resources, human resources advice, available funding options and advice from women-owned small business mentors. The guide features contributions from successful women-based business advocates such as Jeanette Armbrust, Board Chair of the National Association of Women Business Owners and Rieva Lesonsky, President and Founder of GrowBiz Media, among others.

Reliant Funding releases the comprehensive guide to coincide with their announcement of a partnership with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), another resource for female entrepreneurs. Since 2008, Reliant Funding has provided women-owned businesses with over $1 billion in funding used as working capital for the growth of women-owned businesses.

Sources:
Guidant Financial
Reliant Funding
The Complete Woman Business Owner Resource Guide

Additional resources for female entrepreneurs:
U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce
Center for Women’s Business Research
National Association of Women Business Owners
Women Impacting Public Policy