SARASOTA, FLORIDA, May 10th, 2016 – The celebration of Women’s Small Business Month is marked for October yet, but there is reason this early for the lady entrepreneurs in Florida to reflect and spread inspiration on the gains they have made in recent years.
Women-owned businesses in the Sunshine State, according to a recent report, was the most prolific across the nation growing in number by 67.1 percent to 971,000 firms between 2007 and 2006. This study, commissioned by American Express OPEN, was based on gross domestic product statistics and current and historical data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Nationally, the number roster of women-owned firms rose to 11.3 million businesses, up by 42 percent or five times faster than the national average. This growth compares with just a 9 percent gain amongst all businesses since 2007. Women business ventures across the U.S. generate $1.6 trillion in revenue and have an employee count of almost 9 million.
The report, titled State of Women-Owned Businesses, also noted that women-owned firms in Florida currently employ half a million workers and registered 25.2 percent growth in revenue during the 2007‒20016 period. The Miami‒Fort Lauderdale region counted amongst the top U.S. metropolitan areas for women-owned enterprises, with its 453,100 firms employing 184,100 people.
Notably, a Fort Lauderdale-based firm, the Orangetheory Fitness franchise, is amongst the top 3 leading women entrepreneurs that American Express honored recently for their rapid and thriving operations. This company was able to grow its revenue from $3.1 million in 2013 to $47.5 million in 2015 and hired 56 additional employees in that time span.
Various state and regional mechanisms are in place to help women businesses grow. In South Florida, these organizations which help promote small business and entrepreneurs include the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses and the Small Business Administration.
Similar entities are in place in the Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port area which hosts 25,133 women-owned firms employing 15,282 people, per U.S. Census Bureau data. One of these support organizations is the Business Development Center at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. Its services include confidential business consulting at no cost from certified experts in such areas as business certification, capital access, marketing, market diversification, strategic business planning, export services, and web optimization.
Certain districts in the region have also become hospitable for entrepreneurs in general. One is Gulf Gate which has been drawing not only searchers of attractively priced Sarasota homes for sale but also gaining interest from young entrepreneurs, particularly women.
Affordable business rentals as well as reasonably priced Sarasota homes for sale in the area make this business district south of downtown an appealing proposition for the business-minded. A recent media analysis of property records showed that land values in Gulf Gate have fallen by an average almost 40 percent because of the fallout from the last Great Recession, a decline that has translated into low rents that enable young entrepreneurs to invest and grow ventures in this area erstwhile mainly popular as a nightlife destination.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA, October 7, 2019 – Property values of communities in the Sarasota-Manatee region now face lesser threat from neighborhood eyesores brought about by abandoned, foreclosed homes. Known in the real estate trade as zombie foreclosures, these properties have shrunk significantly in the region. According to an August report of ATTOM Data Solutions, abandoned […] more>>