Looking to take the pulse of its women-owned businesses, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce conducted its first Women-Owned Business Survey last month.
The online survey went out to all members of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, and a series of questions narrowed the respondent pool to limit the survey to women business owners.
Of those that responded, a majority, or nearly 87 percent, classified themselves as small-business owners (with 1-15 employees). About 12 percent of the survey participants classified themselves as mid-sized (16-99 employees) and about 1 percent identified their company as large (100 employees and above).
The survey captured the responses from Chamber members in a variety of industries: Professional Services (32.6 percent), Sales and Marketing (12.8 percent), retail (11.6 percent), Hospitality (7 percent), Nonprofit (3.5 percent) and Manufacturing (1.2 percent). The remaining percentage were "other.
Almost a third, 32.5 percent, said they've been certified as a Woman-owned business.
When asked if they're home-based, 60.7 percent answered, "no," and 39.3 percent answered. "Yes."
When asked to describe the state of the economy, 15.3 percent described it as "very weak," while a majority, 58.8 percent said it's weak. About a quarter of the, or 24.7 percent, said the economy is normal and 1.2 percent said it's strong.
Despite their assessment, when asked if they plan to hire employees in the remainder of 2012 or in 2013, 64.7 percent said they were. Of those, 50.8 percent said they’re adding part-time employees, 39.3 percent said they plan to hire both full-time and part-time employees and 9.8 percent said they plan to hire full-time employees.
"Though these are unscientific results, the survey reinforces what we've heard nationally, that small businesses are the key to the country's economic recovery, and that currently, women are starting small businesses at a higher rate than men," said Ted Owen, president and CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. "The fact 50.8 percent of our respondents are expecting to add jobs to our local economy is good news."
The online survey went out to all members of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, and a series of questions narrowed the respondent pool to limit the survey to women business owners.
Of those that responded, a majority, or nearly 87 percent, classified themselves as small-business owners (with 1-15 employees). About 12 percent of the survey participants classified themselves as mid-sized (16-99 employees) and about 1 percent identified their company as large (100 employees and above).
The survey captured the responses from Chamber members in a variety of industries: Professional Services (32.6 percent), Sales and Marketing (12.8 percent), retail (11.6 percent), Hospitality (7 percent), Nonprofit (3.5 percent) and Manufacturing (1.2 percent). The remaining percentage were "other.
Almost a third, 32.5 percent, said they've been certified as a Woman-owned business.
When asked if they're home-based, 60.7 percent answered, "no," and 39.3 percent answered. "Yes."
When asked to describe the state of the economy, 15.3 percent described it as "very weak," while a majority, 58.8 percent said it's weak. About a quarter of the, or 24.7 percent, said the economy is normal and 1.2 percent said it's strong.
Despite their assessment, when asked if they plan to hire employees in the remainder of 2012 or in 2013, 64.7 percent said they were. Of those, 50.8 percent said they’re adding part-time employees, 39.3 percent said they plan to hire both full-time and part-time employees and 9.8 percent said they plan to hire full-time employees.
"Though these are unscientific results, the survey reinforces what we've heard nationally, that small businesses are the key to the country's economic recovery, and that currently, women are starting small businesses at a higher rate than men," said Ted Owen, president and CEO of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. "The fact 50.8 percent of our respondents are expecting to add jobs to our local economy is good news."