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The 2024 Wells Fargo Impact of Women-Owned Businesses—an inaugural report—chronicles the economic upheaval caused by COVID-19 and how it opened opportunities for women to launch new businesses and grow their existing businesses. Today, 14 million women-owned businesses make up 39.1% of all US businesses—a 13.6% increase from 2019 to 2023—and they are coming out of the pandemic stronger than the 2008 financial crisis, especially those owned by women of color. The report highlights the impact of gender, race, business size, industry, and geography; it aims to explain the causes that underlie the patterns.
The 2025 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by Wells Fargo, explores women’s entrepreneurship and the barriers they face, particularly for women of color. It highlights concrete steps taken by the government, corporations, philanthropists, and support organizations to dismantle these barriers while identifying areas for further action.
The entrepreneurial landscape in the U.S. has undergone a profound transformation in the wake of the pandemic. The surge in business formations, particularly among women-owned businesses, has been extraordinary.
Ernst & Young LLP (EY US), the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE), Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) — discussed the need to transform the narrative of the full value associated with women-owned and founded businesses. Amplifying financial results by capturing and communicating the nonfinancial value that women business enterprises (WBEs) and women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) create — namely through sustainability activities — can go a long way toward overcoming the funding hurdles these organizations continue to face.
Women- and minority-owned businesses represent a substantial portion of the U.S. business landscape. According to the National
Women’s Business Council (2023), there are approximately 14 million women-owned firms—defined as businesses with at least 51% female ownership—accounting for 39.1% of all U.S. businesses. Similarly, U.S. Census Bureau data show that minority-owned firms comprise roughly one-third of all U.S. businesses, with 9.7 million minority-owned firms among approximately 31 million total businesses.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries, economies, and everyday life — automating tasks, enhancing decision-making, and redefining how businesses innovate and compete. But what does this transformation mean for small businesses?
To explore this question, Reimagine Main Street and 14 partners, with support from PayPal, fielded a national survey of nearly 1,000 small businesses (annual revenue: $25K–$5M) to better understand business owners’ beliefs, perceptions of AI, and experiences.