Women-owned businesses are growing in number and economic clout. The number of women-owned firms has increased by 14% from 1997 to 2002 – about twice the national average – and these firms are growing in sales and employment at an even faster rate.
 
Most of these women (72%) are married, and most (80%) are mothers. And, of course, all of them are daughters. Whether or not these women take their daughters to their businesses on April 25^th, there is an increasing chance that, in the years to come, their daughters may inherit the family business.

Here are a few facts of interest:
 ·         There are an estimated 6.2 privately-held, majority-owned women-owned firms in the United States as    
           of 2002. Approximately 80% of women business owners have children, so there could be nearly 5 million
           women entrepreneurs taking their children to work on April 25 – Take Your Daughters to Work Day.   
          (Center for Women’s Business Research)
·         According to family business researchers, between 80 to 90% of businesses are family-owned businesses.
          (Family Firm Institute)
·         One-quarter (25%) of family-owned firms expect their next CEO to be a woman. (Arthur Andersen/Mass      
          Mutual, 1997)
·         Over one-third (37%) of Fortune 500 companies are family-owned, and 60% of all public companies are
          family-controlled. (Graziadio Report, 2001)
·         Seven out of the top 10 women business owners in the U.S. in 2001 are daughters who have taken over their
          family business. (Working Woman, 2001)
·         The oldest family-owned firm in the U.S. is Zildjian , the world-renowned manufacturer of cymbals, founded in
          Constantinople in 1623. Company CEO Armand Zildjian recently passed on day-to-day management of the
          company to his two daughters, Craigie and Debbie. (Family Firm Institute and Zildjian Web site)