Financing of Small Businesses: Are Mars and Venus More Alike than Different?

The purpose of our study is to contribute to an improved understanding of how women business owners finance their businesses and whether usage of financing and bank shopping patterns vary by gender. Our findings reveal more similarities than differences between women and men business owners in business financing. The only difference we find is that women-owned businesses had been more likely to have obtained financing from relatives than men-owned businesses. Among the women business owners we find that home-based businesses appear to use less financial services than businesses located outside the home.