Women home-based business owners: insights from comparative analyses

摘要

Recent research on women business owners de-emphasizes home-based business ownership, despite the fact that home-based ownership is on the rise. This study uses data from the Upstate New York Small Business Project to compare women engaged in home-based businesses to their counterparts, who locate their businesses outside the home. The results indicate that the women engaged in home-based business ownership experience less work to family conflict than their counterparts. Yet their businesses enjoy less economic success than those run by their non-home-based counterparts. This suggests that home-based ownership may be a good option only for women who do not have strong financial needs.