U.S. women-led businesses have made significant strides in recent years, generating $2.7 trillion in revenue in 2023 and increasing their market share of new businesses by 72% between 2019 and 2023. They started nearly half of all new businesses last year and grew their average annual revenue by 15.5%. Since 2019, the growth rate of new women-owned businesses has been twice that of men.

Despite these achievements, female entrepreneurs continue to face challenges related to funding, pay, and valuation. Women are expected to inherit a large portion of the $9 trillion set to transfer horizontally over the next decade from spouses and partners. However, closing the wealth gap will also depend on their independent financial success.

There is an estimated $1.7 trillion financing gap for women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises globally. Capital access remains a primary obstacle for women entrepreneurs' profitability, with female-founding teams receiving only 2.4% of total venture capital funding.

This gap may be linked to historical hesitations among women in seeking financing due to fears of debt or rejection by lenders. Additionally, there is a notable discrepancy in how women determine their compensation compared to men. According to the University of Chicago, while it is common for entrepreneurs to take lower salaries during early business stages, data shows that 42% of men paid themselves industry-standard salaries compared with only 18% of women. On average, female founders paid themselves 28% less than their male counterparts.

Valuation processes for women-owned businesses should be prioritized alongside establishing capital equality among founders. A Boston Consulting Group study found that women-founded start-ups offer a stronger average return on investment than those founded by men: 78 cents per dollar versus 31 cents per dollar invested. However, because initial investments in women-founded start-ups are considerably less than those in male-founded ones, demonstrating long-term viability takes longer.

While progress continues as more women establish new enterprises daily, much work remains to ensure equal opportunities for success. Closing the gender wealth gap requires education and awareness followed by deliberate action.

"As a financial leader myself for 30 years," said an experienced observer in the field, "I've seen considerable growth and resilience among women-owned and led business owners." The speaker encouraged strategic efforts recognizing that empowering women economically contributes significantly toward closing the wealth gap.