The training needs of female entrepreneurs.

Martin, Warren ; Sandefur, John

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the training/consulting needs of entrepreneurs, looking in particular at how the training needs of female entrepreneurs may differ from those of male entrepreneurs. A statewide mail survey was used to collect importance scores on 23 training/consulting areas. The importance scores on training/consulting needs for the total sample revealed that the areas of Complying With Regulations And Taxes (the highest rating) followed by Cash Flow Management, Accounting/bookkeeping, Financial Relationships, then Advertising, Marketing, and Sales had the highest importance ratings. Recommendations on the use of the overall sample's importance scores are presented. Significant differences were found for seven of the 23 areas tested between males and female business owners. The female entrepreneurs had significantly higher scores on the training/consulting areas of Feasibility Analysis, Strategic Planning, Financial Relationships, Obtaining Business Licenses, Initial Processes and Procedures, Advertising and Government Procurement. Further analyses were performed to explore these findings. In additional significance tests conducted using a sub-sample of males and females matched on age, type of business, number of full time employees and age of business; no differences were found. The implications of these findings are discussed along with suggestions for future research.

INTRODUCTION (1)

In the last three decades, the growth of women-owned businesses in the United States has been phenomenal. The cultural trend of a strong desire for more independence by women combined with an increasing awareness of opportunities and political support has resulted in an escalating number of women-owned businesses. Females have increased their share of business ownership from 5 percent in 1972 to 34 percent in 1992 (Bureau of Census, 1976; 1996). In the same time period, the percentage of total sales attributable to women-owned businesses has soared from less than one percent to nearly 20 percent. The percentage of total sales is lower than the percentage of women-owned businesses because female entrepreneurs are concentrated in small service and retail businesses. The percentage of women-owned businesses has continued to grow, to 38 percent in 1999 as reported by the National Foundation of Women-Owned Businesses (cited in Bernstel, 2000). The percentage of total sales is also expected to grow as more women aspire to business ownership in industrial sectors. In an area where the situation is changing so dramatically there is a need for current information.

The growth in women-owned businesses is not limited to the United States. Female business owners are an international trend. Accountancy Age (2001) reported that one in three start-up businesses in Great Britain are run by women. Maysami & Goby (1999) documented the importance of female business owners in the economic growth in Singapore. This paper adds to the information on this major national and international trend by evaluating the training/consulting needs of women entrepreneurs.

BACKGROUND LITERATURE

First general background literature on female entrepreneurs will be summarized. Next studies comparing the financial concerns of male and female business owners are discussed. Then, studies on the training/consulting needs of women entrepreneurs will be reviewed.

As females migrated to ownership status, there was a concurrent increase in research on women-owned businesses. Several studies reported problems and concerns female entrepreneurs faced in starting and running a business (Aldrich, 1989; Brophy, 1989; Brush, 1989; Davis & Long, 1999; Hisrich, 1989; Hisrich & Brush, 1983, 1984, 1987; Nelson, 1987; Pellegrino & Reece, 1982). Two major areas of interest grew: the financial relationships of female entrepreneurs and the related training/consulting needs of female entrepreneurs. Several of these studies had conclusions containing suggestions on what needed to be done to create a better environment for female entrepreneurs. The results from these studies combined with the national strategy of enhancing economic growth by encouraging entrepreneurship was used as a rationale for allocation of government funding and influence. More specifically, financial institutions were questioned about their treatment of women loan applicants. Some advocates suggested government oversight was needed. Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) were challenged about the ability of their training/consulting to meet the needs of women. Special SBDC services and centers for women were suggested. However, the conclusions from these studies could be strongly challenged. Many of the first group of studies used only a sample of female business-owners. Because the first wave of studies looked only at women, the study design was flawed. The researchers didn't investigate the possibility that the problems faced by women in new business ventures are the same as problems faced by men in new ventures or the relative importance of the problems for men and women entrepreneurs. This flawed design could result in misleading conclusions. For example, if the problems are the same, there is no need for the expense of separate services. Additional work is needed on this important question.

The concerns about the first wave of research investigating female entrepreneurs led to a second group of studies that had more scientific rigor and better survey methodology. Coleman (2000), Haynes and Haynes (1999), and McKechnie, Ennew and Read (1989) explored the financial relationships of male and female entrepreneurs. Sexton and Bowman-Upton (1990) investigated psychological characteristics of males and female entrepreneurs. Chrisman, Carsrud, DeCastro and Herron, (1990) studied training/consulting needs of a SBDC. These studies have found little, if any differences between the problems faced by men and women entrepreneurs. The general finding is that being an entrepreneur is very difficult regardless of gender. These divergent findings call for more consideration of this area. Next the studies on the financial needs of entrepreneurs will be reviewed, then the studies on training/consulting needs will be addressed.

Financial Needs

Problems in dealing with bankers are a repeated theme in past literature on female entrepreneurs (Hisrich & Brush, 1987; The National Foundation of Women Business Owners, 1993). At first reflection, it appears that the bankers may be losing out on a great opportunity to finance a rapidly growing segment of business owners. But a review of the supporting documentation in these studies indicates an over-reliance on perceptual and anecdotal data (that are often subjective). Furthermore, since the studies are based on female-only samples, it is not possible to separate the specific problems of women from those faced by all entrepreneurs.

In a well-constructed study, McKechnie, Ennew and Read (1998) compared the banking relationships of male and female entrepreneurs. Although the profiles were generally similar, the interesting finding was that the female entrepreneurs perceived the bank managers as more approachable. On average both genders agreed that bankers did not understand the small business environment. There was no quantitative evidence that female business owners had a poorer banking relationship. The general direction of these findings was supported by a study on the access to capital and terms of credit by Coleman (2000). She used a database of 4,500 respondents and did not discover any difference between the treatment of male and female entrepreneurs by lenders. This finding differed from earlier studies (Brophy, 1989; Brush, 1992; Hisrich, 1989), which had used smaller and more limited samples. The different conclusion again supports the need for large and general samples.

In a third well-designed study, Haynes and Haynes (1999) used a large national sample of 2,284 respondents with comparative data on male- and female- business owners. The authors concluded that women-owned businesses have similar access to lines-of-credit as men-owned businesses do. The overall conclusion from the second wave of research is that there are few, if any differences, in banking relationships for male and female entrepreneurs.

In addition to the better samples and research designs, another reason for the difference in the findings between the two waves of research could be that, with the rapid growth of women-owned businesses, female entrepreneurs have become more common and more accepted in the business community. The very number of women entrepreneurs should make it apparent to lending institutions and others that discrimination against this segment of the business community will result in financial losses.

Training/Consulting Needs

The training/consulting needs of potential entrepreneurs are an important area for educators, consultants, members of enabling groups (such as financial institutions), and Small Business Development Centers. Many studies have been published related to the entrepreneurial profiles and the associated training/consulting needs of male and female entrepreneurs (Carter, 1989; Hisrich, 1989; Hisrich & Brush, 1983; 1984; 1985; Nelson, 1987; Pellegrino & Reece, 1982). In general, the findings have been that female entrepreneurs had different training/consulting needs. However, these studies focused on female entrepreneurs and had small sample sizes. Carter (1989) used a sample of 70 female business owners to define different types of entrepreneurs. She suggested that any formal training/consulting assistance consider the different types of entrepreneurs. Hisrich and Brush (1983; 1984) reported on findings from a sample of 468 women entrepreneurs. The findings identified some areas of assistance (i.e. training/consulting areas) that could be helpful for female entrepreneurs and the need to encourage women to earn degrees in areas dominated by males. In 1987, Hisrich and Brush documented a longitudinal study of 143 female business owners (out of the 468 respondents reported earlier). Among other conclusions, they suggested the women entrepreneurs hire experts and take classes to improve their chances of starting a successful business. In 1987 Nelson discussed the information needs of 50 female entrepreneurs dealing with specific categories for starting and maintaining a business that are common training/consulting areas. Pellegrino & Reece (1982) reported on the formation and operational problems (using common training/consulting areas for small business start-ups) of 20 female entrepreneurs. All of these studies in some form contain information dealing with the training/consulting needs of female business owners. However, many of these studies had small sample sizes that made the findings difficult to project to a larger population (Cater, 1989, n=70; Nelson, 1987, n= 50; Pellegrino & Reece, 1982, n = 20). All of the studies just focused on female entrepreneurs (Cater, 1989; Hisrich & Brush, 1983; 1984; 1987; Nelson, 1987; Pellegrino & Reece, 1982). The pioneering researchers did not miss this fact. As Pellegrino and Reece (1982, page 6) noted: "It is also recommended that a comparative study featuring a comparable population of males and females be conducted".

Chrisman, Carsrud, DeCastro and Herron conducted a more comprehensive study (1990), on the assistance (training/consulting) needs of male and female pre-venture entrepreneurs. Their sample was based on SBDC clients from one state and consisted of 162 respondents. The Chrisman et al. (1990) study measured the amount of assistance received by the gender groups for three broad classifications: Strategic Assistance, Administrative Assistance, and Operational Assistance. The findings support the view that the male and female Small Business Development Center clients received almost identical levels of assistance.

Although the actual assistance is of great interest, a rating of the importance of a training/consulting area is also of great interest. Actual assistance measures what the pre-venture business owner received, whereas the importance rating measures the value the entrepreneur placed on the area. How important the entrepreneurs perceive a given training/consulting area can be an aid in setting policy, developing programs and structuring course content. Chrisman et al. (1990) measured 12 specific categories of assistance within the three broad measures of assistance (Strategic, Administrative, and Operational). More measures of different training/consulting content areas would be helpful. For example, Chrisman et al asked about marketing assistance when the training/consulting area could have been divided into marketing, advertising and sales. Additional measures are necessary because other areas of interest such as technology, e-commerce and government regulations have emerged as significant in training/consulting. The Chrisman et al. (1990) study is limited to one state and a reasonable sample size (n = 162). The use of a larger sample in another state would substantiate and extend their results.

RESEARCH DESIGN

This study extends past work by investigating the importance that entrepreneurs place on training/consulting areas. Given the changing nature of the business landscape, current studies are necessary to investigate the impact of such changes. A database, which includes both male and female entrepreneurs, allows for a comparison of needs. A final sample of over 600 respondents from one state was collected so that the results can be generalized with confidence. Two different sources of lists were used to generate the initial sample of 4000. Past SBDC clients were used to randomly select a list of 3000 potential respondents. A list of small business owners was purchased from a national list broker to obtain a sample of potential respondents who were not SBDC clients. The members of the lists were all people who had been identified as potential or current small business owners. The respondents fell into a general definition of entrepreneurs. One limitation of this study (shared with much of the prior research) is that the definition of entrepreneur is not tight. In this case, the limitation is a result of the ability to identify these people with a finer level of precision for data collection.

The next step was to identify the training/consulting areas of interest to entrepreneurs. Several meetings were held with small business consultants to list the different areas of interest. Then, separate focus groups were conducted for each gender (with the participants and moderator of the same gender). In these groups, the training/consulting areas from the consultants were loosely used as general discussion topics. Probing was used to generate additional topics. Finally, the information from the small business experts and the focus group participants were combined to create a list of topics for investigation. In order to organize the training/consulting areas on the questionnaire, they were divided into three general categories of needs: General Background, Organization Processes and General (business) Activities. When the various areas of training/consulting were developed from prior research, expert opinion and the focus groups, the number of areas was too large to list in one question and have a pleasing design. It was decided to group the areas into the three general categories mentioned above for the convenience of the respondents and the ease of dealing with the questionnaire material (see Table 1).

A questionnaire was developed and pre-tested. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of 23 training/consulting areas on a 7-point scale with 7 being the highest importance score. Postcards stressing the importance of the survey were sent as pre-notifications to each of the potential respondents. About two weeks later, the questionnaire was mailed to 4,000 potential respondents. Approximately 10 days later, a follow-up postcard was mailed to the non-respondents to encourage response. Finally, approximately 14 days later, the remaining non-respondents were mailed another questionnaire. The United States Post Office returned envelopes that could not be delivered. These returned envelopes were used to identify bad addresses, which were removed from the mailing lists. The revised sample size was 3,009.

A total of 924 people responded yielding a response rate of 30%. Of the 924 people who responded, 298 had not filled out the questionnaire in sufficient detail or did not qualify for further analysis, so the effective sample size dropped to 626 or 21% of the revised list size. The sample size and the response rate were deemed acceptable for further analysis. Seventy percent of the sample did not respond. An unknown number of non-responses were due to bad addresses in the two source lists. Some of the names and addresses in the Small Business Development Center list went back several years, increasing the possibility of an inaccurate address. It was hard to determine the validity of the purchased list. No research was done on the difference between respondents and non-respondents. Overall the sample is of reasonable size (626 responses) and comparable or better than prior samples in this area.

DATA ANALYSIS

Each response was reviewed, entered into a computer software program, verified, and then analyzed using a statistical software program. The mean rating and standard deviation of the importance scores for each of the training/consulting areas are presented in Table 1. Overall the respondents rated Complying With Regulations And Taxes as the most important training area with a mean of 5.72 and rated Electronic Commerce as the least important (mean of 4.20). The range of the means was 1.52 scale points with a mean of the means of 5.01. For the General Background needs, Financial Relationships and Strategic Planning received the highest ratings from the total sample, with means ratings of 5.40 and 5.16, respectively. For Organization Processes, Cash Flow Management and Accounting/bookkeeping received the highest ratings, with mean ratings of 5.60 and 5.55, respectively. Finally, for General Activities, Complying With Regulations And Taxes, Marketing, Advertising, and Sales received the highest mean ratings with scores of 5.72, 5.35, 5.36, and 5.29, respectively.

The total sample data indicated that Compliance With Regulations And Taxes is the most important single issue for entrepreneurs. This area is the one that should be allocated the most resources for the training and consulting of entrepreneurs. Similarly, this training area should be the most up-to-date and investments should be made to insure it is the most effective. This material should be enhanced to insure the highest quality training/consulting. Further research may be necessary to better define the reasons why the entrepreneurs thought this area was the most important for training/consulting. This finding supports the often-echoed concern of over-regulation and complicated tax forms and regulations. The second and third highest rated concerns, Cash Flow Management and Accounting/bookkeeping, reflect the needs for managing funds and the difficulty of small business owners in doing the necessary paperwork. Financial Relationships have the fourth highest rating and are logically tied to Cash Flow Management. Closely following are Initial Processes and Procedures, Marketing, Advertising and Sales demonstrating the need for processes to implement a business idea and marketing efforts to identify and attract customers. Interestingly the importance rating for training/consulting on Electronic Commerce had the lowest rating of any of the training/consulting areas.

Next, the sample was divided into male and female groups and tested for statistical differences between the groups. When the overall sample was divided by gender, 288 females and 333 males had usable responses. The combined sample size of the male and female groups is 621, which is slightly less than the total number of respondents of 626 since some respondents did not indicate gender. The means, standard deviations and ranks of the items of interest by gender are presented in Table 2.

The researchers ranked mean importance-rating scores for each training/consulting area for the male and female groups (see Table 2). These rankings can be used to help analyze the significant differences noted below. When scanning the ranks of the importance scores for the two groups, some similarities are noted. The ranking for both groups had the training/consulting area of Complying With Regulations And Taxes as the most important area (ranked #1). The mean importance score of the training/consulting area of Electronic Commerce was the lowest of the 23 importance scores measured and therefore the area was ranked at the bottom (#23) by the researchers. Cash Flow Management was the number two-ranked training/consulting area for the male group and this same area shared the second place ranking with Initial Processes and Procedures for the female group.

To consider which of the mean differences are meaningful, statistical tests were run comparing the group means. For the 23 training/consulting areas, seven were found to be significant at the 0.01 level: Feasibility Analysis, Strategic Planning, Financial Relationships, Obtaining Business Licenses, Initial Processes and Procedures, Advertising, and Government Procurement (see Table 3). The significant differences indicate that the female respondents rated these training/consulting areas as more important than the male respondents. In practical terms, if both groups ranked a training/consulting area the same, then even if the group means were significantly different, both areas have the same level of relative importance for the groups. For example, the significantly different ratings on Financial Relationships in the General Background category has little practical significance since this training/consulting area was ranked as number six (of 23) for both groups (when the ratings of the female and male business owners were ranked within the category). For Feasibility Analysis, the rank was 17th for the females and 22nd for the males indicating a pragmatic difference but in the lower end of the importance scores. For Strategic Planning the significant difference was associated with ranks of 8th and 10th for the females and males groups respectively. For this significance difference, the similar ranks indicate the training/consulting area is important for both groups. Obtaining Business Licenses important scores were ranked 14th for the females and 20th for the males. This wide difference in the ranks would make this area a good choice for future research. The reasons why the groups rated this training/consulting area different should be probed. Consideration of possible changes in the method of training delivery and content could be explored. Initial Processes and Procedures were ranked 2nd within the females group but 9th by the male group. This training/consulting area had the largest substantial relative difference of any of the highly ranked training/consulting areas. Clearly in terms of further research and development, Initial Processes and Procedures should receive top priority. The question of why there are differences and how to effectively address training needs are excellent topics for future research. Advertising is another training/consulting area that has a significant difference in the ratings and a reasonable difference in the ranks of the importance ratings. For the women entrepreneurs Advertising was ranked 5th and for the men entrepreneurs, Advertising was ranked 8th. This training/consulting area is another good choice for future research to answer why there are differences and how to effectively address training needs. The last significantly different area- Government Procurement had substantially different rankings of the importance scores (13th for females and 20th for males). This content area would be another good topic for future research.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

A careful review of the statistical data reveals several interesting findings. First, the total sample ratings of the 23 training/consulting topics showed that the areas of Complying With Regulations And Taxes (the highest rating) followed by Cash Flow Management, Accounting/bookkeeping, Financial Relationships, Advertising, Marketing, and Sales had the highest importance ratings among entrepreneurs. These importance scores can be used to allocate resources for training and development and in strategic planning. The topics with the highest ratings could be given priority in resource allocation for training and development. A strategic planning process can also be implemented. For example, the topics can be divided into high and low categories based upon the importance scores. Then the topics can be divided into high and low categories based upon the required resources to substantially enhance and improve the training/consulting areas. The categories on the two dimensions can be arranged to create a 2x2 matrix. Then, each training/consulting area is placed in a cell in the matrix. An analysis of the matrix can be used to plan strategies and allocate funds.

Second, when the group means on the importance of training/consulting areas for female and male entrepreneurs were tested seven topics were found to be significantly different: Feasibility Analysis, Strategic Planning, Financial Relationships, Obtaining Business Licenses, Initial Processes and Procedures, Advertising and Government Procurement. A further analysis of these differences using a ranking of the mean ratings within groups was used to identify the most important training/consulting areas for future research. It was found that Initial Processes and Procedures, Advertising, Obtaining Business Licenses and Government Procurement were excellent candidates for further investigations. Strategic Planning and Feasibility Analyses are second tier considerations for future research since the rankings of the important scores were lower/or had less difference in the ranks. Financial Relationships had the same rank for both groups and as a result, the training/consulting implications are similar. These significant findings define the areas where future research should begin to probe to explain why the differences exist.

Frequently, prior research has investigated the needs of female entrepreneurs and suggested major changes based upon a profile of their needs (Hisrich & Brush 1983, 1984, 1987; Nelson, 1987; Pellegrino & Reece, 1982). These findings are stronger since they are based on a comparison of female and male entrepreneurs and a sample size of over 600. Yet to be able to predict any changes that are appropriate a further analysis needs to be tabulated. The members of the sample need to be paired not only on gender but also on age, age of business, number of full time employees, and type of business. The wording of the questions used to collect this data is shown in Table 4.

Since there were fewer female respondents, they were used as the subjects to match with male respondents who shared the same ratings on the four additional variables of interest. Due to the inability to match many respondents, the sample size dropped to 122 pairs of males and females (a loss of 377 subjects). Then additional significant tests were calculated. The means and standard deviations for both groups are presented in Table 5. Interestingly the number of significant differences (at the 0.01 level) dropped from seven to zero. The implications are that other demographic data related to small business owners may account for more variance than gender. This finding supports the findings of McKechnie, Ennew and Read (1998), Coleman (2000) and Haynes and Haynes (1999) of no difference between male and female entrepreneurs for another content area. This demonstration of a general analysis and a matched pair analysis resulting in different findings is significant in the planning and interpretation of research studies. Since no significant differences between male and female entrepreneurs from the matched sample were found, it implies that differences in variance are the result of other contributing factors and not gender. However the findings from just one study are not conclusive. The research needs to be replicated.

The understanding of the training/consulting needs of entrepreneurs has been furthered. The first wave of research has indicated that women entrepreneurs needed special services to facilitate business development. But the development of special services can be very expensive and to transfer limited resources from primary training/consulting program could weaken the whole program. A closer look revealed that these descriptive studies only used women and/or had relatively small samples. A second wave of research was conducted with larger samples consisting of both male and female business owners. The results indicated that for the specific situations studied, special services were not necessary. This study extends prior research by using a sample of 626 men and women entrepreneurs. The results indicated several similarities and seven significant differences out of 23 training/consulting areas for a non-matched sample. Insights into the differences of training/consulting needs of females and male business owners were discussed. When a matched sample was used, the situation was documented to be much more complex than previously found as no significant differences were found. As a result there is no strong evidence that special services are necessary for women. However, the discovery of differences does indicate the need to explore why they exist.

Additionally, a model for allocating resources based on the importance scores and the amount of resources needed to facilitate change was suggested. Therefore, the research findings can be used in a specific framework by the organizations that facilitate the business start-up process. These findings provide a framework for future research and managerial consideration.

ENDNOTE

(1) This work was supported by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the U.S. Small Business Administration. This Cooperative Agreement is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. SBA's funding is not an endorsement of any products, opinions, or services. All SBA funded programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. SBDC programs are nondiscriminatory and available to individuals with disabilities.

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Warren Martin, University of Alabama at Birmingham

John Sandefur, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Table 1: Total Sample Means, Ranks and Standard Deviations
(The rankings are in parentheses)

For each of the following areas, please indicate how important it
was to obtain assistance in starting your business on a 1 to 7
scale with 7 representing the greatest importance.

 Standard
Training/consulting area Mean Deviation

General Background:

Feasibility analysis 4.64 (20) 2.17
Competitive analysis 4.75 (16) 2.08
Strategic planning 5.16 (10) 2.01
Location decision 4.74 (17) 2.23
Pro-forma financial analysis 4.79 (13) 2.09
Financial relationships 5.40 (4) 1.97
Loan application 4.86 (12) 2.30
Obtaining business licenses 4.74 (17) 2.31

Organization Processes:

Initial processes and procedures 5.35 (6) 1.91
Cash flow management 5.60 (2) 1.88
Accounts receivable management 5.27 (9) 1.98
Accounting/bookkeeping 5.55 (3) 1.85
Production processes 4.62 (22) 2.16
Inventory control 4.63 (21) 2.16
Purchasing 4.78 (14) 2.19

General Activities:

Electronic commerce 4.20 (23) 2.18
Marketing 5.35 (6) 1.98
Advertising 5.36 (5) 1.96
Sales 5.29 (8) 2.05
Complying with regulations and taxes 5.72 (1) 1.78
Government procurement 4.69 (19) 2.26
Managing technology 4.77 (15) 2.11
Business performance measures 5.07 (11) 2.03

Table 2: Means, Ranks and Standard Deviations for the Female and
Male Groups (The rankings are in parentheses).

 Females

 Standard
Training/consulting area Mean Deviation

General Background:

Feasibility analysis * 4.94 (17) 2.14
Competitive analysis 4.97 (16) 2.07
Strategic planning * 5.42 (8) 1.95
Location decision 4.90 (18) 2.22
Pro-forma financial analysis 4.90 (18) 2.16
Financial relationships * 5.62 (6) 1.88
Loan application 5.09 (12) 2.26
Obtaining business licenses * 5.01 (14) 2.31

Organization Processes:

Initial processes and procedures * 5.75 (2) 1.79
Cash flow management 5.75 (2) 1.79
Accounts receivable management 5.37 (9) 2.01
Accounting/bookkeeping 5.69 (4) 1.82
Production processes 4.76 (22) 2.18
Inventory control 4.78 (21) 2.24
Purchasing 4.80 (20) 2.26

General Activities:

Electronic commerce 4.41 (23) 2.27
Marketing 5.53 (7) 1.96
Advertising * 5.63 (5) 1.83
Sales 5.29 (10) 2.13
Complying with regulations & taxes 5.86 (1) 1.76
Government procurement * 5.04 (13) 2.21
Managing technology 5.00 (15) 2.13
Business performance measures 5.27 (11) 2.01

 Males

 Standard
Training/consulting area Mean Deviation

General Background:
Feasibility analysis * 4.37 (22) 2.17
Competitive analysis 4.55 (17) 2.07
Strategic planning * 4.92 (10) 2.04
Location decision 4.59 (15) 2.22
Pro-forma financial analysis 4.69 (13) 2.05
Financial relationships * 5.18 (6) 2.03
Loan application 4.63 (14) 2.33
Obtaining business licenses * 4.45 (20) 2.29

Organization Processes:

Initial processes and procedures * 4.98 (9) 1.93
Cash flow management 5.46 (2) 1.95
Accounts receivable management 5.18 (6) 1.96
Accounting/bookkeeping 5.42 (3) 1.88
Production processes 4.52 (18) 2.14
Inventory control 4.51 (19) 2.17
Purchasing 4.74 (12) 2.13

General Activities:

Electronic commerce 4.05 (23) 2.09
Marketing 5.19 (5) 1.99
Advertising * 5.11 (8) 2.03
Sales 5.28 (4) 1.97
Complying with regulations & taxes 5.59 (1) 1.79
Government procurement * 4.40 (21) 2.26
Managing technology 4.58 (16) 2.08
Business performance measures 4.89 (11) 2.14

* Significantly different between the two groups at the 0.01 level.

Table 3: Significantly Different Means and Ranks for the Female
and Male Groups (The rankings are in parentheses).

 Females Mean Males Mean
General Background:

Feasibility analysis * 4.94 (17) 4.37 (22)
Strategic planning * 5.42 (8) 4.92 (10)
Financial relationships * 5.62 (6) 5.18 (6)
Obtaining business licenses * 5.01 (14) 4.45 (20)

Organization Processes:

Initial processes and procedures * 5.75 (2) 4.98 (9)

General Activities:

Advertising * 5.63 (5) 5.11 (8)
Government procurement * 5.04 (13) 4.40 (21)

* Significantly different between the two groups at the 0.01 level

Table 4: The Questions Used To Match The Sample Members

Please indicate how long your business (the business that you own and
operate) has been in existence.

--Less than 1 year
--1 year or more but less than 2 years
--2 years or more but less than 5 years
--5 years or more

What type of business do you have?

--Retail
--Service
--Wholesale
--Manufacturing
--Construction

How many employees do you currently have?
Number of Full Time Employees

--1 to 5
--6 to 10
--11-25
--26-50
--51 to 100
--101 to 500
--or more

Your age

--Less than 25
--25 or older but less than 35
--35 or older but less than 45
--45 or older but less than 55
--55 or older but less than 65
--65 or older

Table 5: Means, Ranks and Standard Deviations For The Paired
Female and Male Groups (The rankings are in parentheses)
n= 122 for each group.

 Females

 Standard
Training/consulting area Mean Deviation

General Background:

Feasibility analysis 4.59 (21) 2.27
Competitive analysis 4.75 (17) 2.18
Strategic planning 5.23 (9) 2.03
Location decision 4.85 (16) 2.21
Pro-forma Financial analysis 4.61 (19) 2.36
Financial relationships 5.52 (6) 2.11
Loan application 5.16 (12) 2.19
Obtaining business licenses 5.19 (11) 2.23

Organization Processes:

Initial processes and procedures 5.51 (7) 1.98
Cash flow management 5.73 (2) 1.78
Accounts receivable Management 5.23 (9) 2.09
Accounting/bookkeeping 5.73 (2) 1.82
Production processes 4.69 (20) 2.26
Inventory control 4.54 (22) 2.32
Purchasing 4.70 (18) 2.27

General Activities:

Electronic commerce 4.25 (23) 2.29
Marketing 5.70 (4) 1.82
Advertising 5.64 (5) 1.79
Sales 5.40 (8) 2.07
Complying with regulations & taxes 5.89 (1) 1.78
Government procurement 4.86 (15) 2.27
Managing technology 4.92 (14) 2.17
Business performance measures 5.14 (13) 2.1

 Males

 Standard
Training/consulting area Mean Deviation

General Background:

Feasibility analysis 4.06 (23) 2.27
Competitive analysis 4.39 (21) 2.12
Strategic planning 4.87 (11) 2.07
Location decision 4.60 (17) 2.27
Pro-forma Financial analysis 4.54 (19) 2.13
Financial relationships 5.28 (7) 1.97
Loan application 4.52 (20) 2.37
Obtaining business licenses 4.69 (15) 2.40

Organization Processes:

Initial processes and procedures 5.10 (9) 1.96
Cash flow management 5.51 (3) 1.90
Accounts receivable Management 5.23 (8) 2.02
Accounting/bookkeeping 5.54 (2) 1.84
Production processes 4.66 (16) 2.17
Inventory control 4.70 (14) 2.17
Purchasing 4.83 (12) 2.05

General Activities:

Electronic commerce 4.17 (22) 2.21
Marketing 5.36 (5) 1.94
Advertising 5.38 (4) 1.98
Sales 5.35 (6) 2.00
Complying with regulations & taxes 5.86 (1) 1.72
Government procurement 4.59 (18) 2.29
Managing technology 4.83 (12) 2.20
Business performance measures 5.09 (10) 2.05