Is the #BossBabe Making a Comeback?

Solo women have always been known for entrepreneurship. That’s where the word “spinster” comes from, after all. So the news that women entrepreneurs started 49% of businesses in 2024¹ isn’t surprising on its own. What’s interesting is that female entrepreneurship jumped 69% between 2019 and 2024.² And most of these new business owners are solopreneurs; people running a small business all on their own.

Overall, an increase in women entrepreneurs is encouraging. Like many people, I’d like to see a world when men and women have equal opportunities in business. Forty-nine percent sounds pretty good. But the numbers in context paint a more nuanced picture.

Are women-owned businesses on the rise? Yes. Is an increase in single-member corporations and sole proprietorships good? Well… it’s complicated. In this post, I’m going to look at the realities that solopreneurs face. I’ll also explain why these challenges are not new to women entrepreneurs.

Single women have always been entrepreneurs

Back in the olden times (pre-industrial revolution), women who didn’t wish to marry only had a handful of options. They could join a convent, if their parents permitted it. But, while a widow could sometimes carry on their late husband’s business, starting a business as an unmarried woman was particularly difficult. One of the few viable means of supporting herself available to a young woman was spinning. Hence, many single women were spinsters. Eventually, this unisex term became gendered and lost its direct connection to the profession. By the 18th century, it was shorthand for a maiden past the typically marrying age.³

So, though the definition shifted through the centuries, what didn’t change was the reality that single women had a unique financial situation: They had to provide for themselves without having the breadth of opportunities for education and trade that men had. And while women in the United States ostensibly have equal access to education and employment (or did until 2025⁴, there’s a lot under the surface of that 49% statistic. Let’s look at it.

Why are women starting small businesses in big numbers?

The Founder Reports article notes that “the vast majority of women-owned businesses are one-person operations without employees.” Because women are still significantly more likely to be the primary caretakers of children, flexible work hours are a necessity for many entrepreneurial women. That’s a primary factor for why women are far more likely to work for multi-level marketing companies as independent contractors.

However, while women with children may make up the majority of woman-led small businesses (I could not find a statistic on this in either direction), they aren’t the only ones. Plenty of single women are solopreneurs as well, and for surprisingly similar reasons. Even without children, women typically need more flexible work hours.

Solopreneurs may need job flexibility

Why are women more likely to need flexible employment options, even when motherhood isn’t a factor? Women are significantly statistically more likely to suffer from autoimmune disorders, such as chronic fatigue and associated disorders like POTS.⁵ These disabilities make working a traditional job (on-site and with set hours) difficult. Women are also frequently placed into the default role of caretaker for elderly parents or ailing relatives. Flexible working hours become necessary when providing ongoing care.

Entreprenuership offers autonomy

An article by Forbes⁶ says, “Entrepreneurship gives women something corporate environments rarely do, actual agency.” That’s a loaded statement. For that matter, agency is a loaded word. Merriam-Webster defines that word as “the capacity, condition, or state of acting or exerting power.” Few corporate workers, men or women, have the ability to exert power in their jobs. The average corporate worker doesn’t. Middle managers, perhaps, have some agency. Upper management and CEOs do. And it’s true that those roles are disproportionately held by men. So Forbes is technically correct when they say that corporate environments rarely give women “actual agency.”

However, having agency doesn’t necessarily mean having options or power. As a solopreneur, you have sole control over all of the business making decisions by default. That doesn’t mean you have the means to implement the strategies that would be best for the business. The CEO of a mid-level corporation has support in the form of tens or hundreds of employees. A one-woman business does not. Many solo small business owners are on an incredibly tight budget. Solo entrepreneurship rarely provides as much freedom as proponents would have us believe.

Is it autonomy, or a lack of other options?

Let me answer my own question up front and say that it can be both. Many freelancers and solopreneurs both want and need autonomy as part of their job structure. But shouldn’t that be possible in traditional jobs?

Solo entrepreneurship is no walk in the park

As someone who has been a corporate employee, an independent contractor, and a small business owner, being traditionally employed is by far the least stressful option in my experience. I returned to freelance work and built a small business out of necessity, not desire. If my department had not been replaced with AI, I would likely still be working for a steady paycheck and employer-provided insurance.

But, if my work had not become remote due to the pandemic years before that, I would likely not have been able to keep my job as long as I did. Disability makes holding down traditional employment difficult. So while working for myself offers me the creative freedom my soul craves, that wasn’t the driving force behind my decision to start an LLC.

…but it does offer advantages over the rat race

Having said that, being a solopreneur has been a positive change for my creativity and personal development. I took time to further my education and update my skill set, and I was incredibly fortunate to have the savings to do so. My current work also lets me contribute something meaningful to the world, which my former corporate job sadly did not. If my small business can begin turning a profit soon, I’ll be glad to continue working as one of the increasing number of women entrepreneurs.

Let’s keep women-led small businesses at 50%

Even though the rise of solopreneurship may be due in part to layoffs, discrimination, and gender-based expectations, I see the overall trend as something positive. Starting a small business is one way to stand against the ever-growing monopolies extracting our money and limiting our options. It’s also a strong response to the DEI- and AI-related layoffs that are disproportionately affecting Black women.

In 2025, women started 44% of new businesses⁷, a decrease from 2024. But, encouragingly, Black women began 69% of Black-owned businesses. Again, while we can’t separate that number from the disproportionate number of layoffs affecting Black women in leadership roles, we can take courage from this positive response. I hope in 2026 the percentage of new women-led businesses overall goes back up to approximately half.

The way we can do that is supporting small businesses and women entrepreneurs as much as possible. If there are solopreneurs in your life, give them all the good word-of-mouth you can. And if you are a small business owner, be sure you connect with others in your area and industry. Remember, solo women have been doing this for centuries. We know how to support ourselves and one another, so let’s do it.

Do you see this trend as a positive one? What other thoughts do you have on the increase in women entrepreneurs generally and solopreneurs specifically? Share your voice in the comments below.

Is a disability or poor health affecting your ability to work? You may find my post, “Living Alone When You Need Support,” helpful.

Sources:

1. Female Entrepreneur Statistics: What the Numbers Reveal ↩︎
2. We should note that this number comes from a survey of 1000 people; which is not an insignificant sample size, but it is not based on information coming from, say, information gathered from secretaries of state. It isn’t comprehensive. ↩︎
3. www.etymonline.com ↩︎
4. DEI rollbacks affect women, particularly Black women. DEI’s Collapse and the Cost to Black Women ↩︎
5. The Prevalence of Autoimmune Disorders in Women ↩︎
6. Women Start Nearly Half Of New U.S. Businesses As 2025 Surges ↩︎
7. A Tale of Two Generations: Gen Z Women Are Founding Businesses at Record Rates — Their Elders Aren’t ↩︎