WAHMs - Never Doubt Your Clout!

The National Association of Women Business Owners estimates 10.1 million companies nationwide are owned by women, accounting for $1.9 trillion in sales and employing 13 million people.

Those are not typos. That's 10,100,000 companies; $1,900,000,000 in Sales; with 13,000,000 employees. And that ain't nothing to sneeze at.

And that is truly just the beginning. Then there are all the work at home moms (and dads) who have single person, at home businesses. These smallish businesses get overlooked in surveys because most statisticians consider them inconsequential, or, at best too hard to locate. WAHMs and DAHMs know better. These are not inconsequential businesses. But, ok, they are probably hard to locate. How do you call up every home in the country and ask if anyone has a home based business? It can't be narrowed by any demographic group because these WAHMs are everywhere, rich and poor, big homes and small, young and old. I personally know several hundred of them, and the only thing that seems to be a common denominator is their desire for a business at home.

Many of these WAHMs have internet based businesses. Some sell products. Some sell services. Some are artists. Some are financial wizards; some aren't. Some are website gurus; some don't know what "SEO" means.

But each and every one of them is successful in her own right, whether she is earning $100 a month or $100,000 a month.

WAHM businesses have taken on more significance since the economy became so unstable and women found themselves without reliable income, or any income at all. Their own creativity and ingenuity has become their stock in trade.

The growth has been driven, too, by a deeper desire to be there for our families, to create an atmosphere of warmth at home -- and still make a living. It has been a long time in coming, but women are finally learning how to successfully combine work and home so that both are successful.

And the world is starting to note.