23 (More) Great Business Websites for Women


23 (More) Great Business Websites for WomenForbesWoman recently published its list of the Top 100 websites for Working Women. In that spirit, I thought I’d add to their list and share my personal favorite 17 websites for entrepreneurial women. In addition to this list, I want to call attention to this site, SmallBizTrends.com, my own blog, SmallBizDaily.com and AllBusiness.com, where I’m the editor-at-large as other great places women business owners can find inspiration and information. Three of my friends have sites which provide a lot of valuable information and support for entrepreneurial women as well: Amilya, Mike Michalowicz and Aliza Sherman.

AAUW.org

Previously known as the American Association of University Women, this site “examines and takes positions” on topics of vital interest to women and girls, including educational, social, economic and political issues. AAUW is dedicated to helping women achieve equity. They are strong advocates for equal pay and a host of other women’s issues. W advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.

Business.gov

Business.gov has a special section devoted to women entrepreneurs, with links to resources. You’ll find information on grants and loans, business training for women, government programs to assist women business owners and more.

Center for Women’s Business Research

The Center for Women’s Business Research provides data-driven knowledge that advances the economic, social and political impact of women business owners and their enterprises. This data driven knowledge provides the business imperative for embracing women business owners as customers, suppliers, community leaders, public policy influencers and role models for business leadership.

Committee of 200

The Committee of 200 (C200) is an international nonprofit organization of more than 400 of the most powerful women who own and run companies. The primary mission of C200 and its Foundation is to foster, celebrate and advance women’s leadership in business. Through targeted outreach and support to future leaders, the C200 Foundation also helps to ensure that women will continue to take ever more significant and visible leadership roles.

ForbesWoman

In addition to tons of content, the site provides many tool to help professional and executive women succeed.

The Hot Mommas® Project Mission

The Hot Mommas Project mission is to increase self-efficacy in women and girls by providing scalable, global, free access to role models online. The long-term vision is to create the world’s largest free and online case study library combining the worlds of social media, curriculum and role models in a real-time, interactive learning community.

NAFE

The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) was has a rich history of providing education, networking and public advocacy to empower its members to achieve career success and financial security. Members are women executives, business owners, entrepreneurs and others who are committed to NAFE’s mission: the advancement of women in the workplace.

National Women’s Business Council

The National Women’s Business Council is a bipartisan federal advisory council created to serve as an independent source of advice and policy recommendations to the President, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners. The Council’s mission is to promote bold initiatives, policies and programs designed to support women’s business enterprises at all stages of development in the public and private sector marketplaces-from start-up to success to significance.

NAWBO

The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social and political spheres of power worldwide. NAWBO values and seeks a diverse and inclusive membership.

OWBO

The SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) oversees a network of Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) throughout the United States and its territories.  Through the management and technical assistance provided by the WBCs, entrepreneurs, especially women who are economically or socially disadvantaged, are offered comprehensive training and counseling on a vast array of topics in many languages to help them start and grow their own businesses.

SBA

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small-business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise, and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

SBDCs

The Office of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) provides management assistance to current and prospective small-business owners. SBDCs offer one-stop assistance to individuals and small businesses by providing a wide variety of information and guidance in central and easily accessible branch locations. There is at least one SBDC office in every state.

SCORE

SCORE, “Counselors to America’s Small Business,” is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow and succeed nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and has 364 chapters throughout the U.S.

SCORE Women’s Success Blog

The first blog from SCORE at the national level, The SCORE Women’s Success Blog covers insights and advice on small-business topics, including marketing, management, Web and leadership issues.

Small Biz Nation

Part of the LinkedIn community, this new group is a valuable resource for small businesses looking to maximize their success. Here, the vast and growing LinkedIn community of small-business leaders can collaborate and share ideas, while gaining valuable insight from a variety of industry experts, as well as technology leaders HP and Intel. With special emphasis on mission-critical issues, this unique forum provides an excellent opportunity to learn helpful tips, tricks and best practices-all to keep your small business moving forward.

WBENC

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), founded in 1997, is the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned controlled, and operated by women in the United States. WBENC, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit, partners with 14 Regional Partner Organizations to provide its national standard of certification to women-owned businesses throughout the country. WBENC is also the nation’s leading advocate of women-owned businesses as suppliers to America’s corporations.

WPO

The Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) is a nonprofit membership organization for women presidents of multimillion-dollar companies. Members of the WPO meet monthly to take part in advisory groups and grow their businesses to the next level. There are 82 active chapters across the U.S. and in Canada; women can also join as at-large members.


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Rieva Lesonsky Rieva Lesonsky is a Columnist for Small Business Trends covering employment, retail trends and women in business. She is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Visit her blog, SmallBizDaily, to get the scoop on business trends and free TrendCast reports.

9 Reactions
  1. Thanks so much for sharing this list with us. There are sites I never knew about here and am about to explore.

  2. Martin Lindeskog

    Rieva,

    Thanks for pointing out the list and links.

  3. Rieva,

    Great job!

    You really have a knack for finding great things all over the internet.

    The Franchise King

  4. Check out my profile for another site to consider. It’s a guide for women to start their own import business.