October is Women’s Small Business Month, a month dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the female entrepreneurs that strengthen our local communities. As a company that has always championed small businesses, Groupon is excited to bring awareness to the women-owned businesses on our platform and to celebrate the outstanding progress that female and female-identifying business owners have made and continue to make.

• In 1972, women only owned 4.6% of all businesses in the United States. As of 2019, women owned 42% of all businesses.*
• 99.9% of women-owned businesses are small businesses (500 employees or fewer).^†
• Women-owned businesses grew 21% from 2014 to 2019, and businesses owned by women of color grew at double that rate. Numbers for black women entrepreneurs grew the fastest, with an increase of 50%. In fact, as of 2019, women of color accounted for 50% of all women who owned businesses.^*
• There are nearly 13 million women-owned businesses in the United States, employing 9.4 million workers and generating revenue of $1.9 trillion.^*

Groupon’s Commitment to Women Small Business Owners

Throughout the month of October, we’re highlighting merchants who self-identified as women-owned. Groupon is dedicated to supporting our female and female-identifying business partners, not only during Women’s Small Business Month but beyond.

Kiva Partnership

We’ve partnered with Kiva.org, a renowned crowd-funding platform, to raise funds in support of a women-owned businesses fund that will help create opportunity and unlock investment capital for women-owned businesses across the country.

Donate to our Kiva fund.

Listening & Learning

We’re continuing our outreach to women and female-identifying business partners nationwide to learn more about the services and support needed that Groupon may provide through connections to our partners.

Supporting Our Merchants

We’re partnering with women-owned business organizations and governmental agencies at the federal and state levels to gather a list of available resources and co-sponsor virtual-panel discussions for merchants. Finally, we’ve created a free Merchant Marketing toolkit to celebrate Women’s Small Business Month loudly and proudly!

Amplifying Women's Stories

We’re making an ongoing effort to seek out and highlight women-owned businesses through our social media and other initiatives. Check out our Facebook and Instagram to see the inspiring women small business owners we’ve featured during our past initiatives, and subscribe to meet the following business owners, who we’ll be profiling throughout the month of October:

• Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur
• Little Muffincakes
• Boston TeePee Party
• Talitha Dance
• Neat Rules
• Amani Nicol Wellness

To learn more about the actions Groupon is taking to bring about positive change, click here.

*According to American Express State of Women-Owned Business Report 

^†According to U.S. Small Business Association Office of Advocacy

Illustrations by Emily Mungovan