Copyright Forbes
Meredith Moore is the Founder & CEO of Artisan Financial Strategies LLC. She is fascinated by the interplay between gender, money and power. For years, the narrative around women-owned businesses has focused on growth in sheer numbers. And that story is quite impressive: Women started nearly half (49%) of all new businesses in 2024. But beneath this success lurks a quiet problem: While many women entrepreneurs cross the $1 million mark, far fewer scale to $5 million, $10 million and beyond. This is the next frontier, and it will drive a major economic lift. The Scaling Challenge And Opportunity In my own work with women entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed how rare it still is to find women who’ve scaled past the $5 million to $10 million mark. I created a private dinner series in Atlanta specifically for women running companies of that size, and it’s telling how hard it is to fill a table. The scarcity itself is what inspired me to write this piece. I see plenty of male-owned businesses in this range, yet far fewer women. That imbalance represents both a challenge and an enormous opportunity. It’s the age-old adage: What got you here won’t get you there. What gets women to $1 million will not get them to $5 million. Beyond that threshold, success requires building a repeatable process, cultivating leadership depth and learning how to replace yourself. True scale happens when the business no longer relies on the founder’s daily presence. I walk clients through an “exit readiness” framework that helps them see how dependent the business still is on them, and it’s a mirror I hold up for myself, too. Scaling is about courage, the willingness to invest in people and systems, and knowing that doing so is what transforms a business from an income stream to a transferable asset that can one day be sold or transitioned for lasting wealth and financial freedom. Momentum And Milestones Crossing $1 million in revenue is a widely celebrated milestone, but it shouldn’t be the finish line. In total, there are now more than 14 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. These businesses generate a collective $2.7 trillion in revenue and provide jobs for 12.2 million people. Clearly, these are not side hustles or “lifestyle businesses.” They are serious companies with the potential to scale, build transferable value and create intergenerational wealth. Yet too often, I've seen women founders stall after this first big milestone. Why Scaling Matters For Everyone Scaling beyond $1 million is about more than hitting higher revenue numbers. It’s about moving from a business that depends on the owner to one that builds real equity and transferable value. Companies shift from lifestyle enterprises into assets that can be sold, transitioned or passed down to subsequent generations. That shift matters. Women-owned businesses already contribute trillions to the U.S. economy. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2022, women-owned companies brought in roughly $2.1 trillion in receipts, employed 11.4 million people and paid $508.5 billion in payroll. If more women-led businesses scaled beyond $5 million and $10 million, the economic impacts these companies make would grow exponentially. Scaling also matters personally for founders. It allows you to calculate your wealth gap and determine how much you’d need to sell the company for in order to achieve financial independence. That kind of clarity transforms the business from just a source of income into a source of generational wealth for families, employees and communities. The Plateau Problem At the $5 million to $10 million stage, the challenges of scaling a business shift. Early hustle and determination are no longer enough. Founders run into structural and systemic barriers that can slow or even cap growth, including: • Capital Access: Despite strong performance, women-led firms still receive less than 2.3% of global venture capital funding. Traditional debt financing can also be harder to secure, leaving women leaders with fewer options for fueling expansion. • Contracts And Markets: Breaking into large corporate or government supply chains remains difficult, despite supplier diversity programs. This limits growth beyond mid-market opportunities. • Owner Dependence: Many firms stall because the founder still is the business. Without systems, leadership depth and a clear plan, the company’s value is capped by the entrepreneur’s personal bandwidth. • Leadership Hires: Scaling requires senior talent, but these hires are costly and hard to get right. Without them, founders are too close to daily fires and the business remains owner-dependent. These barriers help explain why so many promising businesses plateau between $1 million and $10 million—they’re formidable, but not insurmountable. Getting Past The Bottleneck The following practical steps can help women entrepreneurs move past the $5 million to $10 million bottleneck. 1. Gain clarity. Start with a baseline valuation and understand your personal wealth gap. Knowing your target number provides focus and direction. 2. De-risk growth. Balance personal and business planning so that growth doesn’t jeopardize your financial security. The right balance creates space for bold moves without risking everything. 3. Explore capital strategies. Don’t view venture capital as the only answer. Women founders can explore options that include strategic debt, alternative financing, joint ventures and minority investors. These approaches can provide growth capital without requiring you to give up full control. 4. Build leadership depth. Making the right senior hires can free founders from the responsibility of putting out daily fires. Leadership depth reduces owner-dependence and allows the business to scale sustainably. Scaling For Your Future—And The World’s Closing the scale gap is not only possible; it’s one of the greatest untapped economic opportunities of our time. As the numbers make abundantly clear, women entrepreneurs have already proven they can start and grow thriving businesses. The next imperative is scaling beyond $1 million, moving into $10 million and beyond. When you achieve this kind of scale, the impact extends far beyond your own balance sheet. It helps create stronger families, resilient communities and a more competitive economy for everyone.
