CHARLOTTE–Women entrepreneurs are leading the digital transformation of business and are increasingly optimistic, according to the 2018 Bank of America Women Business Owner Spotlight.

More than half of the 1,000 women entrepreneurs across the country their revenue to increase in the year ahead – up 14 percentage points from 2017. Their optimism toward long-term growth, hiring and the economy is also on the rise.

According to the study, 56 percent of women plan to grwo their business over the next five years and their economic projections have grown increasingly positive since 2016.

  • Forty-nine percent expect their local economy to improve (up 4 percentage points from 2017 and up 12 percentage points from 2016).
  • Forty-eight percent expect the national economy to improve (up 4 percentage points from 2017 and up 23 percentage points from 2016).

Sharon Miller, managing director and head of Small Business, Bank of America, said in a statement, “When it comes to small business, women entrepreneurs are at the forefront of the digital transformation. It is exciting to see how they are innovating and leveraging mobile tools to help their businesses succeed. Their increased optimism about the future and the potential for hiring and growth is also very encouraging.”

Women are, for instance, leading the charge in using mobile devices to process digital financial transactions, with 33 percent using a mobile device to process payments and manage other transactions compared with 26 percent of men.

They lead men  in other specific uses of mobile devices as well. The study reports they are:

  • Accepting mobile payments from customers (71 percent of women versus 65 percent of men).
  • Issuing refunds to customers (29 percent of women versus 19 percent of men).
  • Paying employees (19 percent of women versus 14 percent of men).
  • Hiring (12 percent of women vs 8 percent of men
  • Updating social media (44 percent vs. 33 percent of men)

The survey also looked at women’s perspectives on barriers to starting and financing a small business. Sixty-one percent of women entrepreneurs say women face greater challenges then men in securing capital.

Nevertheless, 84 percent believe that has improved in the last decade.