By Jay Wilcox

Women business owners won’t be shaken by the recession.

According to the pilot Key4Women Confidence Survey, 90 percent of responding women business owners don’t believe the economy will get any worse during the rest of 2009. In fact, 48 percent said the economy would improve over the next six months, while another 42 percent predicted no change.

“It comes back to fundamentals,” said Lisa Kazor, president of Rockville Savantage Solutions, named a Small Business of 2009 by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. “If you have the fundamentals, it may be rocky, but you are better able to weather the storm.”

More than half – 56 percent – of those polled reported lower net earnings for first quarter 2009, and 18 percent said they weren’t fully employed for the quarter.

“A lot of people are illogical when times get tough,” Gwen Martin, PhD, director of research and interim executive director of the Center for Women’s Business Research, said. “I don’t see [women business owners] panicking.”

“[They] are pulling back and looking at how they can improve things like marketing, sales and internal processes,” Martin said. “Service sectors are still predicted to have more growth: primarily health care, social assistance and education.”

The Key4Women Confidence Survey was conducted in the last two weeks of April. 

Other findings:

• 11% reported increased selling prices of goods and services
• 25% reported prices dropped
• 73% plan to keep prices constant next quarter
• 11% plan to cut prices
• 17% plan to raise prices
• 18% cut staff
• 13% hired additional staff

— July 1, 2009