Top 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Led Companies These women-led businesses are speeding their way to the top.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
From Entrepreneur Magazine's Leading Ladies.
Industrial construction, Sugar Hill, GA
spartanconstructors.com
Heidi Smith Price
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $350,000
2003 sales: $100,000
2007 sales: $136 million
IT staffing, Dallas
pinnacle1.com
Nina G. Vaca
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: $300
2003 sales: $9 million
2007 sales: $141 million
Temporary housing & hotel placements, Castle Rock, CO
temporaryhousingdirectory.com
Teresa Vidger
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $281,000
2007 sales: $20 million
Managed services provider, Waukesha, WI
enterforce.com
Marie L. O'Brien, Filippa C. Weber
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $26,000
2003 sales: $1.9 million
2007 sales: $50.3 million
Staffing solutions, Indianapolis
strategicstaffonline.com
Debra J. Maynard
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $60,000
2003 sales: $1.3 million
2007 sales: $39.4 million
Mailing services, Hooksett, NH
polarisdirect.net
Judith Maloy, Suzanne Lampognana
Began: 2003
Initial Investment: $2.4 million
2003 sales: $2.1 million
2007 sales: $43.9 million
IT staffing, Cedar Knolls, NJ
artechinfo.com
Ranjini Poddar
Began: 1992
Initial Investment: $200,000
2003 sales: $16.5 million
2007 sales: $128.2 million
IT & supply chain management services, Suwanee, GA
grmi.net
Naheed Syed
Began: 1993
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $2.2 million
2007 sales: $39.9 million
Metal recycling, Cicero, IL
unitedscrap.com
Marsha Serlin
Began: 1978
Initial Investment: $200
2003 sales: $33.9 million
2007 sales: $172.8 million
Interactive advertising & marketing agency, New York City
morpheusmedia.com
Shenan Reed
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $2 million
2007 sales: $35 million
Petroleum products, Huntington Beach, CA
pinnaclepetroleum.com
Liz McKinley
Began: 1995
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $19.3 million
2007 sales: $120 million
Petroleum products, Houston
suncoastresources.com
Kathy Lehne
Began: 1985
Initial Investment: $2,000
2003 sales: $554 million
2007 sales: $1.1 billion
Senior-level finance & accounting staffing, Minneapolis
salollc.com
Amy L. Langer
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $150,000
2003 sales: $3.4 million
2007 sales: $42 million
Consulting firm, Atlanta
searchwizards.net
Leslie O'Connor
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $359,600
2007 sales: $12.2 million
Translation services, New York City
transperfect.com
Elizabeth Elting, Shirley Shawe
Began: 1992
Initial Investment: $5,000
2003 sales: $37 million
2007 sales: $156.5 million
Medical record retrieval & digitization, South Jordan, UT
mediconnect.net
Amy Rees Anderson
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: Undisclosed
2003 sales: $2.8 million
2007 sales: $35.6 million
Industrial construction, Sugar Hill, GA
thesaxongroupinc.com
Jeni Bogdan
Began: 1995
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $13.4 million
2007 sales: $81.8 million
Industrial combustion equipment, Richmond Hill, Ontario
aecometric.com
Jill Anderson
Began: 1978
Initial Investment: $50,000
2003 sales: $1.5 million
2007 sales: $23 million
Raw materials sourcing & distribution, High Point, NC
Christine Yumei Chen
Began: 1988
Initial Investment: $44,500
2003 sales: $3 million
2007 sales: $28.8 million
IT consulting, St. Louis
kellymitchell.com
Cassandra Sanford
Began: 1998
Initial Investment: $10,000
2003 sales: $4.6 million
2007 sales: $33.6 million
Online community creation & management, Watertown, MA
communispace.com
Diane Hessan
Began: 1999
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $2.4 million
2007 sales: $23.6 million
Travel & perfomance improvement solutions, Savage, MN
advantageperformancenetwork.com
Mary Sue Leathers
Began: 1995
Initial Investment: $40,000
2003 sales: $23.3 million
2007 sales: $85 million
General contracting, Deerfield Beach, FL
rccassociates.com
Beverly Raphael
Began: 1971
Initial Investment: $5,000
2003 sales: $34.8 million
2007 sales: $105.1 million
Cabinets, Dallas, TX
ccabinc.com
Beverly Taylor
Began: 1988
Initial Investment: Undisclosed
2003 sales: $48.9 million
2007 sales: $130.8 million
Marketing agency, West Hollywood, CA
ncompassonline.com
Donna Graves, Kae Erickson
Began: 2003
Initial Investment: $1.5 million
2003 sales: $360,000
2007 sales: $7.3 million
Dog day camps & boarding services franchisor, Boulder, CO
campbowwow.com
Heidi Flammang
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $85,000
2003 sales: $100,000
2007 sales: $3.8 million
General contracting, Irvine, CA
cascocontractors.com
Cheryl Osborn
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $20,000
2003 sales: $3 million
2007 sales: $22.9 million
IT consulting, Overland Park, KS
saiconinc.com
Swati K. Yelmar
Began: 1998
Initial Investment: $6,000
2003 sales: $1.8 million
2007 sales: $16.5 million
Health-care data retreival, auditing & reporting, Charlottesville, VA
outcomesinc.com
Wanda Kochhar
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: $60,000
2003 sales: $3.5 million
2007 sales: $24.5 million
IT services, Independence, OH
murtechconsulting.com
Ailish M. Murphy
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $100,000
2003 sales: $685,700
2007 sales: $10 million
Mobility solutions, Norcross, GA
stratixcorp.com
Bonney Shuman
Began: 1983
Initial Investment: $750
2003 sales: $38.2 million
2007 sales: $106.3 million
IT services, Alpharetta, GA
appdevinc.com
Daksha Choksey
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $5,000
2003 sales: $697,000
2007 sales: $9.7 million
Fuel distributor, Euless, TX
ricochetfuel.com
Kelly Brett-Roberts
Began: 1988
Initial Investment: $20,000
2003 sales: $7.4 million
2007 sales: $36.2 million
Education technology integration, Duluth, GA
logicalchoice.com
Cynthia B. Kaye
Began: 1994
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $19.1 million
2007 sales: $65.4 million
Sea salt, Woodinville, WA
seasalt.com
Naomi Novotny
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $1,500
2003 sales: $264,000
2007 sales: $5.7 million
IT staffing, Houston
iconconsultants.com
Pamela O'Rourke
Began: 1998
Initial Investment: $250,000
2003 sales: $23 million
2007 sales: $72 million
Promotional products & services, Danvers, MA
swervepoint.com
Juli Sinnett
Began: 2003 Initial Investment: $125,000
2003 sales: $1.9 million
2007 sales: $15.5 million
"Sixteen years ago, we were cold calling and struggling to land our first client, The Port Authority of New York. New Jersey called us by mistake, attempting to contact a company whose name was similar to [ours]. We kept them on the phone and discussed their IT infrastructure and project needs at length. Needless to say, they became our first client. We still laugh at this."
Ranjini Poddar, owner of Artech Information Systems LLC, No. 7
Cedar Knolls, New Jersey
"The biggest mistake we ever made was undervaluing ourselves. When we started, we were young and hungry, and we didn't give ourselves credit for the amount of value we brought to our clients and strategies. So the lesson learned is: Don't undervalue yourself and your expertise, and don't let your size dictate your value."
Shenan Reed, owner of Morpheus Media, No. 10
New York City
"It is important to take an inventory of your strengths and what you like to do. Focus on those things and get help for the others as soon as you can."
Amy L. Langer, owner of Salo LLC, No. 13
Minneapolis
"Be a great juggler. As a woman in business, you will always have lots of balls in the air, including the activities of running your business and being strategic in your decisions to grow your business. In many cases, [you also have] the role of being a wife, a mother, a daughter and a sister. The same traits that make us great in all of these roles are the ones that you will rely on to excel in business."
Leslie O'Connor, owner of Search Wizards Inc., No. 14
Atlanta
"Build an atmosphere of trust and respect. You must always respect the [employees and clients] you work with. Believe in your people. Make your word count. In addition, never lose focus on your next challenge."
Jeni Bogdan, owner of The Saxon Group Inc., No. 17
Sugar Hill, Georgia
IT consulting, Detroit
strategicstaff.com
Cynthia Pasky
Began: 1990
Initial Investment: $60,000
2003 sales: $67 million
2007 sales: $148 million
Media research services, Rochester, NY
butlertill.com
Susan R. Butler, Tracy E. Till
Began: 1998
Initial Investment: $10,000
2003 sales: $7.1 million
2007 sales: $32.3 million
Design, building & consulting services, Norcross, GA
ibtenterprises.com
Mylle Mangum
Began: 1985
Initial Investment: Undisclosed
2003 sales: $15.8 million
2007 sales: $53.2 million
IT staffing, Mount Holly, NC
citpinc.com
Phyllis Friday McConnell
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $500
2003 sales: $3 million
2007 sales: $19 million
IT staffing, Dallas, TX
vignon.com
Kathy Hodgins Blanck
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $20,000
2003 sales: $144,600
2007 sales: $3.6 million
Modular construction, DeSoto, TX
warrior-group.net
Gail Warrior-Lawrence
Began: 1997
Initial Investment: $1,000
2003 sales: $11.4 million
2007 sales: $41.7 million
Energy-efficient lighting products, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
greenlite.ca
Nina Gupta
Began: 1994
Initial Investment: $1 million
2003 sales: $6 million
2007 sales: $28 million
Medical/nonmedical home-care & medical staffing franchisor, Gurnee, IL
brightstarhealthcare.com
Shelly Sun
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $100,000+
2003 sales: $1.4 million
2007 sales: $11.8 million
Transportation solutions & pallet management, South Plainfield, NJ
bettaway.com
June Delany, Tracey Ursini, Betty Vaccaro, Laura Vaccaro
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: $6,000
2003 sales: $10.6 million
2007 sales: $26.2 million
IT solutions, Mission, KS
proactivesolutions.com
Melissa Cather-Thiede
Began: 1996
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $9.6 million
2007 sales: $37 million
IT & business consulting, Pearland, TX
iti-ps.com/services
June Reeder
Began: 2000
Initial Investment: $0
2003 sales: $1.2 million
2007 sales: $10.5 million
Freight forwarding, El Paso, TX
trans-expedite.com
Keeli Jernigan
Began: 2001
Initial Investment: $29,000
2003 sales: $3 million
2007 sales: $18 million
Mailing services, Nashville, TN
letterlogic.com
Sherry Stewart
Began: 2002
Initial Investment: $50,000
2003 sales: $1.1 million
2007 sales: $9.8 million
Behind The Numbers
The 50 fastest-growing women-led companies ranking was compiled with the help of the Women Presidents' Organization, a nonprofit peer advisory organization for independent women presidents and CEOs. Entrepreneur and the WPO solicited applications from women-led businesses in North America and considered those that met the following criteria:
- Must be a privately held, woman-led company in the U.S. or Canada.
- Company sales in 2003 must be $100,000 or greater; 2007 sales must be at least $1 million.
- Companies were ranked according to a sales growth formula that combines percentage and absolute growth. From this list, the top 50 were selected. (In cases where companies have multiple partners, only women are listed.)
Research was conducted by WPO director of communications Caitlin Jenkins, communications manager Kirsten Wynn and assistants Kat Piracha and Tanya Rosado. Entrepreneur research editor James Park also contributed to this listing.