According to a survey conducted by the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute, small businesses owned by women will account for 5 to 5.5 million new jobs by 2018, more than half of the 9.72 million small business jobs that are expected to be created during that time period.

The survey also had some interested insights into how women run their small businesses:

Importantly, The Guardian Life Index: What Matters Most to America’s Small Business Owners provides new insights about the professional management approach practiced by women small business owners – one that will significantly transform the workplace environment for millions of Americans in the coming years. According to The Guardian Life Index, women small business owners create their own businesses for a variety of reasons, but a common theme is their dissatisfaction with the corporate track, based on their desire to avoid worrying about office politics. As owners/managers, they are:

• More diligently engaged in strategic and tactical facets of their business
• More proactively customer-focused
• More likely to incorporate community and environment into their business plans
• More receptive to input and guidance from internal and external advisors
• More committed to creating opportunities for others

You can read the whole survey here (note: it’s a PDF file).