How Do You Achieve Fast Revenue Growth With a Business?

Anjie Cayot, Laura Kelly, Cindy Rockwell and Chandler Cayot (Chandler not pictured) started Keyot, a hybrid name of Kelly and Cayot, in 2008.  Keyot was born in Kelly’s Woodbury basement with a mission to help businesses grow and innovate.

Kelly, 51, and Cayot, 46, joined by two female partners, were honored earlier this year for building one of the 50 fastest-growing women-owned businesses by the Women Presidents’ Organization. Keyot expects to gross about $19 million this year from the work of about 115 employees and consultants.

Find out how (and why) they got started and how they achieved such fast growth:  Keyot founder, former corporate warrior, sets independent course at female-owned firm

Green and Clean: Jelmar LLC

Becoming more environmentally friendly is an initiative Alison Gutterman (pictured), President and CEO of Skokie, Illinois-based Jelmar LLC, spearheaded in 2006 for her company.  You might recognize two of Jelmar's more famous brands:  Tarn-X Tarnish Remover and CLR brand of calcium, lime and rust remover.  Today nearly 70 percent of the company’s SKUs bear the Safer Choice label.  Ideally, Gutterman would like all Jelmar products to be green.

Read the entire article:  Green, clean dynasty:  Jelmar LLC

Screenshot courtesy:  Edward Lowe Foundation

To Grow, Sometimes You Just Need to Say No

A new survey found that while women small business owners claim to value work-life balance more than men, women are less likely than men to actually take steps to achieve that elusive goal.  One of the other big problems is learning how to say "no."

Capital One’s latest Spark Business Barometer polled small business owners about various aspects of their businesses, including how they define business success.

Learn more:  Study Reveals Female Business Owners Need to Set Boundaries

Black Women Entrepreneurs Are the Fastest Growing Group in America

A recently published study, 2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report (pdf), commissioned by American Express Open, shows that the overall number of female-owned businesses grew by 74 percent between 1997 and 2015, which is 1.5 times the national average.  The number of businesses owned by African-American women has grown 332 percent since 1997, according to Fortune magazine.

Read more:  Black Women Represent Fastest-Growing Group of Entrepreneurs in U.S.