Women entrepreneurs should go for the million-dollar mark

It's well-known that women rule their family's pocketbook and make many of the major purchasing decisions in their households, and now there's proof that women play a big role in the economy as business owners. A report from the Center for Women's Business Research found that the eight million women-owned businesses in the U.S contribute $3 trillion to the economy and create or maintain 23 million jobs. That's 16 percent of the total workforce.

Combined together, women-owned businesses would have the fifth largest gross domestic product rate in the world, ahead of the U.K., France and Italy. Pretty impressive. The New York Times reports that, armed with this data, women business leaders are going to the White House, Congress and the Small Business Administration to ask for more support for women-owned business.