By Taylor Smith, Founder and CEO of The Power Table
Almost nothing published about women in business describes how we actually build online. Most of the data tracks venture-backed startups. Most of us never raised a dollar of outside money and never planned to.
So we’re collecting our own.
The Female Founder Economy Survey is open now through October 15. It is the first research study we know of built specifically around the online female founder, and the results become The State of the Online Female Founder, an annual report publishing in January.
Here is everything you need to know before you take it.
What the Female Founder Economy Study is
The Female Founder Economy Survey is an annual research study on women who run revenue-generating businesses primarily online. It measures how those businesses make money, what the founders pay themselves, how the work gets done, where opportunities come from, and what it costs to keep going.
Our working hypothesis is simple. Some of the most successful online women founders may be hiding in plain sight. They are building stable, diversified businesses through intellectual property, private relationships, and multiple revenue streams, even when their full economic success is not visible online.
This year is the baseline. We plan to run the study every year so we can track how the Female Founder Economy changes over time.
Who it’s for
The survey is for you if you:
- Identify as a woman
- Are based in the United States or Canada
- Are the founder or co-founder of your business
- Take part directly in its strategic and financial decisions
- Generated business revenue in the last 12 months
- Use digital channels as a primary way to market, sell, or deliver your work
Franchise owners are welcome. This year’s report does not cover pre-revenue businesses or nonprofit organizations.
What we’re asking
The survey is 30 questions in eight short parts:
- Your Business. What you do, how long you’ve been doing it, and what it earned in the last 12 months.
- The Money Behind the Money. Which income streams bring in at least 10% of your revenue, what you paid yourself, and whether the business is profitable.
- How the Work Actually Gets Done. Your team structure, your hours, and how you’re using AI.
- Visibility and Personal Brand. Your audience size and the one channel that actually brings in clients.
- The Honest Experience. Burnout, support, and whether you’d do it all again.
- Rooms, Relationships, and Opportunity. Where your most valuable opportunity of the year came from, and why you invest in events.
- The Road Ahead. The business you’re building over the next three years, in your own words.
- About You. A few demographic questions, kept to the end.
How your answers are protected
The survey is completely anonymous. Your answers are never attached to your name, your business, or your email address, and every finding is reported in aggregate.
We ask about revenue and owner pay because those are the numbers nobody publishes honestly. Please don’t round up. The value of this study depends on the answers being true.
Who’s behind the Female Founder Economy Survey
The study is led by me, Taylor Smith, founder and CEO of The Power Table. Before I built companies, I trained in anthropology and spent years in academic research running qualitative surveys and ethnographic fieldwork. This survey is that training pointed at our own industry.
We’re running it with DEN Insights, an independent research firm handling the survey build, data collection, and analysis. The Power Table team writes and publishes the final report in January 2027.
Why we need 1,000 women to take the survey
Our goal for year one is 1,000 responses.
At that size, we can cut the data by revenue, business model, audience size, and caregiving load and still have findings we can stand behind in every cut. That’s the difference between an interesting blog post and a study journalists cite.
We’re taking the findings to national business press, to stages, and to the brands and sponsors making decisions about our industry. A thousand women behind every number makes those numbers hard to ignore.
What you get when you take the survey
When you finish the survey, you’ll land on a separate page where you can add your name and email. That opt-in is optional and completely separate from your answers.
If you opt in, you’ll receive:
A guide to using the findings, including where you stand against women in your revenue range, what the data says about pricing, and which rooms produce real business.
The full report, The State of the Online Female Founder, the day it publishes in January. Not a summary. The whole thing.
Key dates
September 15: Survey opens
October 15: Survey closes
January 2027:The State of the Online Female Founder report publishes
Quick answers & FAQs about the Female Founder Economy Survey
How long does it take? Less than five minutes.
Do I need to give my email to take it? No. The survey is anonymous. The email opt-in only comes after you finish, and only if you want the report.
I’m in Canada. Should I take it? Yes, Canadian founders are included.
Can I share it? Please do. Send it to one woman you know who would have something to say. The bigger the sample, the stronger the findings.
Take the Survey
Take the survey here: thepowertable.co/survey
It closes October 15. Five minutes from you helps build the first real picture of how women are building businesses online.
About the Author, Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith is the founder and CEO of The Power Table, a women’s entrepreneurship community, podcast, and live conference brand. A four-time founder, international keynote speaker, and personal brand strategist, she helps women entrepreneurs become more visible, respected, and in demand. Before entrepreneurship, she worked in academic research, running qualitative surveys and ethnographic studies. Find her on Instagram @thepowertable.co or listen to The Power Table Podcast.
