Photography Studios Make Up Over Half of Top-Rated US Women-Owned Businesses

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A woman with red hair and a striped shirt adjusts a professional camera on a tripod indoors, focusing intently on her shot. Large windows with blurred greenery are visible in the background.

More than half of the top-rated women-owned businesses in the U.S. are photography studios, according to a new study.

Online lender OnDeck analyzed Yelp ratings for over 12,000 women-owned small businesses across the U.S. to create a ranking of the top-rated ones. The results show that the top three businesses on the list are all photography studios, and six of the ten highest-rated businesses are also photography studios.

For the study, OnDeck looked at women-owned businesses in 431 U.S. cities listed on Yelp with at least 50 reviews and a rating of four stars or higher. The team then checked each business’s website to confirm it was a small business. Rankings were based on Yelp’s five-star ratings, with businesses that had more reviews placed higher in the event of a tie.

Infographic listing the top 10 highest-rated women-owned small businesses, each with a photo, location, business name, and a 5-star rating. Businesses include photography, consulting, and events across the U.S.
The Top Ten Highest Rated Women-Owned Small Businesses, according to a study by OmDeck.

OnDeck’s top ten list (seen in the infographic above) highlights the highest-rated women-owned small businesses in the U.S., regardless of category or location on Yelp. All ten businesses have perfect five-star ratings, but the one with the most reviews is A Tale Ahead Photography in Pacifica, California. Run by a husband-and-wife wedding photography team, the studio has 391 perfect five-star reviews.

“The most common feedback we get is that working with us is fun and easy,” Annie Zou of A Tale Ahead Photography tells OnDeck. “I don’t like to take on a lot of clients because I want to give each couple individual care, and people do feel that. Quick, thorough communication is often cited as an important point.”

OnDeck notes that women-owned businesses in the U.S. employ 11.4 million people and generate more than $2.1 trillion in annual revenue. However, women still own only 22.3% of employer businesses, and women-owned businesses account for just 4.84% of total business revenue. Zou says being underestimated as a woman remains a challenge for her.

“As a young woman, I had to learn to lead with clarity,” she tells OnDeck. “I reminded myself to project an image of a confident, experienced photographer so that I could earn that level of trust in my clients. These days, I’m actually a lot more relaxed and casual — word-of-mouth and reviews do that part of the hard work for me now.”

The full study by OnDeck can be found here.

Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.

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