15 Inspiring Case Studies for International Women’s Day

In 2021, 49% of new businesses in the U.S. were started by women. That’s a big change from 2019, when female founders only represented 28% of small business owners.

While it’s encouraging to see that women are catching up fast to their male peers, with the number of women running businesses increasing by 114% over the last 20 years, we know that there are many challenges women entrepreneurs have weathered to get to where they are today.

At FreshBooks, we’re all about seeing small business owners thrive. So to celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re sharing some of our favorite stories of entrepreneurial tests and triumphs from some incredible women and FreshBooks customers.

Damona Hoffman

“A lot of people go into entrepreneurship because they want more freedom, but in reality, it’s like, ‘Great, now I have 16 bosses.’ It’s always a dance to make sure I’m not taking too much on and promising more than I can.”

Read the full case study: Damona’s Relationship Coaching Business Found a Perfect Match With FreshBooks

Shannon Eddings

“After being let go from my job after the recession with a 6-month-old baby at home, I took a risk and went out on my own. The rest is history. I love that my kids can come to work with me some days and that my office is only one mile from our house.”

Read the full case study: When Her Growing Interior Design Business Got More Complex, Shannon Got FreshBooks

Kelly Vaughn

“The transition was natural, but the full plunge into starting my own business—and being responsible for it—was scary. But I waited until I had a good client base to start up and made sure I had an emergency fund to fall back on.”

Read the full case study: Meet Kelly, a Web Developer Who Creates Winning Project Proposals with a Simple Cloud Accounting Solution

Samantha Simms

“My clients are largely what I call Black tech and big tech. My focus is on giving underrepresented communities who are trying to enter the tech world the professional support that they may not have access to otherwise.”

Read the full case study: Digital Compliance Attorney Samantha Is a Software Expert—and FreshBooks Is Her Accounting Software of Choice

Alexis Girvan

“Your first year of business is not supposed to be like some raving success; your first year is so much of figuring it out. Cultivating relationships and cultivating trust takes time.”

Read the full case study: How FreshBooks Helps Life Coach Alexis Pursue Her Passion, and Keep Her Books Tax-Time Ready

Jasmine Parasram

“I was having more and more designers, freelancers, and creatives asking me questions about something that is a really taboo topic in my industry, which is pricing. Now I’m at a point in my career where I’m actually able to teach pricing skills to the next generation of designers.”

Read the full case study: Australian Graphic Designer, Jasmine, Relies on FreshBooks to Help Her Fight Design Crimes

Teresa Ruiz Decker

“When you first start out and you’re so small, you think: Is a new tool worth it? Everything adds up in terms of what it costs to run your business. But I found that it’s really important that you do invest in these things.”

Read the full case study: Meet Teresa, a Freelancer Who Uses Time Tracking to Help Effectively Measure Her Productivity and Determine Her Rates

Sam White

“To share my experiences about the transition to freelancing, I turned to YouTube where I created my channel, IamSamWhite. My hope is to use these videos as a way to engage with other freelancers who experience the same struggles and triumphs—and help them understand they’re not alone.”

Read the full case study: Meet Sam, a Freelance Creative, Who Saves 5 Hours a Week on Paperwork Using FreshBooks

Lisa Pedersen

“I didn’t want to swim against the current anymore. It made more sense for me and my family to start something I’d have more control over.”

Read the full case study: Meet Lisa, a Social Media Marketer Who Uses Accounting Software to Keep Track of Her Time and Money

Jessica McCormick

“I wear a lot of hats being a small business owner so for me, anything that will save me a couple of minutes is the route to go.”

Read the full case study: Meet Jessica, an Accounting Pro Who’s Significantly Improved Her Cash Flow Using Cloud Accounting Software

Cathy Thompson

“Think about how to replicate yourself and work yourself out of your business. That way, you can free up time and really enjoy life, instead of anchoring yourself.”

Read the full case study: How FreshBooks Select Helps Cathy Stay in Control of Her Growing Franchise

Ana Gotter

“Someone in my [writers’] group mentioned FreshBooks and a couple of other services. I wanted to build my business the way these women had already built theirs. I always took their advice very seriously.”

Read the full case study: Meet Ana, a Business Writer Who Uses Cloud Accounting to Stay on Top of Her Cash Flow and Ease the Pain of Taxes

Aliya Jiwan-Thawer

“When I really needed that flexibility, I didn’t have it. So I left, and it was scary. I was very lucky that I had the support of my parents and my spouse because it’s a scary thing to go from making really good money on a consistent basis to not being sure how much money is coming in.”

Read the full case study: How Aliya Uses FreshBooks to Scale Her Communications Firm and Stay Confident During Tax Season

Elizabeth David-Dembrowsky

“If I could help create the habit of [my interns] using FreshBooks while they’re a student of mine, hopefully, they’ll be able to carry that with them as they finish their studies and start to practice.”

Read the full case study: Tracking and Billing Hours in FreshBooks is a Breeze for Elizabeth’s Whole Legal Team

Lisa Meller

“Every business is unique in the way that they approach things. That’s something that I like about doing third-party work because I get to see so many different facets of how business gets done.”

Read the full case study: How Lisa Runs Her Business Day-to-Day, While Still Staying on Top of Her Books Come Tax Time

Webinar: Beating the Odds as a Woman in Business: How to Fund and Scale Like a Boss

This article was updated in March, 2023.