ONE in two female college graduates succeeds on her first attempt at running her own business, backed by strong encouragement and financial support from their families.

This was one of the findings of the survey conducted by Let’s Go Foundation and GE Money Bank on 100 “growing” women entrepreneurs who had gone to college, mostly from middle- and upper-middle-income families who are now in the food, manufacturing, services and retailing businesses.

The women entrepreneurs included in the survey have been in business for at least two years.

The survey, the first phase of a nationwide program to promote women entrepreneurship, aims to gain insights into women’s problems, successes and attitudes.

This is part of the campaign of Let’s Go and GE Money Bank to devise a curriculum tailored to the needs of future women entrepreneurs.

“An entrepreneurial culture will help uplift the quality of life of women, including their family, community, and aid in the economic development of the country,” said Let’s Go Foundation head Francisco Bernardo III, who presented the survey results at the Asian Institute of Management on Tuesday.

The survey said the success ratio among women was slightly over 50 percent, which means one of two do well on their first attempt to put up a business.

Some 23 percent succeeded after one failed attempt, and the others succeeded after two or more attempts.

Bernardo said 43 percent of the women entrepreneurs surveyed found college professors teaching business as most useful in growing their firms, contrary to the common notion that workshops and learning through experience were the only ways to learn business.

“It is therefore essential to optimize the learning experience of every aspiring entrepreneur by equipping teachers with the right classroom materials,” he said.

The survey showed that 65 percent of growing women entrepreneurs -- or those who had a track record in business of more than two years -- had worked in a private corporation before going on their own.

The survey also found that more than half of the women entrepreneurs came from families where both or at least one of the parents was also in business.

Influence from the family was thus noted as a significant factor behind the entrepreneur’s success, with 61 percent of the entrepreneurs saying they had drawn inspiration from their family.

“If you’re looking for money, it’s right in your backyard,” Bernardo said.

Over 70 percent of the women entrepreneurs said their mother was into business.

But some 25 percent also said they made it in their field even if none of their parents was an entrepreneur.

Some 59 percent of them started their business with partners. The top consideration for choosing a partner was family membership or closeness to the family.

The survey also showed that the entrepreneurial culture is strongest among women in the 30s age group, with 38 percent of the respondents aged 30 to 39, half of which are still single.

Some 31 percent of the respondents were below 30 years old, 21 percent were aged 40-49 and 10 percent were aged 50-59.

Close to half of the sampled respondents were from Metro Manila.

Also, 47 percent of them had a business-related college degree.

When asked what they consider their best attribute as a entrepreneur, 45 percent mentioned “passion,” 14 percent cited “dedication” and 10 percent replied “foresight.”

Asked to identify which functions and management processes they experienced serious problems with, 34 percent answered human resource management, 33 percent said financial planning and budgeting and 33 percent cited competition.

Let’s Go Foundation and GE Money Bank are now developing a teaching program to be rolled out to pilot schools in 2007. Based on the results, the program will be enhanced for wider implementation across the country, targeting women’s colleges in the future.

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