WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) --- Female business owners would like to change the mindset of their peers.
Starting a business is not enough. You must grow it.
On Thursday a panel of four successful businesswomen will discuss how to keep enterprises growing.
Amy Millman, Kathy Korman Frey, Renee Lewis and Gloria Dittus will appear at George Washington University for this public event at 10 a.m.
The roundtable marks the fourth day in the second annual DC Entrepreneurship Week (DCEW).
Female business owners should seek resources to expand the enterprise, according to Lindsey Mask, the moderator of the panel and co-Founder of DCEW.
"Thinking about growth is a thought of risk. The higher you go, the further you'll fall, and that's scary for a lot of people," says Mask.
But she tells her female entrepreneurs that the risk is "the only way to succeed."
Mask has witnessed the developments within her own business, LadiesDC.com.
The initial six-person operation has blossomed into a network of 2,000 members in four major cities.
She says the risk of failure is a big hindrance for women.
"I think the nature of women is typically sensitive to [failure], so that it is a greater challenge to women than it is to men."
Female-owned businesses are the fastest growing businesses in the Washington-Metropolitan area.
"Women are more likely to own businesses in comparison with women nationwide," according to a Sept. 2010 report from The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR).
"Prince George's County has the highest rate of business ownership among women at 34 percent, with the District of Columbia and Montgomery County following closely at 33 percent," states the report produced by IWPR along with the Washington Area Women's Foundation, Urban Institute, Trinity University, and the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital.
However, the female-owned businesses live a shorter life than those owned by men.
Thursday's discussion will challenge women to think about surviving and thriving.
"That's a new thing for women to sort of adjust [their thinking to] looking for growth," says Mask.
Written by: Elizabeth Jia
9NEWS NOW & WUSA9.com