When the System Fails You, Your People Won't
I just finished rereading a report that made me put my phone down and just sit for a minute. Eight Years to Build, Nine Months to Destroy, from Core Strategy Partners, surveyed 110 women- and minority-owned businesses — and the findings are sobering. Nearly half are seeing revenue declines. Over 80% of those who are both women- and minority-owned say the political climate feels hostile to their survival. One business owner put it plainly: "After 8 years of building my business, I am now facing dissolution... Completely wiped out."
I won't sugarcoat it — this is real, and it's happening to people in our community right now.
But here's what stopped me in my tracks: when these business owners were asked where they turn for support, only 16.4% said they trust government-funded programs. Meanwhile, 52.7% — more than half — said they rely on other minority business owners and peer networks. Peer support ranked higher than every formal assistance program combined.
Read that again. The systems that were supposedly built to help are being trusted less than the founder sitting next to you at a Her Corner event.
And honestly? This tracks with what the research has been telling us for years.
A 2025 study in Small Business Economics found that women entrepreneurs who receive peer support have significantly higher venture survival rates — and that the help-giving itself, woman to woman, builds a kind of community resilience that institutions simply can't replicate. A landmark 2026 UK study of over 2,200 female founders went even further, naming human connection — not funding, not policy — as the cornerstone of resilience and growth. And going back to a 2016 study out of India, researchers found that pairing business training with peer relationships was dramatically more effective than training alone. The lesson is the same whether you're in Ahmedabad or Annapolis: community is not a nice-to-have. It's infrastructure.
So what does this mean for you?
It means that if you've been waiting for the "right" program, the "right" grant, or the "right" policy shift before you invest in your business relationships — stop waiting. Build your table now. Find your two or three people who will tell you the truth, share the contract lead, make the introduction, or just remind you why you started your business.
It means that showing up to that Her Corner event, that coffee chat, that peer roundtable isn't networking fluff — it's a documented survival strategy.
And it means that if you're one of the founders feeling the squeeze right now — and many of you are — you are not alone, and you don't have to nail bite this by yourself.
The data is clear: when the system doesn't show up, your people do. So invest in them. Show up for them. Let them show up for you.
That's not charity. That's strategy.
You got this. We got you.
P.S. — If this hit home, don't wait. Our Summer Series 2026 is happening now through July, and it's built on exactly this premise: real accountability, real peers, real progress. You'll work alongside founders who get it — no judgment, just momentum. Register here and jump in anytime, wherever you are in your journey. Feel free to share your comments on our Instagram (@hercornercollective). We’d love to hear from you!