Women-owned businesses are one of the fastest growing categories of firms in the world, but they are greatly understudied in countries from the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) [
This study contributes to the limited body of literature on factors that positively affect the business performance of female entrepreneurial undertakings, using the context of the Polish experiences. Drawing on
Our findings suggest that the most successful female business owners in the region were ideally 30–39 years old; completed a university education; had at least three years of business experience; displayed above average entrepreneurial orientation; and adopted a business strategy to deal with competitors. Moreover, the better performing women-owned micro-enterprises hired qualified and experienced employees (“hman capital”); offered products or services to domestic and international customers; were able to attract business sector clients; and had sufficient resources (“financial capital”). It is recommended that this research be replicated in other countries from the CEE region (e.g. Czech Republic) for comparative purposes.