This report profiles current West Virginia women business owners and notes significant trends in the last eight years. It highlights a subgroup of women business owners, specifically low income, single women with children. These survey areas are discussed: industry sector, type of ownership, reasons for going/not going into business, planning time, status of the business, hours spent on the business, perception of risk, start-up and ongoing concerns, resources, capitalization of the business, home-based businesses, jobs created, prior experience of the entrepreneur, and demographic information. General recommendations are made, including ongoing oral and written data collection; development and use of audiovisual materials; outreach training and counseling; educators' promotion of the development and use of a business; development, analysis, and use of a written business plan by women business owners; concerted action for information transfer between the urban and rural areas of the state; and access to capital for women business owners. Specific recommendations call for (1) women business owner and educator awareness of market trends, (2) education about forms of legal ownership, (3) a better understanding of the risk, and (4) development of a network of associates to assist the entrepreneur. Data, the instrument, and case studies are appended. (YLB)