Where have all the women gone? That's the question that may be on your mind after browsing through company profiles on this year's Inc. 5,000 list. While the number of women-owned businesses has been growing at two times the rate of businesses owned by men for the past few decades, women CEOs make up little more than 10 percent of the Inc. 5,000. These findings are indicative of a larger trend -- namely, while women run a lot of businesses, few are growing them beyond the $1 million mark.

"In most cases, women have not yet caught up with men in terms of absolute levels of employment and revenues," says Sharon Hadary, executive director of the Center for Women's Business Research.

For the past two years, the Washington-based group has been conducting interviews with thousands of women entrepreneurs who run million- and billion-dollar companies. The goal: to identify a practical pathway for growth by seeking advice from women who have blazed their way to success.

Hadary's key finding: It pays to think big and set high growth goals. "Women who had a higher aspiration for growth had a higher likelihood of accessing capital to grow their companies," she says.

When first starting out, women should not rely on the accountant to keep the financials in step. Instead, they ought to put in place consistent financial reporting -- and familiarize themselves with reading the reports. "Faster-growing businesses produce more financial reports more often, and embrace them as a management tool," Hadary says.

Two or three years later, when business owners typically begin looking for outside capital, these reports will demonstrate that the company is bankable -- which is crucial to securing that much-needed business loan.

But don't go hat-in-hand to the banker, Hadary advises. "Women build relationships with our customers, employees, and vendors -- but we don't build a relationship with bankers," she says. That's a mistake. Hadary tells women to interview prospective bankers and seek out those who have a record for supporting women's entrepreneurship.

Four in 10 women want to grow their businesses as large as possible. Hadary says she wants to empower the remaining 60 percent -- those who may lack confidence in their ability to get the money they need to grow.

The Inc. 5,000 women join Hadary in wanting to set the numbers straight by inspiring a new generation of women of all ages to launch their own companies. So we asked them to talk candidly about what it takes to succeed in male-dominated fields, the importance of taking the next step despite fear, and what they wish they had known before starting out. Here's a look at their top tips for other women business owners:

Play hardball -- but only when necessary

When Wendy Klinefelter Tragiai's policeman husband, Brian Klinefelter, was killed in the line of duty in 1996, she wanted to give back to his colleagues who had comforted her. So she began KEEPRS (No. 2,045), selling public safety uniforms and gear. Although her 2006 revenue topped $3.1 million, Tragiai says she still struggles with being taken seriously as a woman in a male-dominated industry. "Just the other day, I was meeting with a vendor along with our general manager, who is male," she says. "The presenter spoke almost exclusively to him, even though I'm the one who decides whether to carry the product." Sometimes, it's best to laugh at mistaken presumptions, although Tragiai has learned to make her voice heard by asking tough questions when it's important to her. "Luckily, it's not needed too often," she quips.

Find your own management style

There's never just one way of doing things, says Sandy Chilewich, founder of popular leg wear company HUE (which she sold in 1991 with sales in excess of $40 million) and Chilewich (No. 1,918), a textile company. "To be a good manager and leader, you have to dig deep to find your own voice and style," she says. "Imitating what business society presents as 'winning' does not work." Chilewich says she begins with a dream and then tests the water. "If it doesn't look like it's going to fly, I make changes, sometimes completely changing direction until I am sure of commercial viability." HUE started out with slippers and ended up in hosiery, while Chilewich began with Raybowls -- concave bowls on display at the MOMA store that are fashioned from a washable stretch netting -- and is now producing placemats and rugs. Chilewich prides herself with creating a company culture where a sense of humor and ability to ask for help prevails.

Set boundaries

Kim Kleeman is home by 5:30 p.m., travels only a handful of times each year, and doesn't work weekends. Yet she runs a $2.3 million company called Shakespeare Squared (No. 329), which writes and edits educational material for big-name publishers like Houghton Mifflin.

A former teacher and mother of three (her youngest is two-and-a-half), Kleeman manages a staff of 20 and 400 freelancers from an office across the street from her home. "My commute is two minutes," she says. It's easy for work to take over your life, Kleeman contends. "You really have to set boundaries early on." Kleeman says she works hard, but sticks to 40- to 50-hour weeks. "Delegate things out," she advises. "Women tend to be control freaks. You really have to let that go." She also invests in hiring only people she trusts. "I don't hire to fire," she says. And a supportive husband helps, too. "If your salary suddenly becomes higher than his, make sure he won't have a problem with that," she says. "Lucky for me, I have that."

Go where business is headed

Becky Lunceford Anderson started For Every Body (No. 3,420), selling soy-based bath and body products out of her kitchen and, later, her garage. A mother of nine, Anderson wanted to teach her four daughters the value of a dollar and the importance of hard work. One daughter would work the register, while the others pumped lotion, pasted labels, and wrapped gift baskets. "We look back and laugh…. For years, we had Thanksgiving in the garage on paper plates," Anderson says. "The day after Thanksgiving is the best time to open a new store. The holiday season is when we earn a large percentage of our yearly revenues." When Bath and Body Works opened stores in malls around Utah, Anderson was quick to diversify into the candle market. The company's air fresheners are sold in Home Depot and Lowe's. Anderson is also planning to launch a home-party division. Her secret weapon? Her family. "Though they're all grown up and out of the house, we have dinner together every Monday night. It's a tradition we started 20 years ago. We brainstorm and I run ideas by them."

Believe in yourself

Faryl Robin Morse's first job was selling shoes at Kenneth Cole. Shoes were her passion, but she wished that fashionable footwear could be more affordable. One day I'll do better -- and become my own boss, she told herself. And she did. In 2001, Morse launched Farylrobin Footwear (No. 1,609), a $3.8 million company. Her personal motto: "Go big or stay home," she says. "If I had listened to the naysayers, I would never have gotten off the ground. Five years later, I'm running a multimillion-dollar company. It all starts with the feet."

Embrace the financials

Maureen Kelly dreamed of developing makeup products that would not only enhance women's natural beauty, but also improve their skin. So she founded tarte (No. 994), a $5.7 million cosmetics company, from her one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. In the beginning, male suppliers would address her as "sweetheart" or "honey." "Needless to say, we don't work with those suppliers anymore," she says. It took time for Kelly, who enjoyed creative tasks like developing products, to understand the financial side of the business. But she forced herself to read business books on her multiple flights to China. "Even the most creative idea won't be executed successfully without fine tuning the financials," she says.

Make good use of feminine charm

Remember, being a woman business owner has its plusses, too. That's a belief shared by mother-daughter owners of Carilyn Vaile (No. 2,907), makers of trendy, multifunctional clothing for women. "We can use our charm," Carilyn Vaile says. "There were times during negotiations that I felt a man would have been heard faster or not been given the run around, but I feel I've far outweighed these negatives with the benefits of being a woman -- the biggest being our ability to multitask."