By Gary Stern

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — For 12 years, Andrea Herrera played it safe and stayed out of debt.

The Chicago catering business she opened in 1995, Amazing Edibles, grew slowly but steadily; 10 years after launching, the business had annual sales of $650,000 and the kind of debt-free balance sheet most business owners fantasize about. Herrera, who describes herself as “risk adverse,” was determined not to spend a single penny her company didn’t have. She feared that if she couldn’t repay a loan, she would lose her savings and business.

But that caution came with a price: Herrera’s reluctance to expand was crimping her business. She rented a 1,000-square-foot storefront and relied on a six-burner range more fitting for someone’s kitchen then a professional caterer. She had an executive chef, but Herrera did the marketing and sales herself to keep costs down.

That’s a common tactic for female entrepreneurs — one that typically limits both their risks and their rewards. Of the 10 million female-owned businesses in the U.S. only 3% have annual revenue of more than $1 million, compared to 6% of all male-owned businesses, the Center for Women’s Business Research reports.

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