Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has set a lofty and commendable goal – to make Texas the No. 1 place for women-owned businesses in the nation. There is nothing as empowering as entrepreneurship.

“Women business owners are a powerful economic force, and my goal is to make Texas the most welcoming home for them,” the governor pointed out recently in Forbes magazine. “Women are now majority owners of nearly one in three U.S. firms, and 887 net new women-owned enterprises open every day. Unsurprisingly, many of these startups are finding the freedom to flourish in Texas.”

Texas is second to California, but its share of women-owned businesses is growing faster.

“In fact, businesses owned by women in Texas are growing at more than twice the rate of all firms nationwide,” Abbott notes. “Women cite the vision for an idea as the top motivation for going into business for themselves in a survey by the National Association of Women Business Owners. We see that same entrepreneurial passion here in Texas, and women are making gains in every industry sector.”

Here’s why this is an important initiative of the governor’s office.

First, entrepreneurship is a pathway to success.

“For many people, the opportunity to build a business has long been an important part of the American dream,” says Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. “In addition to housing and financial assets, the Survey of Consumer Finance shows that ownership of private businesses is a significant source of wealth and can be a vital source of opportunity for many households to improve their economic circumstances and position in the wealth distribution.”

But female entrepreneurship is also a way women can achieve the work-life balance they seek.

“Work-life balance is incredibly important to female entrepreneurs in the United States,” Business News Daily reported last year. “According to a new survey by PayPal, 55 percent of American women entrepreneurs said they started or want to start their own business to achieve work-life balance.”

So what can the governor’s office do to encourage women-owned businesses?

Keeping taxes low is a great start. The Legislature continues to cut the business franchise tax, but this poorly designed and even more poorly implemented tax should be abolished altogether.

And of course, because so many smaller women-owned businesses pay taxes via the owner’s personal income tax, keeping Texas free of a state personal income tax should remain a priority.

The governor and the Legislature should also continue to reform the state’s licensing rules. Occupational licenses usually serve one purpose and one purpose only – to protect existing businesses and industries from start-ups and entrepreneurs. Forcing aspiring business owners to spend months in cosmetology training just to braid hair, for example, is ridiculous.

“And I proudly approved $2.2 million in funding this legislative session to establish a Center for Women in Business at Texas Woman’s University in Denton to provide more of the tools needed to succeed,” Abbott notes.

We should celebrate women-owned businesses, and encourage Abbott in his goal to make starting them and running them easier and more productive in Texas.