Sunday, February 27, 2005
RE: 10 Tips for 10 Million Women.TM
We're starting a new weekly feature here on re:invention's blog. This is a chance for the nation's 10.6 million women entrepreneurs to get free publicity and exposure for their business. The new feature, 10 Tips for 10 Million WomenTM will appear each Saturday.
We'll share background about your company and a link to your company website along with your personal top 10 success strategies tips; a list of the top 10 things you have learned while building your business.
Potential top 10 category ideas may include:
- raising capital and taking on debt
- building and motivating a team
- creative and integrated marketing (PR, promotions, word of mouth, branding)
- creating advisory boards and finding mentors
- protecting intellectual property (patents and trademarks)
- work-life flexibility
- long term business planning
- networking for business referrals
- keeping score (measurement and return on investment)
- selling to big companies and government organizations
Drop kirsten an
email at kirsten@reinventioninc.com if you are interested in being featured. We'll send you a brief profile form and ask you to share your Top 10 Tips List. In addition to receiving free publicity for your company, you'll be helping other women win. We are on a mission to build more million dollar women-led businesses. And to move women entrepreneur stories from the lifestyle section to the business section of the news.
We've also expanded our virtual toolbox of resources on re:invention's blog over the weekend with 5 new features:
- A list of Quick Tip Sheets for Women (fresh business building ideas) now appears on the left navigation bar.
- Appearing on the right navigation bar, a Women Entrepreneneur Stats Sheet (facts and figures about women business owners).
- A photo of my beautiful and smart mom, "my inspiration" as noted in last week's Chicago Sun Times. On the right navigation bar.
- Partner discounts on Palo Alto business plans. Click and receive discounts on business plan software as a re:invention reader. We've also added 60 business plan templates - free for you! On the left navigation bar under "Writing Biz Plans."
- Fresh links to re:invention services, clients, and partners. Top right navigation bar.
Welcome your feedback about our improvements! With your continued success in mind...
Saturday, February 26, 2005
RE: BusinessWeek's Interview with Professor Marilyn on Female Entrepreneurs.
Marilyn Kourilsky, a professor at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, director of the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship, and former Vice President with the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership has penned a new book, The New Female Entrepreneur with University of Nebraska Professor William Walstead.
This week's BusinessWeek Small Biz features an interview with Marilyn about her book and the barriers faced by female entrepreneurs. Research noted in the article?
6 out of 10 female teenagers and 4 out of 10 female adults would like to start their own small businesses, but these aspirations are routinely discouraged.
According to Professor Marilyn, women are "educated to take a job rather than make a job...It starts in kindergarten. If you go to a career day, you hear about professions but not much about people who initiated their own ventures. It's not just coming from schools, it's coming from families, too. Are you telling your daughter to grow up to be an entrepreneur or a teacher?"
Professor Marilyn also quips: "Men network. Women aren't networkers. If two men sit at a table, they talk sports preliminarily and then get down to business fast. They develop many loose networks. Women talk about family and relationships, and they don't get down to business fast. They develop tight relationships."
Ahh yes. It's all about....
-
Conversational Capital Deficits (the way we talk)
-
Sistering (the way we mentor)
-
and Killing Our Strong (the way we compete).
I'm beginning to think I need to get a PhD to be heard as a young blonde woman...or give it all up and go work for Playboy.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
RE: Referrals Versus Recommendations.
The other night, I had a heated phone conversation about business lead generation with a friend of mine (I won't name names). He's an expert at networking, and I take his counsel very seriously. There is a certain psyche to business development, and generating referrals is a highly effective way for women entrepreneurs to build their business. My friend was quick to point out that there is a significant difference between referrals and recommendations. And I wholeheartedly agreed.
Referrals and recommendations both "connect the dots," but only a recommendation carries an indication of commendation or approval:
"Referral"
A lead for a prospect given to a salesperson by an existing customer.
-American Marketing Association
A lead or a name of someone who can help you reach your goal.
- Ponn, author of Empowering Women Right Now Blog (definition added to this post: 2.25.05, 10:35 a.m. CST)
"Recommendation"
Something that recommends, with a favorable statement concerning character or qualifications.
- American Heritage Dictionary
I'm
constantly referring people (we women need to do this liberally with one another to expand our networks). Although I'm not a big fan of the "
how to generate a referral in 30 seconds or less" approach -- women
are much more astute at building prefer to build emotional equity and our relationships need to be cultivated over time and sometimes tea.
I'm
highly selective when it comes to doling out recommendations. A recommendation carries positive endorsement -- and requires a personal introduction, an outline of qualifications and a statement attesting to character, potential and dependability. When you recommend someone, your reputation is on the line.
The funny thing is, when you go to google the topic ("
referrals versus recommendations"), you can find no definitive resources. Zippo.
And so it inspired this BLOG entry. Referrals versus recommendations. Wise women ought to know the difference.
Additional Resources:- John Jantsch of
Duct Tape Marketing, has authored a pretty darn good referral how-to-guide titled
Referral Flood. I myself believe there is room and reason for both referral networking and smart promotion.
RE: New MTV Show About A Women Entrepreneur and Publicist.
OK - re:invention enthuastically supports women entrepreneurs (even if they are socialites who have had a high heel-up advantage on the rest of us). So I bring you the new MTV reality show "PoweR Girls" about a famous daughter and NYC Socialite named Lizzie Grubman and her band of women publicists at Grubman PR.
No opinions here. Just sharing the news.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
RE: Call for Nominations - Chicago YWCA Leader Luncheon
Here's a special tip for women living in Chicago. As a Chicago YWCA Circle of Friends and Junior Board member, I am very passionate about the YWCA and its mission to help disadvantaged women and children.
re:invention and the YWCA also notably both love the color orange.
The YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago has opened nominations for its 33rd annual Leader Luncheon. The YWCA's Leader Luncheon is the oldest and largest event dedicated to the accomplishments of women in the greater Chicago area. Last year, 1,400 people attended Leader Luncheon to honor Cheryl Francis, Cheryl Blackwell Bryson, Venita Fields and others. For a complete list of honorees, click HERE.
Please nominate a special woman and let others be as inspired by her accomplishments as you are. Download the nomination form (it outlines award categories and provides complete nomination details) by clicking HERE.
Nominations are due by March 18.
You can also watch the groundbreaking new YWCA national branding campaign spots by clicking HERE. New York Times' advertising and media columnist Stuart Elliot gave the campaign rave reviews.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
RE: Everything's Coming Up Rosy - for Entrepreneurs!
Union Bank of California released their Small Business Owners Optimism Report today. The report surveyed 1900 small business owners living in California (with at least 2 years of operation and annual sales under $5 million). Their findings?
More than two out of three California small business owners expect growth this year to top 2004 and nearly 36 percent plan to hire new employees...Nearly 36 percent of small business owners anticipated increasing their staffing levels this year, and only 3 percent of respondents had plans to lay off workers in 2005. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed reported higher sales in the fourth quarter over the like period a year earlier...In addition, 42 percent have capital expenditure plans for this year. - READ MORE
This report announcement is on the heels of the Small Business Optimism report announced last week by Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) in partnership with Decipher, an independent market research firm. In that report (sample size: 755 with less than 200 employees and at least 2 years in business), 57 percent of small business respondents cited optimism about the overall business outlook for the 2005. Only thirty-one percent cited the economy as a top issue facing small businesses this year -- down from the 36 percent that reported concern in 2004. 34 percent of small-business owners reported that they were focused on actively increasing their businesses this year. Nearly 70 percent of all small business owners surveyed reported that they would encourage others to start small businesses at this time.
All around, it looks like we entrepreneurs are stocking up on rose-colored glasses. Everything's coming up rosy!
Seems in line with the speech I heard Jacob Frenkel, Economist and Vice Chair of the American International Group, give at the Chicago Economics Club last week. Frenkel reported that his CEO/Executive peers were howling happy about 2004 (it's the best year they've seen yet). Frenkel's been touting recovery since 2002, and remained emphatic during his keynote. To paraphrase Frenkel: the only thing that has prevented aggressive economic recovery is our fear. The world is full of shocks, but we can survive the shocks. We simply need fearless optimism and flexibility. Frenkel also peppered his speech with VAT and neutral tax structure improvements, under-regulation, and protectionism.
Hey Sir Frenkel, seems small business owners are doing their part and remaining optimistic. In spite of surging oil prices and a slumping dollar.
What's the level of optimism in your neck of the woods?
RE: A Whisper About WorldWIT.
Wanted to share my recent radio interview on WorldWIT radio. The headline: why women don't help women win - unintentionally and intentionally. Listen to the archived show HERE.
Also wanted to whisper that I'll be speaking at Chicago WIT Passport 2005 in honor of International Women's Day on Friday, March 4th. I'll appear as part of the "Overcoming the Odds" panel with Julie Smolyansky - President and CEO of Lifeway Foods (#38 on Fortune's Small Business 100) and Gail Zelitzky - CEO of Silver-Robins Consulting. Other Passport event speakers include: Noreen Abbasi - Co-Founder of Maven Cosmetics (A 2003 Crain's Chicago 40 under 40 honoree), Deirdre Jordan - Co-Founder of Troscan Design , Katrina Markoff - Owner of Vosges Haut-Chocolat (2002 Crain's 40 under 40 honoree), Liz Ryan - founder of WIT, and Seattle Sutton - founder of Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating.
Warmly invite you to attend or blog (if that's your thing) about this upcoming event. As many of you know, I rarely accept public speaking gigs unless I have a very meaningful and poignant message to share and believe the event or organization is worthwhile. This event for women will be remarkable.
See the list of speakers and full schedule HERE.
You can register for ChicWIT Passport 2005 online. Hope you will mark your calendars for this very special event...
Monday, February 21, 2005
RE: Chicago Disappoints Us (But It Is Not Unexpected News).
For the third year in a row, Chicago-based private-equity firms struck fewer deals with hometown businesses than the year before. Just 12% of the financial transactions reported by Chicago private-equity firms last year involved local businesses, down from 19% in 2002 and 13% in 2003. What Gives?...Competition for deals doesn't explain why local investments in early-stage companies are down since 2002...Many of the industries that flourish here -- manufacturing, financial services and consumer products -- don't offer high enough returns to justify venture investments...Some say Chicago lacks the entrepreneurial spirit of places like the Silicon Valley. - MORE FROM CRAIN'S CHICAGO
, CLICK ON THE BELOW MAP TO ENLARGE.
Does Chicago lack entrepreneurial spirit? No - that statement is unfounded. Can Chicago folks unilaterally compare ourselves to Boston or San Francisco? Well no, although there are pockets of potential that exist within our community....
Here's my two cents: it is a rare form of entrepreneurship that receives venture capital or angel funds. An entrepreneur needs to
finance for the company they want to become, but it is far more likely to involve personal equity, friends and family equity, and bank loans. Debt is good and more plausible.
Count-Me-In Loans
Count-me-in uses what it calls a "unique women-friendly credit scoring system" to make loans of $500 to $10,000 available to women in the United States. Recently announced their Make Mine a Million pilot program. According to Count Me In, 39% of women-owned fast-growth firms have a commercial loan as compared to 52% of men.
SBA Loans
The SBA aims to be friendly to women - from Basic 7(a) loan guarantees to 504 loan programs to 7(m) microloans. If you've got good credit, even if you don't have collateral, it's worth it to you to pursue an SBA loan.
Judy Baar Topinka's STEP program
If you create, expand, or retain permanent jobs in Illinois, you are eligible for state grants.
Still, you can't build a serious and scalable business on $10,000. For kicks, try calling your local bank today and asking them what it would take for you to secure a $.5 million loan (collateral is likely - a mortgage on your house, a lien on your equipment, inventory or customer contracts). Wouldn't it be nice to have Illinois angel investors take a serious look at funding their own children?
RE: A Pause. For Women Entrepreneurs.
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway.
~Mother Teresa
Sunday, February 20, 2005
RE: Weekend Reading for Smart Women.
A few of this week's interesting headlines for women entrepreneurs...
- High tech utilitarian jewelry for fashion conscious women entrepreneurs - think dangling baubles for PDAs and ornate neckhangers for phones. The New York Times suggests we'll have a hankering for these gems next season. MORE.
- "Is it so easy for them to get attention because they are peacocks among sparrows and that tends to go to their heads?" - Sarah Teslik, former leader of the Council of Institutional Investors, on fallen women CEOs in today's Washington Post.
- Ms. Mogul is now in preproduction for the Lifetime cable channel. The co-creator and executive producer of the show is Nely Galan, whose credits include "The Swan," a Fox TV extreme makeover program. She told the Hollywood Reporter, a trade publication, the new show is "more about mentors helping these women and the companies they represent to get funded." "Ms. Mogul" will feature young women with entrepreneurial promise competing for a bankroll of as much as $1 million. The 15 contestants will be assigned a mentor to help guide them through creating or expanding a business. The Kaufmann Foundation will serve as show advisor.
- If you are a business owner and want to be able to save more than the limits allowed for traditional or Roth IRAs, an article in Seacoast Business outlines a few of the options that are available to you: simple IRA, Simplified Employee Pension (SEP), Profit Sharing Plan, Solo 401K, Safe Harbor 401K. MORE.
RE: My Second Little Marketing Column In Entrepreneur Magazine.
My second little marketing column is up at Entrepreneur.com. It appears on page 87 of the magazine. My goal: three resources each month based on a seasonal theme.
Entrepreneur Magazine has the largest newsstand circulation of any business monthly with a total ABC-audited circulation of 540,000. Entrepreneur Magazine and Entrepreneur.com deliver nearly 5 million viewers each month.
Want to be included in my next column? Egg me with an email. I'm looking for events, new books, and good resources. No company or product pitches please. Help me help you.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
RE: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Know.
What follows might sound familiar to many of you. Self-declared intellectual pedagogues may want to check back tomorrow....;)
This entry is for aspiring women entrepreneurs. Encouraging new women entrepreneurs has been top of mind ever since my speaking engagement at NYU's Women in Business conference.
When the Discovery Channel's television show Animal Planet unveiled its line of pet food products at a Chicago trade show in October 2004, the real surprise was that all 35 of the tasty consumables on display were made by tiny Castor & Pollux Pet Works from Portland, Ore. Why would a national television network entrust its merchandising to a relatively unknown ten-person company led by women entrepreneur, Shelley Gunton, and her partner/love interest Brian Connolly? While particularly evangelical consumers helped, it was Castor & Pollux's passion for pet chow that tipped the scales. Kristina Griffin, the then-licensing manager of Discovery Consumer Products, says the network green-lighted the partnership because of "how gung ho Castor & Pollux was about the products." - Via Fortune Small Business
Passion IS contagious....and it CAN be profitable. But turning a lifelong passion or hobby into a career still requires you to ask some
hard questions.
A short checklist:
- Is your passion marketable (and how exactly will you market and promote it)?
- What are your true operating costs and future capital needs?
- What are your income and long term growth expectations?
- What specific resources do you need to progressively turn passion into tangible success?
- Who will embrace your product, service or idea...why will they buy it? and what exactly are they buying (peace of mind, freedom, confidence, validation)?
- How are you different than the competition?
- Who can provide you with practical business advice, business leads, and critical feedback - and how can you convince them to connect you with additional resources?
- How will you prioritize business opportunities?
- Where will you sell your product or service (what's your best bet distribution channel)?
- How will you price your product - and how do you justify your price point?
- How will you keep score (i.e., measure success and return on your investment)?
- What valuable aspects of your business (an invention, expression or literary creation, unique name, business method, industrial process, chemical formula, computer program process, or presentation) will you need to protect (also known as intellectual property)?
Passion is good, but it isn't enough. Women entrepreneurs who want to build a serious business need to be sophisticated in their approach. You need to be as smart and savvy as you are about buying Spring shoes, planning your child's education, and investing for your future.
Please help me by adding your suggestions to this short checklist (I'm sure there are many more practical things that a new women entrepreneur needs in her toolbox). Thank you for your comments in advance!
Thursday, February 17, 2005
RE: Ding, dong. Avon calling.
"Cosmetics and toiletries retailer Avon [AVP] may be set for a move into the financial services industry. Although the decision may at first appear an unusual move for a provider of beauty products, its large and loyal customer base could well enable it to succeed in a market others have failed to crack...Recent reports suggest that it could soon be offering life insurance, car insurance and credit cards...
The financial services industry has historically failed to capture the female market. In fact, evidence suggests that fewer than 10% of IFAs are women. This is a particular problem as in low-income families it is often the woman who controls the family's finances. Avon's model has the opportunity to succeed in targeting this underserved segment of the market." - MORE FROM DATAMONITOR
Avon saleswomen now outnumber the Army and Navy combined, although some would argue that women who work for home-based MLM businesses are not entrepreneurs. This recent announcement makes me wonder about Avon's core competency and marketing mantra (3 words max,
says entrepreneurial coach and pedagogue, Guy Kawasaki). Guess Avon is bailing on "beauty for women."
Avon was founded by door-to-door salesman,
David McConnell, who hired his first saleswoman (Mrs. P.F. Albee) and immediately sent her out to work the streets.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
RE: Encountering a Nigerian Refuge and Woman Entrepreneur Mentor At Municipal Tire.
My tire blew out two days ago when I was unable to avoid a pothole and my car veered off to the side of the road. While I am fully capable of changing a tire, the spare tire was hopelessly deflated. Shame on me. I sat on the road for two hours before Triple A arrived. No "good neighbor" knights in shining armour came to rescue me, but then again I'm not a Playboy Model type.
Later that evening, while biding time in the waiting room at Municipal Tire, I watched quietly as a woman near me placed orders out of an Avon catalog. Her makeup shopping list, written on a long piece of paper that unrolled onto the floor, caught my eye. Upon my quiet and casual inquiry, she softly shared her experiences as a Mary Kay representative, explaining how she occasionally exported Mary Kay and Avon products to women friends in Africa. Amidst a room of performance tires and empty bubble gum machines in South Chicago, I was introduced to Barine Wiwa-Lawani, a woman entrepreneur who lives between two cultures.
Barine Wiwa-Lawani is the sister of the slain Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. She once ran a catering school and two restaurants in Nigeria. She was also a member of a small tribal minority known as the Ogonis, who opposed Nigeria's military government and the Shell Oil Corporation, responsible for drilling oil for many years in Nigeria (causing both man-made environmental catastrophe and sociolegal conflict). Eventually, the Nigerian military executed Barine's brother and eight others. Barine's situation looked bleak when she fled Nigeria, but the United Nations came to her aid and helped resettle Barine and her 4 children here in Chicago.
Barine came to the States virtually alone - with 4 young children, without a job, and infused with entrepreneurial spirit. There were moments when she was terrified during the dramatic transition, but her character and her drive kept her from giving up.
Barine's children are in college now - studying engineering. She has a right to be proud. And with great zeal and hope she is launching a home-based child-care business. Small steps, big dreams.
When I asked her about her life - she responded without pause: "Most definitely life is good. Every day demands trying. There is nothing (that is) impossible."
Barine inspired me with her courage, conviction, and inspiration. And in her personal reinvention story, even the most troubled and hope-arrested woman can find solace. Barine was featured in the 2003 PBS documentary, "The New Americans." Though my means of travel had been temporarily thwarted - I was magically transported into Barine's world and "triumph against odds" journey.
A surprising mentor encounter and moment at Municipal Tire.
What makes a hero?
"Everest for me, and I believe for the world, is the physical and symbolic manifestation of overcoming odds to achieve a dream."
- Tom Whittaker
I also whisper: when is the last time you visited the mystical world of Municipal Tire? 1818 South Wabash, Chicago, Illinois.
Monday, February 14, 2005
RE: A Shopping Spree for Small Companies.
Hat's off (and happy Valentine's Day) to Ann Meyer at the Chicago Tribune for her thoughtful article titled "Small Mergers Can Add Up to Big Growth." Expansion through acquisition is becoming a viable option for many entrepreneurs, Ann writes in her article.
"For an acquisition to be effective for a small business, the deal should provide less-expensive growth than the company could achieve on its own, suggested Bruce Anderson, general partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a private equity firm in New York. Overpaying for a company means it will take longer to recoup your investment. But many small businesses come cheap. Often they are constrained geographically and have a low profile. They're less likely to be courted by major dealmakers, so their valuations don't get bid up, Anderson said."
A few of the benefits of non-organic growth by acquisition?
- Cost savings
- New clients and services
- More effective processes
- Cross-selling between client bases
- New infrastructure and intellectual capital
- New strategic office locations
- New employees to compliment your existing team
- The potential for increased client satisifaction
Bear in mind that financial hurdles may block small business buying sprees, particularly since most banks loan against the fixed assets of a business. Most conventional lending institutions will be risk-averse to financing small biz acquisitions unless they specialize in cash-flow lending. Small business acquisitions are more often funded with personal equity (and creative seller deal structuring). For more acquisition financing options:
CLICK HERE.
Growth by acquisition is a proven model. Whole Foods Market (where I once served as National Marketing Director in spite of my natural affinity for Coca-Cola, McDonalds, & deep-fried food) owes much of its growth to its acquisition of smaller regional chains. To name but a few: Mrs. Gooch,
Merchant of Vino, Bread of Life, Harry's, Allegro Fresh Fields. Whole Foods Market was born out of an acquisition -- Safer Way Natural Foods and Clarksville Natural Grocery joined forces in 1980 to open Whole Foods Market in Austin, Texas with a staff of 19. Just 6 years later, Whole Foods acquired its first company -- Bluebonnet Natural Foods Grocery in Dallas, Texas.
As Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey once said, "As with other successful acquisitions...the infrastructure and intellectual capital we gain provides us with an immediate platform for expansion."
Happy Valentine's Day, ladies. If your heart went unsalved for Valentine's Day, buy yourself flowers, chocolates, and a foot massage. And remember...when it comes to business competition: why beat 'em, when you can buy 'em?
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
RE: Selling to Giants Part II - and Tracking PR Results.
Today I am in mourning, due to the resignation of Carly Fiorina (CEO of H-P). I can't wait to read her book. Although she's qualified, marketable, and capable of assuming the helm at another billion dollar business, I'm hoping she'll consider joining the ranks of women entrepreneurs. She'd be scaling a small business and proving her mettle without the Fortune 500 shackles - admittedly with a bit of a built-in advantage - just like us.
When it comes to scaling small businesses, I believe women entrepreneurs should consider cost-effective, credibility and perception building alternatives to advertising. Here's why:
One of the leading indicators of women-led businesses that gross over $1 million annually is "secured corporate or government contracts." To sell to giants, women need to portray their companies as companies that are here to stay, companies that can be relied upon. Three of the best ways to do this?
1- PR placements in national publications read by corporate leaders.
2- Profitable partnerships with companies and advisors-to-giants that can make your company appear larger and lustier than life.
3- Good ideas designed to custom-fit the giant (creative thinking far beyond a simple product or service pitch, a nifty direct mail piece, or advertising).
Whether you are conducting research as you prepare to approach big business contracts or simply evaluating the effectiveness of your PR, there is one tool I've found to be incredibly useful...
Lexis Nexis Alacarte for Small Businesses, a service offering free searching, historical tracking, and breaking news updates by industry and company name. You pay only for the information retrieved. Take a test drive:
http://alacarte.lexisnexis.com/
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
RE: Raising Conversation Capital.
re:invention often reflects on capital - particularly inequities between male and female-led businesses and allocation of venture capitalist dollars. A few weeks ago, during a lunch at Chicago's Peninisula Club with a select team of women business leaders and Bank of America Small Business executives....our conversation drifted to another form of capital. Conversation Capital.
According to Gripster, Conversation Capital is "the ability to rapidly gather, assess and respond to the voices in the marketplace. or something like that......"
I offer a different definition of conversation capital. Conversation capital is the antithesis of
girl talk. It demands much more than small talk. It's more than a matter of
clarity.
It's about making your words, your networking, and your business discussions count. Too many women lack specific responses in conversations to demonstrate and leverage their strength and power. We don't get down to business. We women need to learn the art of raising conversation capital.
A woman at the Bank of America lunch captured this best - when women gather, even the most consummate business women will speak of the weather, our children, the delightful blend of lemon zest and spice in the salad dressing. Money and business are often deemed "dirty words." We women don't ask the hard facts. We women don't lay our needs on the business table. Thus, women often fail to help other women win. Men who gather with other men for business generally don't shirk from discussing financing, companies, business leads and keeping score. They are darn good at keeping score with one another.
* Men will talk about SPORTS for 5 or 10 minutes but you can bet your bottom they'll talk about business.
* Women start by talking about SHOES (or a plethora of other personal stuff), and often never drift to business banter. We're experts at small talk. Hey, I like shoes (who doesn't?). But I also want to build a business - and help other women build their businesses as well.
An even bigger challenge exists for women when they begin to initiate conversation with men at the business table. We are often invisible, we wait our turn to talk, we giggle, we apologize, we self-depreciate...
According to an old Sanskrit proverb: "A woman's appetite is twice that of a man's; her sexual desire, four times; her intelligence, eight times." When we women are at our best, we come to the table with intellectual prowess, experience, knowledge. We also come to the table with what
Tom Peters calls the "whole 52 card deck" - relationship skills, intuition, ability to empathize - things that make men feel naturally uncomfortable. Perhaps one of our biggest opportunities in male-female business conversations is to demonstrate our intellectual assets, while at the same time, make men feel comfortable enough with us to encourage them to do business with us.
The tricky thing is, men, given the chance, will treat you like you let them treat you. For many men, in the end, it is still about the 1 up and 1 down (the art of keeping score). Our role as women is to make men feel comfortable, but also to hold our own. Raising conversation capital almost requires women to learn the art of quick comebacks to underhanded and sometimes entirely unintentional yet nevertheless diminishing statements men make that allow them to gain the upperhand in business conversations. A few witty comebacks I've heard for your amusement:
If a man suggests: "I can't tell that joke, we are in mixed company."
An artful woman's response: "Go ahead, (NAME), we all welcome the chance to learn more about your character and values. (Knowing smile)."
When a man curses and then apologizes for using bad language in front of a woman, an artful woman's response: "No need to apologize for a limited vocabulary (Intelligent smile...)."
re:invention's
attorney (yes - a woman!) recently shared her thoughts about a unique approach she uses to raise her conversational capital in meetings with both men and women. She prints a copy of her Linked In Network and if possible the Linked In network of the person she is meeting with that day. She uses the printouts to guide initial discussion about shared business leads. She offers to introduce the person she is meeting with to people in her Linked In network and asks for specific intros to people she wants to meet in their Network. It isn't a perfect science, but it is a smart start. Here is MY
LINKED IN NETWORK (let me know if you would like an introduction). Please note: not all of my contacts choose to list on Linked In.
What will you do today, worldly women entrepreneurs, to raise your conversation capital? No need for talking small.
Monday, February 07, 2005
RE: Women Entrepreneurs Take Off and Travel.
According to an article in today's Harvard Business Review titled, "The Hidden Market of Female Travelers," females now account for 50% of frequent fliers. Forty percent of business travelers today are women, while just thirty years ago female executives comprised only one percent. The article is a follow-up to the HBS Women in Business conference held on January 22.
Women spend $175 million on 14 million business trips annually.
"There is a trend for incorporating family: taking a business trip and adding a family component," said Jenifer Ziegler, senior vice president of brand management for Holiday Inn Express.
This seems in stark contrast to the 2003
New York University Study, which suggested that 80% of women never take their children on business trips. If you do travel with your children, you might try women-led
JetSetBabies.com - a company that ships everything from diapers to food and formula and many other baby and toddler consumables to your travel destination. And
BlueSuitMom.com offers this handy
LIST of road warrior essentials.
Duly noted in that same NYU travel study, women rank mini-bars (71%), brand-name bath amenities (56%) and spa services (47%) as their top 3 "must have" hotel amenities.
What would make life easier for you on the road? I'd like aromatherapy in the hotel room, an in-room suit steamer, and an option for renting beautiful shoes and briefcases by the day, so I wouldn't need to pack them. Share your personal wish list and best business travel tips (click on kind thoughts below and add your comment!).
Friday, February 04, 2005
RE: Women - A Diamond, America, A Dream.
Remember that old Neil Diamond song - "America?" It rang loud and clear in my head as I looked out at the Statue of Liberty from the plane flying in to NYC yesterday. I'm speaking today at NYU's Women in Business Conference.
In timely fashion, the Immigration Policy Center released a new report on immigrant women entrepreneurs today. The headline: the number of immigrant women entrepreneurs has increased 190% since 1990, and 468% since 1980. They make up 8.3% of the employed immigrant female population; only 6.2% of employed native-born women are business owners. A mini-profile of these women:
Age: 36 - 45
Country of National Origin:
Mexico (16.5% of all immigrant women business owners)
Korea (6.1%)
Vietnam (4.9%)
the Philippines (4.0%)
El Salvador (3.7%)
Germany (3.6%)
Canada (3.3%)
Business Industry:
Private households (13.7%)
Child day care (9.2%)
Restaurants/food service (8.3%)
Salons (6.0%)
Services to buildings and dwellings (3.9%)
Real estate (3.4%)
Construction (1.8%)
Management, scientific, and technical consulting (1.2%)
Business HQ:
Los Angeles/Riverside/Orange County (which counts 13% of all of these women among its population)
New York/Northern New Jersey/Long Island
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose
Washington/Baltimore
and Chicago/Gary/Kenosha
Motivation for Business Launch:
According to the report, motivations for business ownership varied according to national origin. For instance...
- Chinese and Vietnamese women open their businesses in response to "pull factors," tending to have a life-long interest in owning their own businesses.
-Korean women state that business ownership was their only option to survive economically.
-Latinas are more likely to point to "push factors," saying that they needed or desired to leave the conventional workplace.
READ THE FULL REPORT.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
RE: Cross-Pollinated Entrepreneurs?
While catching up on reading, I stumbled across an interesting quote in last week's New York Times article titled "Tiny Loans Stimulate the Appetite For More" by Betsy Cummings:
On top of that, female entrepreneurs who do find outside capital sometimes pursue self-defeating business strategies, like spreading the money over several microbusinesses rather than concentrating on one.
Admittedly, the article focuses on women in poor countries with weak economies; "
necessity entrepreneurs" running microbusinesses. But the quote seems to suggests that women, more than men, "play the field" in their business strategies rather than jumping in with both feet on a single business...and that this inhibits their ability to succeed.
Is this true, I wondered? Is running multiple businesses really a self-defeating strategy? And more importantly, do women "
necessity entrepreneurs" do this more often than men?
My two cents:
(1) This is a disheartening broad-based gender generalization -- especially for the
New York Times -- and it is not supported by facts. I could just as easily argue that women are especially good at multi-tasking (juggling the needs of children, husbands, family, parents, job or company, friends).
(2) I'm not convinced owning multiple microbusinesses is self-defeating. Upon asking my network of superstar advisors (men and women), the majority of them agree. Although owning multiple microbusinesses could spread you a little thin and perhaps risk "sub-optimized performance," a strong CEO who surrounds themselves with smart advisors and employees could overcome this obstacle and develop scalable companies.
(3) And what of vertical and horizontal integration between multiple-owned companies for operating efficiencies? It seems an entrepreneur with a little capital could effectively run 2 or 3 companies that have shared operating synergies -- leverage the efficiencies -- and scale each company
even more effectively.
(4) Finally, isn't creating multiple streams of income healthy? A downcycle in one company or any sales/volume loss would not devastate you the way losing a single revenue or operating stream would.
If a "serial entrepreneur" runs business-after-business, what do we call entrepreneurs who run more than 1 microbusiness at a time? A "cross-pollinated entrepreneur?" Could this be a new trend?
A few of my entrepreneur contacts here in Chicago are running multiple businesses -- Karen for instance, owns an Executive Search Company, A Venture Advisory Company, and a Wellness Spa.
Do you know any women or men who own multiple companies? How are they faring? Welcome your thoughts...
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