Women Entrepreneurs
I have met some great woman business owners over the last couple of years in a vast variety of industries. From demolition and electrical contracting to child hair care and day care, women are doing great things and uniquely contributing their skills in interesting ways. One of my colleagues was actually contacted by an Asian economic development agency to be visited and interviewed by one of their employees – to get her perspective as a woman business owner. That was so cool!
Finding a product or service to be passionate about and sell on her behalf could take a woman to another level financially and help her write her ticket. There are great resources for women who own businesses to have support and move to a greater path of success:
North Carolina Resources
Women’s Business Center for North Carolina
Also, contact your local MWBE coordinator for additional guidance.
National Resources
National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)
Women President’s Organization
Womenbiz.gov
Make Mine a Million
Media
Pink Magazine
Working Mother Magazine
If you are interested in becoming certified as a women owned firm (that’s when a firm that is 51% or more owned by a woman or women is reviewed by a third party to prove it), you should look into your state agency for underutilized or minority/women owned business enterprises (MWBE). When you are considering private, large contracts, you should consider the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).There is a fee for this service but if you market yourself well within the network, it should be worth it to you. Just ensure your target customers would appreciate this certification.
More resources can be found at this SCORE site: http://www.score.org/women_resources.html
Women Entrepreneurs
I have met some great woman business owners over the last couple of years in a vast variety of industries. From demolition and electrical contracting to child hair care and day care, women are doing great things and uniquely contributing their skills in interesting ways. One of my colleagues was actually contacted by an Asian economic development agency to be visited and interviewed by one of their employees – to get her perspective as a woman business owner. That was so cool!
Finding a product or service to be passionate about and sell on her behalf could take a woman to another level financially and help her write her ticket. There are great resources for women who own businesses to have support and move to a greater path of success:
North Carolina Resources
Women’s Business Center for North Carolina
Also, contact your local MWBE coordinator for additional guidance.
National Resources
National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)
Women President’s Organization
Womenbiz.gov
Make Mine a Million
Media
Pink Magazine
Working Mother Magazine
If you are interested in becoming certified as a women owned firm (that’s when a firm that is 51% or more owned by a woman or women is reviewed by a third party to prove it), you should look into your state agency for underutilized or minority/women owned business enterprises (MWBE). When you are considering private, large contracts, you should consider the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).There is a fee for this service but if you market yourself well within the network, it should be worth it to you. Just ensure your target customers would appreciate this certification.
More resources can be found at this SCORE site: http://www.score.org/women_resources.html
True Empowerment
From a post on one of my older blogs:
You may be able to look back at your family history and find someone who owned some sort of business – whether it was a retail store, a barber shop, a daycare, a real estate firm, etc. Better yet, how many people at your job do you know have some side gig or hobby that they are making money from? People who own their own businesses are truly in charge of their fate (versus working for a major corporation) and can make a real difference in their family’s future with respect to how much they put into their business. For instance, look at the Waltons – I wonder if Sam truly thought Wal-Mart would get so big and leave such a legacy for his family.
Also, I think entrepreneurship has begun to be the next large movement in the African-American community. African-Americans have a long history of entrepreneurship (see the Gazelle Index for a survey of established African-American firms). Unfortunately, there are not as many African-American-owned small businesses today as there were before 1960s and definitely not as many as our other American counterparts. This is why the publication Black Enterprise was founded. The Ewing Kauffman Foundation, a foundation that encourages entrepreneurship across America, is currently a part of a national partnership to encourage minority entrepreneurship. I intend to contribute what I can to this movement in my community ASAP.
True Empowerment
From a post on one of my older blogs:
You may be able to look back at your family history and find someone who owned some sort of business – whether it was a retail store, a barber shop, a daycare, a real estate firm, etc. Better yet, how many people at your job do you know have some side gig or hobby that they are making money from? People who own their own businesses are truly in charge of their fate (versus working for a major corporation) and can make a real difference in their family’s future with respect to how much they put into their business. For instance, look at the Waltons – I wonder if Sam truly thought Wal-Mart would get so big and leave such a legacy for his family.
Also, I think entrepreneurship has begun to be the next large movement in the African-American community. African-Americans have a long history of entrepreneurship (see the Gazelle Index for a survey of established African-American firms). Unfortunately, there are not as many African-American-owned small businesses today as there were before 1960s and definitely not as many as our other American counterparts. This is why the publication Black Enterprise was founded. The Ewing Kauffman Foundation, a foundation that encourages entrepreneurship across America, is currently a part of a national partnership to encourage minority entrepreneurship. I intend to contribute what I can to this movement in my community ASAP.
