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