Fake It Till You Make It

It's hard to believe that women the world over running successful businesses still struggle to be taken seriously.  One woman business owner who runs Australian-based Cupcake Central says "To a certain extent, I had to fake it till I make it."  She goes on to say, "You have to sell the dream."

Whether you fake it till you make it or have a hard time being taken seriously, never give up.

Learn more great inspiring tips from women business owners: The truth about discrimination facing female entrepreneurs

Screenshot courtesy: Cupcake Central

Leading Reasons Why Men and Women Go Bankrupt

What a sensitive topic.  Who likes to talk about insolvency whether personal or professional?  Best to sweep it under a carpet and move on.  Not so fast.  Men’s and women’s distinctively different roles in the economy reveals pronounced differences in the factors that cause them to go into bankruptcy.

The leading reasons for men to go bankrupt are job loss and business failure, while the most common causes for women are the breakdown of a relationship, living beyond their means and the loss of a partner’s income, according to a study by R3, a professional association for insolvency practitioners.

Read more:  Men and women go bankrupt for different reasons | FT.com

Young Women Entrepreneurs Are Leading the Job Creation Charge

According to a new survey, EY Global Job Creation Survey 2016, released this week, women are creating more jobs and hiring more workers than their male peers.  The survey shows that job creation levels are even higher among younger women.

But what is even more exciting is that young women entrepreneurs, are leading the job creation charge.

Women younger than 35 expect to have an average 16 percent increase in their workforces this year, and 56 percent report they hired more new workers last year than expected. That's compared to 13 percent of young men who expect to grow their employee numbers this year, and 56 percent who hired more people than they anticipated last year.

Read more:  Women Entrepreneurs Are Creating More Jobs Than Men

How Women Entrepreneurs Fare on Business Ownership in Kansas City

How well are Kansas City women entrepreneurs actually doing in comparison to their male counterparts on business ownership? And how does Kansas City stack up against other cities and the national average?

Read more:  Women in Entrepreneurship:  How KC Stacks Up to Other Cities

Become a WEGG Warrior

For those of you who currently export or desire to, Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global (WEGG), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization offers monthly webinars that are no charge on how to take your business global.  Full disclosure:  I serve as the Executive Director of WEGG so I'll be on the webinars with you.

Learn more:  WEGG Webinars  Sign up for the next one on June 8th.  Become a WEGG warrior.

Repurposing Valuable Content to Grow Your Business

Dequiana Jackson (pictured), CEO of Inspired Marketing, Inc., shows you how to repurpose a simple one-hour teleseminar into twelve other grand marketing vehicles.

Read:  12 Ways to Repurpose Your Best Business Content

How Opening a Business Can Be Surreal

According to the Center for American Progress, black women comprise 13 percent of the female population in the United States.  Between 1997 to 2013, the number of companies created by black women nationwide grew by nearly 258 percent — and the trend is growing in Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana.

The [Shreveport] Times recently sat down with four black women entrepreneurs driven by past experiences, hardship and unique circumstances.

Learn more about their stories:  Four Inspirational Women You Should Know

Screenshot courtesy:  Suite 9 1 Six (the business of one of the four women interviewed in the article)

Tips On Landing Government Contracts

Gloria Larkin (pictured) is president of marketing consulting company TargetGov and author of The Basic Guide to Government Contracting and The Veterans Business Guide: How to Build a Successful Government Contracting Business.  In addition, she is the past National Procurement Committee co-chairwoman for Women Impacting Public Policy.

Below Larkin shares two main points on how to land government contracts:

1. One piece of paper can accomplish more than an expensive, glossy brochure by precisely pinpointing what a company’s abilities and offerings are and how they can benefit a customer.
2. Capability statements (word-heavy documents) help create critical first impressions and define business strategy while appealing to three layers of decision-makers: Small-business representatives, contracting officers and program managers.

What not to do?  Larkin adds:

"Don’t use pretty pictures of people smiling, because they don’t say anything to your target."

Read the article:  Business owners soak up advice on landing government contracts

Project Entrepreneur: Increasing the Number of Female-led High-Growth Companies

UBS has launched a philanthropic program called Elevating Entrepreneurs. The initiative serves under-resourced, high-potential companies by connecting them with people to help grow their businesses.

One of their initiatives is:

“Project Entrepreneur, in partnership with the Rent the Runway Foundation, [which] aims to increase the number of female-led high-growth, economically impactful companies. Program elements include a venture competition, digital hub, multi-city events, and an accelerator program.” 

Learn more:  Elevating Entrepreneurs program helps under-served businesses achieve success

Oh, No Let's Go!

Our tribute to the late Prince.  Beginning lyrics to his song, "Let's Go Crazy:"

"Dearly beloved

We are gathered here today

To get through this thing called life ..."

May he rest in peace in purple heaven.

The Sunny Realities of What It Is Like at the Top

At the  recent Women’s Entrepreneur Festival, a couple hundred businesswomen came together to share their best-kept work secrets. The group discussed the sunny realities of what it’s like to be at the top, or at least somewhere vaguely near it.  Here are seven insider secrets they shared.

1. Cybrids are the future. 
2. If you want to start a business, start small.
3. But it’s important to remember that “it’s very hard to come back from a bad culture.” 
4. Accept that you don’t know everything. 
5. Be able to sell your vision — not just to investors, but to everyone. 
6. Rejection is simply information. 
7. Kim Kardashian and Sheryl Sandberg are two sides of the same coin.

Read the entire article:  7 Insider Secrets From Female Entrepreneurs

A Positive Attitude Can Drive You Almost Anywhere

Ever watch Shark Tank, a place where budding entrepreneurs bring their dreams to fruition?  Kristen Asleson has and in the article below she talks about the importance of attitude when pitching a product.

Having a fresh, positive outlook and attitude can drive you just about anywhere. Even if you financial brilliance and an idea that would make other inventors green with jealousy, without the right attitude, you won't get too far.

Read:  Women at Work:  A positive attitude can drive you almost anywhere

To Get Ahead, Advocate For Yourself

Interesting twist here:  The article below shares a few tips gleaned from a panel of five executive women -- yes, you read that right ... executive women, not entrepreneurs -- who have accomplished a great deal during their careers in corporate America but the conversation takes place during the Women Empowerment Through Entrepreneurship event last week at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center.

Take a look at what the women executives had to say about life in Corporate America:

• "The glass ceiling still exists in the corporate world for women and even though they have cracked the surface, it has not yet been shattered."
• "The glass ceiling is alive and well," said Christann M. Vasquez, president of Dell Seton Medical Center.
• “It’s hard to know even within your own corporation whether you are getting fair and equitable pay,” she said. But some online sites like Glassdoor can provide insight into industry salaries.

And here's to a great ending of the article:

“I learned to have a sense of confidence in myself and not to be pushed around,” she said. “That was to discourage me. That’s what I call dream thieves and I wasn’t going to let anyone steal my dreams.”

Definitely read the entire piece to get your day's dose of inspiration:  How to Empower Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

The Future of Leadership is Women

Meet the world's greatest female leaders.  Forbes has put together its 2016 list of game-changing leaders, which includes 23 women.

Screenshot of Mina Guli, CEO of Thirst and one of the women featured on the list.

Achievement Brings Its Own Rewards

In the article below, learn about Grace.  Not just any Grace, but amazing Grace -- the untold story.

Grace is a Gen X. She comes from humble family roots with a strong work ethic. She may not have been the high school beauty queen or the class clown, but she learned early in life that achievement brings its own rewards. 

Read:  The story of amazing Grace and women in business

Road to Entrepreneurial Success Is Never Smooth

The road to entrepreneurial success is never smooth.  In fact, it's quite bumpy and filled with twists and turns.  Some liken it to a roller-coaster ride!  Yet, there are strategies for combating what might be considered self-defeating beliefs and achieving new heights in your career.

Here are three.

As an Entrepreneur, What Should You Watch on TV?

As USA Today contributor Rhonda Abrams says, "Small business is the second-most admired institution in America, yet it’s rare to see small business owners on television. Cops?  Sure. Dysfunctional families?  Plenty.  Even aliens.  Small business owners?  Not so many."

Below, she highlights the results of asking small business owners to share their favorite TV small business characters -- from The Shark Tank to The Good Wife to The Simpsons.  I know, I know, who has time for TV but you'd be surprised at how many successful entrepreneurs do.  See what you are missing.

Read the entire article:  Strategies:  Who has the best small business on TV?

Are Black Women Entrepreneurs Not Getting Investors?

Despite Black women being the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the U.S. —owning 1.5 million businesses and generating $44 billion a year— the initial support to launch is not there.  Why is that?

“They weren’t getting the seed funding they needed,” Finney [research lead by Kathryn Finney with Dr. Marlo Rencher was published in “The Real Unicorns of Tech: Black Women Founders” and examined 60,000 startups 88 of which were Black women led ...] told Forbes. “We don’t have lead investors. We don’t have people willing to write that first big check.”

Black women entrepreneurs only received 0.2 percent of all venture funding in the past five years.  It's as if black women entrepreneurs are not seen as innovators or women who can run successful businesses.

Read more:  Study Discovers Black Women Entrepreneurs Not Getting Investors

A Place Where Business Owners Turn to Get Inspired

Loren Feldman (pictured), formerly the small business editor of The New York Times, now oversees entrepreneurship coverage at Forbes. You don't want to miss his features.

In the article below he covers today's must-reads for entrepreneurs, including one that features women entrepreneurs.  Great stuff.  Here's a clip:

Six women entrepreneurs begin a conversation about imposter syndrome and breaking through $1 million in revenue: “Several of us had been called “that girl,” as if we hadn’t yet made it past puberty. 

Read more:  Today's Must-Reads For Entrepreneurs:  Can Gusto Supplant Zenefits?

Give Back. Reach Out to Help.

There are millions of executive coaches out there in the world but what about mentors to women entrepreneurs and business owners?  Founder, Encore Entrepreneur Institute, Janice Celeste (pictured) says:

With 10.6 million women-owned businesses in America, there should be plenty of women mentors, right? No, there is a drought of female mentors in the United States. A survey by LinkedIn shows that only one out of five women has a mentor.  

Yet, anyone who has solid business experience, particularly growing a successful business, can mentor a woman-owned start-up enterprise.

The key:  You must ask.  

If there is someone you have your eye on, reach out to her today to see whether she has time to mentor you.

What are you waiting for?  

Read more:  Why women-owned startups are desperate for female mentors.