How to Get a Product Out of a Lab and Into the Real World

Amy Sheng, co-founder of CellScope created a smart-phone attachment for diagnosing kids' ear infections and brought it into the real world.  She and fellow co-founder Erik Douglas, now help the modern family access healthcare more conveniently.

Move Beyond Discussing Barriers to Achieving Success

Female entrepreneurs are showing they are a force to be reckoned with despite barriers and challenges that could get in their way but don't.

“What they see is what they’ll be,” said Iyadunni [founding partner of V-Rock Productions] “Everything I do, they [her daughters] want to do it. We’ve had lots of conversations, and I’ve encouraged them to create their own life using the gifts and talents that have been given to them. They haven’t encountered the same obstacles that I did 12 years ago.”

Many women entrepreneurs encourage other women to get out there early and learn the ropes because starting a business.

Learn a few other tips here.

Anything Can Spur You Into Starting a Business

What typically spurs a woman into starting a business?  It can be anything from wanting control over a one's destiny to divorce or even death of a loved one.

In Aoife Doherty's case, her motivation for starting Derry, Ireland-based Sass & Halo, which specializes in bespoke handmade floral crowns (as shown) for discerning fashionistas, came by accident.

I was bridesmaid for my brother’s wedding last May and for the ‘craic’ [craic is the atmosphere and fun surrounding an event] decided to make some special floral crowns for the hen party. When we posted photos on social media, friends asked me to make crowns for birthdays and other special occasions but it wasn’t until I started getting online enquiries from people I didn’t even know, that I thought I might be onto something.

Since then, she has had a lot of business (HQ shown at left). But the remarkable thing is that Aoife is starting her business just months after the sudden loss of her dad.  She must have that fighting Irish spirit and knows her dad will not only be proud of her but will be wishing her tremendous success.  Just like we are.
 

Run Everyday

As a regular runner, I speak from experience.  Regular exercise isn't just good for your body, it's great for your mind too -- from clear thinking to creativity.  It really helps me do a better job running my enterprises.  Even CEO of Lifeway Foods, Julie Smolyansky, feels the same.

“I try to run every day, and science now shows a positive correlation between running and creativity.  It has helped me maintain a sense of balance. It grounds me and offers an outlet on my most stressful days, and allows me to lean into risk and uncertainty.”

What else enables success for winning entrepreneurs?  Taking chances, following your passion and staying on course, are just a few common mantras that many successful young entrepreneurs practice.

Below are a couple of other secrets from Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to Spanx founder Sara Blakely who insist their paths were paved with ups and downs, and, most of all, perseverance.

Here they share some of their secrets.

Listen to Your Customers and Adapt With the Times

Ilene Keivel started her career in the health care industry, working in sports medicine and outpatient physical therapy. But her inner calling was centered around baking and decorating. She decided to leave the physical therapy career, work at a cookie bakery for a short while, and then start her own business.  Hence, Geneva, Illinois-based Sweet Natalie's was born in 2012, naming it after her daughter.

When Keivel had changed her diet to gluten-free, she noticed how hard it was to find items that adhered to her diet and were tasty.  That prompted her to change her bakery's business model and develop gluten-free foods, Paleo, low carb, vegan and so forth.  Plus, the bakery was turned into a co-op in 2014 where she invited other bakers to come in on a rotating schedule to bake in her kitchen, which is open 24 hours a day.

What Keivel earned while growing her business is to go with the times, listen to your customers, and adapt.

Read more here.

Screenshot courtesy of Sweet Natalie's

March On Ladies

Whether a mother, sister, aunt, grandma, entrepreneur, activist, feminist, actor, homemaker, or artist, women are changing the world.

Let's support equal rights, women's rights, and human rights in general.

Read more here.

How Can Women-Owned Firms Grow Their Enterprises?

The 2015 State of Women-Owned Business Report (AMEX Open, 2015) estimated that women started 1,200 new businesses every day during the past year, up from an average of 740 a day the year prior. Four out of 10 new firms are now started by women.

Putting the elephant on the table:  The real issue at hand is not getting more women to start a business, but rather providing support to women who are already in business to enable them to grow their enterprises to the next level.

The McKinsey Institute projects that if women business owners achieved the same level of success as their male counterparts, $3.2 trillion in revenues and employ 16 million people.

How can women-owned firms grow their enterprises?  Read more here.

Skip Wishes and Set Goals in 2017

Many female entrepreneurs still have not realized the power of setting effective business goals. Is that you? If it is, make a plan and it can be as simple as drawing something up on a napkin because it's impossible to really know if your daily activities are moving you in the right direction if you do not set business goals. Skip wishes and set goals in 2017.

Read more about the importance of goal setting and get a few tips here.

Go Get'm Gals: Start That Business!

Happy New Year Escape from Corporate America fans!  I wish you a joyful, healthy and prosperous 2017.  Now to business.  As Forbes points out:

... the past year [2016] has seen some staggering success stories, with women entrepreneurs raising record funding rounds, blowing past revenue goals, founding barrier-breaking businesses, and -- in many cases -- beating the men at their own game.

Check out the 10 highlights here.  Meanwhile, start that business! And if it is in coding, you are even more in luck.  Make it awesome.  Make it yours.

Merry Christmas From the Official Escape From Corporate America Blog!

©2016 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Happy Holidays From Escape From Corporate America!

Photo credit:  @2016 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Raising High-Achieving, Independent Women

Whether you are raising a daughter, looking out for a niece or overseeing the well-being of a granddaughter or neighbor, this article on Ruth Bader Ginsburg (pictured) sharing her thoughts about how to raise a trail-blazing daughter will inspire you.

Want to Raise a Trail-Blazing Daughter?  'The Notorious RBG [Ruth Bader Ginsburg]' Says Do These 7 Things

Mr. President: Make It Easy On Us to Grow

Elizabeth Gore (pictured), entrepreneur-in-residence at the Dell computer company, wrote a letter to both main USA presidential candidates prior to November 8th, which urged the next president to take steps that would make it easier for businesses owned by women to grow.

Read the letter, headlined, What We Need to Succeed, and take a look at the article.

The Future of Small Business Is Female

Women are making it happen, building businesses, fostering collaboration and mastering the world of social media.  We're good.  We're best at what we do.

Discover what women who started small businesses with BIG ambition are doing these days.

Inspiring You to Succeed

To commemorate Women's Entrepreneurship Day (11/19), here are 30 quotes from successful and powerful women entrepreneurs that will inspire and motivate you.

Pat yourselves on the back too for all your great work.

Read more:  30 Motivational Quotes from Women Entrepreneurs That Will Inspire you to Succeed

Pro-Women

©2016 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Below are a few organizations that work to fight for the rights of our most vulnerable populations, and ways you can volunteer or donate to make sure they are able to work harder than ever. Another one not mentioned on the list that I am involved in is Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global.

A List of Pro-Women, Pro-Immigrant, Pro-Earth, Anti-Bigotry Organizations That Need Your Support

Useful Leadership Lessons

We started this blog, Escape From Corporate America, because so many women are fed up with Corporate America.  Yet, many women decide to stay in Corporate America by choice because whatever the setbacks in their careers, these challenges often provide useful leadership lessons that help propel their ascent and success.  That's the case with a new book by Joann S. Lublin.

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Joann S. Lublin, author of the new book, Earning It:  Hard-Won Lessons from Trailblazing Women at the Top of the Business World, shares many real-life and compelling stories about workplace experiences and moving up advice from more than 50 corporate female leaders.  Some of the inspirational leaders featured in the book include Mary Dillon, CEO of Ultra, Virginia Rometty, CEO of IBM, and Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, to name just a few.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or corporate executive and you want to know what to do or what not  to do when you confront the challenges of the workplace, this book offers great practical advice in every chapter that will help you navigate the business world.  You can be smart about good choices and you can be candid about mistakes -- but the point is you must willing to put yourself out there, be courageous, take chances, and earn what you deserve.    

And for my men readers, please read this book.  We need you to help us succeed in business and in the executive suite.  Your mothers, wives, daughters, nieces and granddaughters will applaud you for your effort and support.  I will too.

To learn more about Earning It, and to order a copy, visit:
https://www.amazon.com/Earning-Hard-Won-Lessons-Trailblazing-Business/dp/0062407473/

Photo courtesy:  Laurel Delaney

To Grow, Find Good Mentors

Three out of 10 small businesses are owned by women nationally.  About two percent of them have broken the $1 million mark in revenues.  Why is it so hard to break into the million-dollar plus revenue range?  Many think it is because women lack good outside advisors.

But the people problems run far deeper than not having outside experts. About six in 10 of the [Kaufman Foundation] survey respondents said they lacked a strong support structure within their businesses.

Learn more:  Female business owners say they need mentors, marketing help

Note:  A good peer-to-peer advisory group is the Women Presidents' Organization.  (Disclosure:  I manage the Chicago market for WPO.)

Never Be Afraid to Start Your Own Business

Artist Sylvia Sinel (pictured) said her craft is experiencing a revival.  Sinel moved from Sweden three years ago and said she "found her medium" in New Zealand.  In it, she wasn't afraid to start her own business.  After joining the Waikato Society of Potters, she started with ceramics.

Read more to learn what happened next:  From working with money to working with clay

Take It Global Gals!

If you are in or around Chicago on Friday, October 21st, join us for the world's best little Global Small Business Forum held at 70 West Madison Street from 7:30 a.m. -- 4:30 p.m.  My company, Global TradeSource, Ltd. (GSBB Media, LLC) is hosting it.  You'll hear from entrepreneurs and business owners -- men and women alike -- talking about how they expanded their businesses internationally.

Our sponsors this year are:  CEI, MB Financial, TradeUp and Nixon Peabody.  Without them, this program would not be possible.

To learn more and to register, visit:  http://www.global smallbusinessforum.com.  There's a fee involved but the good news is that you receive breakfast, lunch, all program content, and a copy of my latest Exporting book endorsed by Good to Great and Beyond Entrepreneurship best-selling author Jim Collins.  Students get a substantial discount.  Oh, and we are also auctioning off two really neat prizes:  an iPad mini and a Mio global health watch!  Eli's Cheesecake will be serving up something sweet and memorable for each attendee.

I hope to see you there! 

Illustration credit:  @2016 GSBB Media LLC, 2nd Annual Global Small Business Forum 2016.  All rights reserved.