A Boatload of Resources for Women Entrepreneurs

Ever hear of the expression, "no excuses, just results?" Let's put it into play. SCORE has assembled a comprehensive list of useful websites to help women entrepreneurs succeed.

A snapshot of a few:

Alliance of Business Women International
ABWI is a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 to encourage and support businesswomen involved or interested in international trade opportunities.

American Business Women’s Association
ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for personal and professional growth through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.

Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO)
AEO provide entrepreneurs with training and technical assistance, micro-loans, access to market services and training, and/or economic literacy and asset development services.

Association of Women's Business Centers (AWBC)
The AWBC supports entrepreneurship among women as a way to achieve economic self-sufficiency, create wealth and participate in economic development through education, training, mentoring, business development and financing opportunities.

Athena Foundation
The Athena Foundation pairs woman-owned businesses with a group of local mentors who serve as a panel of advisors. Advisors work with business owners for one year, free of charge.

Discover the other 37 here.

Photo credit

Do Women Start Businesses to Compliment a Lifestyle?

Although the following reference is posted at the Swazi Observer, there may be some truth to it as it relates to women business owners in America.

A study on what holds back women revealed that there is a false perception that banks have closed financing taps for small firms. In contrast, banks have come out to state that they see women as a really good credit risk, because very often they are starting businesses for survival and are careful about how they manage their finances.

A comment that was made anonymously to Mthunzi Maziya, the author of the post, said this:

“I think some women are simply not ambitious enough and don’t want to sacrifice family and children for financial independence. No wonder we are financially worse off than men.”

Read it and see if you agree or disagree. And if you feel strongly about it one way or the other, let us know! Find the entire post here.

Learn more about the Kingdom of Swaziland (women pictured are from Swaziland) here.

How to Make a Date to Innovate

As busy as we are running our companies, we still have to set aside time for our personal lives to ensure we nurture and cultivate the relationships that matter. But let me ask you this: Do you set aside time from your business to innovate?

Well this article I authored for the American Express OPEN Forum may help you with that. It begins with ...

Turn off your smart phone. Shut down your e-mail (or at least turn off the ping noise that sounds when you get a message). Put on something comfy. Squirrel yourself away with your laptop in tow where nobody, I mean nobody, can disturb you, because this is your time to make a date to innovate. This is my fourth installment on innovation.

Read the entire article: Make a Date to Innovate

What do you do to inspire innovation at your firm?

Flower Power Collage by Preschoolers for Auction

It's never too early to show your creativity and these young people from Mrs. Nicholson's TBPK Class, Room 006, "Flower Power," are doing an amazing job with just that.

"Flower Power" Description

Materials/ Description of Process: tempera paints and craypas. Ms. Nicholson's preschoolers at Audubon Elementary school created a stunning 20" x 20" flower collage (shown above).

Each preschooler (shown above) first painted a flower petal. After the petal dried, the children colored on top with the craypas. Beautiful and vibrant flower petals resulted. The flower's seeded center is filled with small photos of each child's smiling face!

Parent Volunteers: Laura and Jonathan Fairman

So, my fellow creative artists, aspiring women entrepreneurs and business owners, take a pause, check it out and make a bid. You'll do your good deed for the day.

Ms. Nicholson's TBPK Class, Room 006 FLOWER POWER

Note: Flower Power is available for viewing in person at Starbucks on Roscoe (and Seeley) Chicago, Illinois until March 31. Bid binders are located on the fireplace. The show is also a fundraiser for Audubon Elementary School.

Photo credit: here.

Is the Economy Improving?

According to a whole lot of women business owners, the slumping economy will begin to turn around soon.

One report, released late last month by the National Association of Women Business Owners, said 61 percent of the women business owners surveyed said the economy is improving, and will be better at the end of 2010 than at the year’s start. That is up from 54 percent in 2009 and 26 percent in 2008.

Another poll, late last year by the Center for Women’s Business Research, said 54 percent of women business owners surveyed think the economy is improving.

In Aurora — where the percentage of women-owned businesses outpaces the national average — women business owners say they, too, think the economy will improve steadily in 2010.

What's your gut feeling? What are you experiencing? Is the economy prohibiting you from starting a business? Read more here.

We're Not Looking for a Handout; We're Looking for a Helping Hand

What's the difference between looking for charity (handout) and a business loan (legitimate helping hand)?

Veronica James (pictured) stood on a cold street in downtown Nashville, begging for money. But it’s not quite what you might think.

With a sign hanging from her neck that reads "Will Work for Business Loan," and flurries of snow blowing through the air, the 40-year-old Nashville designer hoped this morning to secure a business loan, or at least raise awareness about the difficulties of getting money in the poor economy.

“I figure I can get my story told out here,” she said, standing at the corner of Fifth Avenue North and Church Street.

Find out where this goes here.

Photo credit: Brian Reisinger, Nashville Business Journal

Significant Workplace Inequality Still Exists

And guess what that means? More women will be starting businesses than ever before, especially when encouraged to become an entrepreneur at an earlier age.

According to breaking news over at New Brunswick, Canada:

From the public school system to municipal, provincial and federal politics, steps must be taken to create the equality of access to which women are entitled. It may be "a free country," as far as the law is concerned, but people tend not to choose professions in which they see few role models, or where the prevailing culture feels unwelcome. This is where intervention can make a big difference.

The drive to encourage women to become business owners and corporate managers should be part of a general move to teach children entrepreneurial skills (as pictured) and financial literacy. By high school ...

Read more here.

What Do The Snooty Fox and Conductive Learning Center Have In Common?

They are both run by Donna Speigel (pictured), a talented and compassionate entrepreneur. Background coverage here.

The Snooty Fox, a chain of upscale consignment shops in the greater Cincinnati area.

The Conductive Learning Center, benefits children with Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida and other motor challenges. Donna is founder and Executive Director of the center which opened three years ago.

Catch her interview March 1, 2010 on the World News with Diane Sawyer here and learn how her love, entrepreneurial drive and dedication has led to all this amazing work.

Congratulations Donna. We are very proud of you and your accomplishments!

Motivation for Starting a Business? No Job Search Callbacks

Inspiration is overflowing in this article. Cinde Dolphin (pictured) was a marketing manager for Coors for 24 years and took a buyout. She relaxed on the beaches of New Zealand, went whitewater rafting on the Yampa River in Colorado and saw friends and Broadway shows in New York.

But ... after a few months ... guess what? Cinde got a little bored.

So at age 55, she began applying for marketing jobs, confident she would be quickly hired because of her Coors pedigree. “About four months into my job search, I realized I wasn’t getting many callbacks,” she said.

So she started a public relations firm that helps winemakers like Story Winery in California.

You must read the full story here.

Photo credit: Jim Wilson, The New York Times

Women Entrepreneurs Know How to Lead

Collaboration, team-building, leading by example and inclusiveness are becoming increasingly important as companies break down silos and remove layers of management.

There's still a huge gap that most organizations still face when it comes to putting women in senior leadership roles. Women head up fewer than 3% of the Fortune 1,000 companies. This has caused a lot of women to leave corporate America to start their own businesses.

Read more here at:

Women Leaders: The Hard Truth About Soft Skills

Snippet from the article:

"The outstanding women," Fontaine notes, "used a better blend of what we think of as traditional masculine styles—being directive, authoritative, and leading by example and as well as feminine ones. They also knew when to be more nurturing, inclusive, and collaborative."

More, More, More

"How you like it, how you like it!" More.com is currently featuring information that might be helpful to you and your existing or soon-to-be business during these tough economic times.

Whether you have a business, want to start a business, need help updating your job hunting skills, or want recommendations for job hunting websites, you will find all of this and More(.com) here.

Check out this creative sample piece here:

“I Launched My Business from the Ladies Room."

Shhhhhh ... I'm not sure if I caught this correctly but when I visited site I saw one year for $0! And, the "More, more, more" reference above comes from Andrea True Connection.

Eva Longoria Parker: Hardly Just An Actress

What do you think of when you see the name Eva Logoria Parker (pictured)? I immediately think of Gabrielle Solis on ABC’s Desperate Housewives, one of the craziest and sauciest characters in a show full of them.

But did you know?

Using Housewives as her foundation, Longoria Parker, 34, has leveraged her notoriety and growing wealth in areas well outside the acting realm, becoming a legitimate businesswoman and philanthropist and positioning herself to become the equivalent of the CEO of a multi-industry conglomerate. She’s started a production company, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, to develop projects. She co-owns Beso, a 150-seat Hollywood restaurant that includes some of her own recipes on the menu (try the tortilla soup), and just opened a second lo-cation in Las Vegas along with a nightclub called Eve.

She is also part of The GreenVille Project, a real estate development initiative dedicated to building environ-mentally neutral retail spaces. She’s working on a fragrance. She’s a spokesperson for L’Oreal, Pepsi and Heineken Light. She has also founded Eva’s Heroes, a charity that provides an after-school program for children with developmental disabilities and support for their families. Longoria Parker is also national spokes-person for PADRES Contra El Cáncer, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of Latino children with cancer.

Enough said about her entrepreneurial drive. Read more here.

Women Business Owners Have the Edge

Women business owners are proving they are mighty force and one you don't mess with.

Not only are women-owned firms contributing $3 million annually to the U.S. economy and accounting for 16% of all jobs, but new research shows women entrepreneurs will create 5 to 5.5 million new jobs across the U.S. by 2018 – more than half of the total new small-business jobs expected to be created during that time, and about one-third of the total new jobs anticipated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read the entire study here:
Women Rock As Small Business Owners

One more quick snippet:

Experts say hopeful male entrepreneurs should take notes on what has been giving women business leaders an edge.

To Win, Unleash Your Inner Entrepreneur

Should you restart your career as whatever it is that you have been doing for umpteen years (same thing but at a different place) or pursue your childhood dream of starting your own business?

Well this piece can most certainly help guide you. A quick snippet:

The economy looks bleak with unemployment climbing to 7.6 percent last month from 7.2 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Meanwhile, foreclosures mount while benefits, savings and pensions deteriorate.

As job security from corporate America fades, Jackson and others see the economic downturn as an unexpected chance to transform hobbies or youthful fantasies, once-dubbed impractical, into grown-up careers.

"I've spent most of my professional life making money for other people's companies," says Laura Waldusky, who opened her own jewelry shop this month in Houston, Texas, after being unable to find a job in 2008. "Why not invest my talents in, well, myself?" iReport.com: Surviving a tough economy.

Bad economy? Do what you love.

Starting a Business Is Not Always a Walk in the Dog Park

Amy Nichols (pictured with her doggie pals), a former telecommunications sales executive, is the founder of Dogtopia, a national chain of upscale day-care centers for dogs. Her blog can be found here.

Ms. Nichols always knew that she wanted to care for animals. But, after college, she thought she should get a "real job."

Following in her father's footsteps, she chose telecommunications. In the late 1990s, she built a career working for a number of the big players: Bell Atlantic (which later became Verizon), Cable & Wireless USA and XO Communications. She moved up the ladder, starting in sales support where her job was to find outside contractors to install the purchased phone systems.

But she says after a while, the thrill of the chase left her "feeling empty," and she was ready for something else. She decided her next act would take her back to her first love—something involving pets, something that she could develop herself, and something that would allow her to bring Griffin, her Boston terrier, to work.

Learn how Nichols's telecommunications background contributed to her success as a business owner here. Fascinating story.

Photo credit: Kevin Wolf, WSJ

Women Entrepreneurs Thrive In Our New Economy

Despite the tough economic times, these black women continue to thrive with their businesses.

• Jacqueline Ogutverenm Grace Realty
• Martha Price, Little People Day Care
• Laferia "Freda" Brown, Freda's
• Jennifer McLeod, Platinum Motors

Read more here.

Separately but related to women of color from diverse career paths, Black Enterprise has announced the 2010 Women of Power Legacy Award winners.

They are as follows:

B. Smith, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, B. Smith Enterprises; Hon. Shirley Jackson, Ph.D., President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Audrey Smaltz (pictured): CEO and Founder, The Ground Crew Worldwide; Aulana L. Peters, Retired Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; and former Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman, who now serves as Chair and CEO of New Ventures LLC.

Congratulations to all!

Learn more here.

Photo: Audrey, Smaltz, CEO and Founder, The Ground Crew Worldwide

O Sisters: Female CEOs, Top Execs and Entrepreneurs, Where Art Thou?

The numbers of female CEOs, high-level executives, and entrepreneurs in the U.S. today are surprisingly low. Why?

We will let Vivek Wadhwa (an entrepreneur, senior research associate at Harvard Law School, and executive in residence at Duke University) discuss his research (in an article for BusinessWeek) that shows that women entrepreneurs are very similar to their male counterparts in background and purpose ...

... which is why he thinks the lack of female entrepreneurship, especially in the tech industry, is a "societal failure" on our part.

Read all about it here.

A Guide Toward Bold Innovation

My latest contribution over at the American Express OPEN Forum.

Check it out and if you like it, say so via a Tweet + hit the Thumbs Up button (at the bottom)! Many thanks.

The Art of
BOLD
iNnOVatIoN

LOLASAB: Laugh Off Layoff and Start a Business

Not too many people care why you start a business. What matters most is that you do it and are excited about it! But in this case, a layoff and an innate passion were the tipping points for Kathy Standage (pictured) of Colorado who launched Exclusive Vail Rentals.

Read about her background, start up plan and hopes for the future with her business -- here.

What about you? Are you going to LOLASAB in 2010?

Photo credit: Chris Schneider for USA Today

Go, Gaga, Go!

If you are hanging out Sunday evening, be sure to catch the Grammys (some highlights here) to take in the new Digital Diva: Lady Gaga (pictured in typical form). Her debut album has generated four No. 1 songs.

Always a fan of both Madonna and Fergie, it appears that Lady Gaga will soar past them both with her ability to go beyond just selling records and CDs to encompass everything from merchandising, touring, clothing design and makeup deals. She's got big time global appeal. More important, she sure can sing and perform stunningly!

Watch her. Don't miss her opening act with Elton John which is rumored to be the Grammy highlight. Looking for inspiration and creativity? Lady Gaga will deliver. She can teach us a thing or two about boldness and expressing ourselves -- whether through entertainment or entrepreneurship.

More here. Song clip here. Video clip here (McDonalds is advertising on it -- I'm lovin' it).