Showing Courage to Start a Business

What do a lot of small business owners want to do when they first launch a business?  Delegate.  Be a better boss.  Learn how to lead effectively.  These are just a few of the ways in which small business owners plan to grow their businesses.  And they have plenty of help.  10,000 Small Businesses, a program that Goldman Sachs has brought across the country, assists small businesses with all the functional aspects to growing a business.

One thing we already know:  These business owners show a lot of courage by starting a business.  It takes guts and initiative.

Learn more:  10,000 Small Businesses program thriving in Chicago

Screenshot courtesy:  Chicago Sun-Times

From Velvet Ropes to Vintage Chairs, Entrepreneur Realizes Her Dream of Owning a Business

Lisa Escobar (pictured) had a Vegas dream job managing high-end nightclubs Tryst and XS inside the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. But as much as Escobar loved it, that job wasn't her calling.

So in 2012 — in the middle of Southern Nevada's recession — Escobar quit and launched a business as an interior decorator and stylist, using her Rolodex of VIPs as a starting point for a client list.

What was the transition like?

Learn more:  Entrepreneur realizes dream of launching her own business

Visit:  Lisa Escobar Design

Screenshot courtesy:  Lisa Escobar Design

Women Are Best As Entrepreneurs

Why are women best at being entrepreneurs?  Easy.  Female entrepreneurs are more likely to be risk averse and so avoid the pitfalls that can kill a young business, says Paul Bentley, Kleinwort Benson’s head of entrepreneurs.  He goes on to specifically say:

"Female entrepreneurs tend to be more risk averse and position themselves better to create long-term value. They often avoid the pitfalls that befall early stage firms, meaning their businesses will show a more consistent track record."

Read:  'Women are best entrepreneurs' as they are more likely to avoid pitfalls that can kill a young business 

Screenshot courtesy:  This is Money (photo of Julia Elliott Brown, Upper Street London co-founder)

Defeat Your Fears and Reach for the Sky

Cielo, the word for “sky” or “heaven” in Spanish, and an acronym for Community for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Opportunities. Cielo is on the campus of Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California, where classes in self-wellness and entrepreneurship are being held over the summer in something of a soft launch for the center.

Cielo is expected to launch in the fall of 2015 as an incubator for lifestyle and skills-based microbusinesses, providing their owners access to capital, mentorship and classes – and possibly office space.

Among those using Cielo to launch her business is Leticia Benitez, 37, a wife and mother of an elementary school-age child.  She plans to nurture her small side business making cakes covered in ribbons of frosting and a layer of fondant, a creative outlet outside of her normal part-time work at the local Cheesecake Factory.

Read more:  Reaching for the sky: Cielo incubator in Huntington Beach will focus on lifestyle trades

Messiness and Being a Cheapskate Can Launch a Business

Mary Rascher had “three of the messiest kids ever” as her inspiration for making laundry soap, but the full-time electrical mechanic started investigating how to make soaps and later lotions that she now sells at the Downtown Rantoul Farmer’s Market and various Gordyville events under M&M Creations.

Rascher says she’s so “cheap,” she wanted to figure out a way to make her own laundry soap.

Read the entire article:  Tightwad Mary:  Desire to save money led Rascher to start making her own soap

Screenshot courtesy:  M&M Creations

Where Does Your Heart Belong?

Ever dream of owning your own business?  That's how this business owner got started.  She dreamed about owning a bakery and then made it a reality.  From the moment Emily Grable stepped inside the North Canton, Ohio-based Hazel Artisan Bakery Café, she knew it was where her heart belonged.

Nine years after visiting Hazel Artisan Bakery Café for the first time, Grable’s dream came true.

She purchased the bakery, located at 1176 S. Main St., saying it was something that was just “meant to be.” It was a transition she was comfortable with, having worked as a pastry chef for the previous owner for more than a year before taking over the business herself.

Grable is now one of nine million women-owned businesses operating in the U.S., according to the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

Read the entire article:  Cafe owner finds calling in pastry  Facebook Page here.

Screenshot courtesy:  Hazel and Rye

Definition of Entrepreneur? Good-Looking Men Who Don't Have Jobs

When Carla Walker-Miller (pictured) first encountered the word "entrepreneur" while she was growing up, she thought, "it meant good-looking men who didn’t have jobs. That’s what she saw in the magazines: men talking about their ideas and starting companies but never seeming to work."

Fast-forward to today when Walker-Miller is running Detroit-based Walker-Miller Energy Services, employing 43 people and on pace for generating annual revenues of $7 million this year (2015).

Walker-Miller talks about how she broke out of the corporate world, the challenges of being an African American woman in business, and how she keeps her work-life balance.

Read the entire article:  Entrepreneurs must buy, bargain, finesse their way to the table

Photo courtesy:  Carla Walker-Miller

Just Be Who You Are

Serena Williams (pictured) is a world class tennis player and has medals to prove it.  Do you describe yourself as the best entrepreneur in the world?  Better be careful here.  You don't want to come across as full of yourself.

Here are some words that are great when other people use them to describe you--but you should never use to describe yourself.  For example, drop “innovative,” since most people aren’t.

Just be who you are.

27 Words You Should Never Use to Describe Yourself

Screenshot courtesy:  EJI

Yes Country for All Women

What a great day to celebrate not only the birth of our nation but the fact that the best country for women entrepreneurs is ... drum roll ... United States, (Canada, Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom) according to a global report commissioned by Dell.

Those women entrepreneurs aren’t just starting a business for themselves but also are adding jobs, expanding into new markets and even looking for export opportunities, said Aidis [Dr. Ruta Aidis, project director of Dell’s Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard].

Read the entire article:  The best country for women entrepreneurs is ...

Note:  Coming up on July 7th is Escape From Corporate America's 11th birthday!  My how time flies when you love what you do and are passionate about it.  I hope you enjoy our posts.  To many more years of entrepreneurial empowerment!  Here's our first post back eleven years ago.

The Pitch: Hunting Women Business Owners

The Pitch, launched by SheKnows Media, is a vehicle for female founders to deliver their pitch and allow it to build steam among potential consumers.  Many of the entrepreneurs showcased in The Pitch will all be solving problems that are common to them.   Watch Tonya Von Court's pitch above.

The Pitch will continue to produce and air new videos each week from entrepreneurs and activists launching both for profit and nonprofit ventures. Audience members will have the opportunity to comment, share, and upvote their favorites using a set of custom emojis. There will also be a live judged Pitch event at the BlogHer15 conference on July 18.

Bottom line:  You gotta sell your vision ladies!

Read the entire article:  New Platform Helps Women Entrepreneurs Master the Art of the Pitch

Who Are You Hanging Out With?

Who you hang out with can make a difference on how far you travel on the success train.

The people we choose to surround ourselves with often matter a great deal to our success — especially when we are trying to thrive as entrepreneurs. That’s because spending time alongside other motivated and successful people can have positive effects on our own success. 

It can be hard to find other successful women to learn from and collaborate with, but hopefully this blog, for example helps.

Studies show that women who attend events with another woman set very different goals—more ambitious goals—for themselves compared to women who attend alone.

Read more:  A Friend's Support Can Make Women Better Entrepreneurs

How to Conquer a Male-Dominated Business Landscape

Compared to male-owned businesses, women business owners generally fail at a higher rate (failure is not a bad thing), employ fewer people and generate less revenue.  Despite that, women entrepreneurs are the fastest-growing segment of business owners in the U.S.

The reasons for women trailing are complicated and varied.  For a booster, read this:

6 Female Entrepreneurs Share Their Best Business Advice

Fortune Favors Bold Women Entrepreneurs

Crowdfunding platforms such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter are everything but the rage these days.  Why not?  For crowdfunding benefits are the ability to quickly raise capital and the enhanced marketing profile generated via the fundraising campaign.

But almost as important is how crowdfunding allows startups to pursue fast and relatively affordable market validation for their products.

According to Techvibes.com, crowdfunding also offers much better opportunities for women entrepreneurs than traditional venture capital, which directed as little as 4% toward women-run startups versus 96% for male-fronted companies according to recent research.

“Women entrepreneurs are incredibly successful with crowdfunding raises,” said [Craig] Asano [Executive Director of the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA). “Through crowdfunding women entrepreneurs, project owners and company owners are achieving much higher raises, and in some cases they are more successful than men.”

Read the entire article:  Crowdfunding Cultivates 'Fail Fast' Culture, Helps Women Raise Startup Capital

For more on crowdfunding that we've written about, visit here.

Kauffman Index 2015: A Multilayered Portrait of Entrepreneurship in America

The numbers in the new 2015 Kauffman Index reveal a multilayered portrait of entrepreneurship in America right now.  Here are five of the trends.

1. Opportunity versus necessity
2. Startup density
3. Still a man's world?
4. Race, ethnicity, and immigration
5. Age matters, and so does education, but not the way you think

In the case of Still a Man's World, the trend is not so positive for women:

The preponderance (63.2%) of newly minted entrepreneurs were men, while only 36.8% of women started their own venture in the most recent year. The number of female entrepreneurs is close to the 20-year low of 36.3% from the 2008 Index. For comparison, there was more equity between genders in 1996 than there is now.

• Men: 1996 56.3%, 2014: 63.2%
• Women: 1996:43.7%, 2014: 36.8%

Learn more:  The State of the American Entrepreneur in 2015

What Used to be a Man's World on Business Ownership Is Long Gone

Twenty-eight years ago Pam Sullivan wanted to launch her own marketing company in Boston but ran up against one serious problem:  As a female sole proprietor, she couldn't secure a loan. With help from the Small Business Development Center, she put together a business plan and secured the money that helped launch a new career.

Fast-forward to now where that sort of problem is a lot rarer.

According to a new report, "2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses," commissioned by American Express OPEN, nationally, the number of women-owned businesses has increased 74 percent since 1997.  Sales figures for women-owned businesses in New Hampshire where Sullivan is based now reached nearly $8 billion, more than double the total in 1997.

One of the key statements made in the article is this:

“What I’d attribute the growth to is there are quite a large amount of resources, things like the Small Business Association, groups that are very willing to extend their help,” she [Tonya Rochette, vice president and partner at Human Resource Partners, which has offices in Concord and Dover] said. “And perhaps more women are willing to ask and accept the help.”

Read the entire article here.

Most-Coveted Role Among A-List Actresses? Business Owner.

There's Jessica Alba with The Honest Company and Kate Hudson with Fabletics.  Now Oscar winner Halle Berry is one of the latest female celebrities to start a business. She launched Scandale Paris last year, a line of lingerie sold at Target stores.

For decades, famous faces have been hired by big corporations to sell hair dye, lipstick and high-end fashion. But now, more female celebrities are taking control and starting their own businesses. It’s also helping some balance career and motherhood.

Read more:  More celebrity women taking on role of business owner

Screenshot courtesy:  Scandale Paris

Watch These Videos to Become a Better Entrepreneur

The Kauffman Foundation has released a series of six videos on success strategies for women entrepreneurs. The videos are part of Kauffman FastTrac, which helps educate aspiring entrepreneurs and provide them with the resources and community they need to grow their business.

Find the videos on finance, legal, negotiating, marketing, [what? no global expansion video?], social media and managing work-life balance here.

Screenshot courtesy:  Kauffman Foundation

SBA Encourages Women to Win Federal Contracts

The Small Business Administration said it is implementing a law that gives women more opportunities to win federal contracts.  U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (pictured) says she is glad the agency has moved quickly to implement her legislation aimed at encouraging women-owned small businesses.

Shaheen says removing barriers to federal contracts will encourage more women to start their own small businesses, generating economic growth in New Hampshire and across the country.

Learn more.

Screenshot courtesy:  Jeanne Shaheen - United States Senator for New Hampshire

Support for Female Entrepreneurs From Around the World

Eighteen (18) startups from around the world, will join Blackbox for the Spring 2015 Female Founders Edition (held in Palo Alto from April 27 - May 8, 2015) program.  Check it out here.  It's great to see support for female entrepreneurs from around the world!

Quick backstory:

Blackbox, the Silicon Valley accelerator dedicated to leveling the playing field for global startups, today announced their first-ever program comprised exclusively of women founders. Blackbox Connect Female Founders Edition is committed to helping women gain access to Silicon Valley resources and funding networks, and is powered by Google for Entrepreneurs.

Screenshot courtesy:  Blackbox

Women Will Lead the Way to Economic Growth in the United States

According to the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation’s recent report “Sources of Economic Hope: Women’s Entrepreneurship," women business owners will lead the way to economic growth in the United States.

The report alludes to the fact that “accelerating women’s entrepreneurship could have the same positive effect on the U. S. economy as the large-scale entry of women into the labor force had during the 20th century.”

Read more from Anne Janiak (pictured) for Westfield Communications:  Leading female entrepreneurs to success

Screenshot:  Ann Janiak