Understanding and Reaching Women Entrepreneurs

By startupprincess | Published December 1, 2008

I’m honored to have been asked and speak along with some of Utah’s brightest entrepreneurs and businessmen and present December 4th at the entrepreneurial/business Crunch Lunch in Provo. . I’m grateful to be challenged. Guy Kawasaki’s latest book, Reality Check says if you want to become a better speaker, speak in front of your “hero”, because you’ll prepare like never before. SO TRUE. My topic? Understanding and Reaching Women Entrepreneurs. The catch? I have only 5 min, it’s timed, and am required to have 20 slides. This is the trick. It’s a bit of a competition, really. I’m game. Cheer for me. Here’s my ideas on the topic, I’d like to hear yours too… as I’m representing you! Understanding Women Entrepreneurs

  • Women-owned businesses are on the rise nationally, with Utah leading the country with a 47% increase over the last 10 yrs
  • Why is there an increase? my hypothesis is because more and more women are choosing to be at home with their families and working from home has never been a better opportunity, women are creative, talented, and can open a business online with low-barrier to entry with flexible hours and low risk websites such as Ebay, Etsy, or their own website or blog
  • According to our 2008 Startup Princess (Utah) survey of 77 women the #1 reason they have started a company is because they are passionate about a service or product and they want to share it with others
  • Also according to this survey, the #1 thing they want for their business is to be on Oprah–my hypothesis is that it’s not just to be on Oprah and be recognized, increase their sales, and meet the legend–it’s to tell their story, to share their passion and be heard by the ultimate audience. Women love to tell their story, it’s the one that drives them and keeps them going when it becomes difficult to keep running a startup while running a household; funding and admin support also ranked high
  • Survey also found that the #1 thing these women said they needed was life-balance, it’s a catch-22, we want it all, but we struggle with it all too; confidence and increase of sales also ranked high

How to Reach Women Entrepreneurs (some of the following taken from Soccer Mom Myth and from personal experience as an entrepreneur and in working with Startup Princesses)

  • Take interest in her and her business; for me this is #1, if someone wants to pitch me on a product or service I appreciate it when they have taken the time to get to know who I am, what I do, and why I do it. If they email me and say something about my business that might be a good fit for their product or service then I listen more intently.
  • If possible get an intro or referral from someone she trusts, a company she may know of, etc., build her trust
  • Offer a test drive, a demo, a free 30 day trial, discounted rate, money-back guarantees, etc.; she’s in startup mode, she’s careful about her resources and wants to try before she buys
  • Provide excellent customer support, live chat, help her use your product or service with ease
  • Offer incentives for her to share what you do with her friends or clients, she loves perks, discounts, free product, compensation, rewards
  • Answer her questions on your website, your marketing materials, and in your seminars, offer recommendations
  • Offer a variety of packages for different budgets in mind
  • Ask for her feedback after she’s purchased your product/service and listen to what she has to say
  • When you meet, ask her if she’s on any social media sites and then follow her, it helps reinforce a relationship
  • Offer her opportunities, introduce her to potential clients or partners that might be a good fit, she’ll love you for it!
  • Don’t ask her to go to lunch or meet in person, it can be very difficult, particularly if there’s young children in the home for her to arrange babysitting to meet you, you can have an effective phone visit instead
  • Use multi-media to teach her about your product or service-consider powerpoints, webinars, podcasts, audio clips, video, blogs she’s online and would like to hear your voice, see your face, and learn more about who you are in this way, show her your personality
  • Support and sponsor events where women entrepreneurs are present (such as Startup Princess!) :) Get to know many women at one place
  • Ask her what she needs “next” to grow her business, even if you can’t help, it demonstrates that you care, follow up when you see her or talk again
Any other ideas? Suggestions??
This entry was posted in Startup & Grow. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

4 Responses to “Understanding and Reaching Women Entrepreneurs”

  1. Ghennipher on December 1st, 2008 10:37 am

    Great tips on reaching women entreprenuers! Pitching women definitely requires a more personal approach – which is just good business anyway, IMO.

    If you’re ever attending an event in Salt Lake City, please blog about it. I’d love to attend any event you’ll be presenting at in SLC – and we can likely even create a #SLC Tweetup around it too!

    Good luck Thursday!

    @Ghennipher

    Ghenniphers last blog post…Motrin – An Avoidable Social Media Disaster

  2. Michele DeKinder-Smith on December 2nd, 2008 5:29 am

    Hi, Kelly! Best of luck with your presentation!

    In the area of “understanding women entrepreneurs”, please check out our press release page to get some additional information from research we’ve conducted. http://www.janeoutofthebox.com/pages/press.asp

    Jane Out of the Box is dedicated to using research to help female entrepreneurs create the businesses and lifestyles they dream of. On our press release page, you find information about (1) how male and female entrepreneurs differ and (2) the five different types of female entrepreneurs.

    You’re absolutely right that understanding and appreciating the unique needs of women business owners is essential to helping them succeed and to winning their business.

    If you have questions, please feel free to send me an email at mds@janeoutofthebox.com

    Michele

    Michele DeKinder-Smiths last blog post…The Columbus Dispatch: Mompreneurs’ Are Flourishing

  3. Sarah on December 3rd, 2008 9:30 am

    Good thoughts. I’d add in “flexibility”. Offering flexibility is huge for a woman wearing multiple hats, as any “extras” have to be done on “her time”.

    Sarahs last blog post…Love Connection

  4. Tara McCausland on December 5th, 2008 8:33 pm

    Hey Kelly,

    Well done yesterday at the Crunch Lunch! You were poised, confident, and articulated your thoughts very well. Thanks for being such a good example of someone who’s taking risks and living their dreams. Thanks also for remembering me and taking the time to chat with me. It was great to see you!

    -Tara McCausland

    Tara McCauslands last blog post…Staying Up in a Down Economy

Got something to say?





CommentLuv badge
  Startup Princess is an international network committed to empowering Women Entrepreneurs by offering resources for women in business to support, mentor, collaborate, learn from, and inspire one another. In 2006, after struggling to raise funding for an initial startup business venture, Kelly King Anderson recognized an important market niche existed for reliable resources educating women desiring to start and grow successful businesses, thus Startup Princess was developed.

Successful women entrepreneurs understand that for every business venture, they are in charge of creating, organizing, developing, managing, and assuming all the risks associated with their enterprise. That can seem quite intimidating but as other women business owners will tell you, it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it! Success is within your grasp and Startup Princess is here to help.

First, join as a member of Startup Princess and start building a solid foundation. Membership entitles you to a listing in the Startup Princess Online Directory where we list women owned businesses. You’ll also access exclusive content like articles, videos, and audio straight from your email inbox. Coupled with feature interviews, discounts on events, networking connections, and press opportunities, your Startup Princess membership will give any woman entrepreneur a great start for her business!

Then, take advantage of Touchpoint, our annual business conference for women entrepreneurs. Practical planning meets sky-high inspiration at this high-impact event for women business owners to network and develop their approach to business with wisdom and creative direction from other women entrepreneurs across the country.

Need a little help taking your business to the next step? Wish you had a fairy godmother like Cinderella offering you a helping hand? Now you can! Startup Princess is the home of Fairy Godmother Consulting, volunteer mentors sharing tips and insights to bless the lives of other women entrepreneurs.

Startup Princess can offer many benefits to women in business from future women business owners to successful women entrepreneurs. Please call or fill out our contact form with questions, concerns, or general interest and let us help you by giving you full access to everything Startup Princess has to offer!