Women-owned businesses are being started at the rate of 1,817 per day in the United States. That has resulted in 13 million women-owned companies and 4 out of 10 businesses are women-owned. Two weeks ago, Forbes had a good article by Cate Luzio who offered tips for supporting women-owned businesses. (Full disclosure: I know Cate but she didn’t have anything to do with the putting together of this blog post…) Her focus is on finding ways to “unlock the potential and accelerate the development” of the business founders she works with. Her focus is on businesses owned by women, but her tips are useful for anyone starting a business.
Tips to Support Women-Owned Businesses
There are blogs abound that can give you tips for starting your business. You will face legal tasks to be accomplished. Marketing ideas will come to you in the middle of the night. Cate’s tips:
- It all starts with a business plan.
- In order to grow, you need access to broad networks.
- If you can’t “bootstrap”, or have self-funded and now need further investment, there is a greater need to educate about access to capital and those options.
- Hiring the right team.
- To scale or not to scale.
Many of the businesses I work with start out with a business plan. It’s a great way to plan ahead, but some people get a little too caught up in the details of the plan. Your plan should be flexible and allow your business to pivot as necessary. This becomes especially true if you are tapping your network and find investors who see different avenues for your company’s growth. Having the right team in place is one of the most important steps on the list. I have long counseled my clients on the importance of having a top-notch team in place when you are launching a business.
Cate’s final tip is also a larger, philosophical question that many businesses need to answer. Are you looking to grow into the next large company? Is an IPO in your future? Or do you prefer to keep things small? Maybe the local market is all you need to sustain you and keep you happy and engaged. Whether you scale up your business is a truly personal choice. Need a good book on scaling up your business? Scaling Up by Verne Harnish is an excellent resource to help guide you through those decisions.
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Next Steps
If you are thinking of starting a business or already started your business and want to make sure your legal documents are in order, give me a call and we can sit down for a Legal Strategy Session to discuss the process and what documents would be best tailored for your company – (877) AMAYERS.
