Women Entrepreneurs
I had the pleasure of being part of a panel of women entrepreneurs. The panel was sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Center at the Seattle University. The start of the discussion was a May Wall Street Journal article that tried to answer the question: Why are women-owned businesses smaller than the men-owned ones.
The other members of the panel were a construction company owner and an owner of a company that provides automation to pharmacies, and the moderator - a woman lawyer who worked her way to a shareholder in the firm. It was very interesting to hear they perspective and even more interesting were their success stories.
Here are the few common threads that emerged:
- Women still have to work harder than their male counterparts to prove themselves. Fortunately, the trends are moving towards a more acceptance of women in non-traditional role.
- Women still have to balance the home/work responsibilities. As my panel colleagues stated, it is very important to have a good support system that can jump in to help when needed.
- Good examples for our young women are crucial. Unfortunately, not all successful women like sharing. Some actually see it as competition.
- Being tough and determined still translates - in some people's minds - as in being a witch. A similar reaction from a male counterpart doesn't always get the negative connotation.
- Women are still risk adverse - or, at least, more reluctant to take bigger risks.
Comments