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Ownership & Entrepreneurship

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Entrepreneurship…Is Small Business Ownership For You?

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

There is no way to eliminate all the risks associated with starting a business. However, you can improve your chances of success with good planning and preparation.  A worthy place to start is by assessing your strengths and weaknesses, as well as, common traits associated with a business start-up.

Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs 

There is not a set profile of a successful business owner. However, there are some common qualities that most successful owners possess. These include:

  • Hardworking
  • Ambitious
  • Self-motivated
  • Risk-taker
  • Courageous
  • Independent

Your Entrepreneurial Future

Operating a business is demanding.  If your temperament and skills don’t match your business, it becomes quite the struggle. (Click to Tweet)

Are you ready to honestly consider your responses to the following questions to evaluate your assets, as well as, your liabilities? Let’s get started:

  • Are you a self-starter?
  • How well do you get along with different personalities?
  • How easily do you direct and influence the actions of others?
  • How willing are you to innovate?
  • Do you have the physical and emotional stamina you’ll need?
  • How strong are your planning and organizational skills?
  • How will it impact your family?
  • Do you have reserves of time, cash, and skills?
  • How willing are you to learn new skills and behaviors?
  • How strong is your determination?
  • How well do you problem solve?

After truthfully evaluating your response to each question, how will you best utilize your strengths?  What about your weaknesses? What is your plan for compensating for your limitations? Are there any obvious conflicts between your personality and the type of enterprise you want to start?

If you’re interested in a quick assessment of your entrepreneurial potential, visit The Gallup Strengths Center and take their Entrepreneurial Profile 10.

Shifting From Employee to Employer 

A “shift” is an internal change in one’s beliefs.  These inner modifications alter your focus and transform the results you achieve. Undoubtedly, when entering the world of entrepreneurship, you need to think differently. (Click to Tweet)

Some of the common shifts to make include:

FROM lack of attention, “busy” TO focused, large vision, goal oriented
FROM erroneous, missing reports TO accurate, timely reports
FROM being revenue driven TO being profit oriented
FROM reacting to circumstances TO responding to and solving problems
FROM blaming and excuse TO accountability and responsibility
FROM excessive ideas and possibilities TO profitable products and services only
FROM manual, ineffective paper flow TO automated, computerized systems
FROM inexperienced, poorly-trained staff TO competent, motivated, and rewarded staff
FROM slow to respond to market TO anticipating and fast response
FROM hoping, dreaming, and wishing TO solid planning, strategizing, and acting

 
The Commonalities of a Start-up 

Still on board? Excellent! As you continue considering entrepreneurship, it’s important to take the following “commonalties” into consideration.  Be objective as you evaluate each point.

Ask yourself some basic questions about who you are and what you’re realistically qualified – and willing – to do.

What are some of the common characteristics of a start-up business?

  • Majority of time is spent on focusing your energy and organizing the business.
  • Owner doing everything, even answering the phone.
  • Establishing a reputation.  (Make it a great one!)
  • Customers expect quality, value, professionalism, and prompt service response.
  • High learning curve.  New skills being developed.
  • Strong focus on sales and marketing.

What are some of the common roadblocks when starting a small business?

  • Professional and personal balance.
  • Priorities not clearly defined.
  • Undeveloped business skills.
  • Unclear priorities.
  • Lack of time to do it all.
  • Unpredictable cash flow.
  • Neglected finances and record keeping.

 What are the common mistakes made with a business start-up?

  • Not researching the market.
  • Spending too much money on office space and decorations.
  • Over using an attorney.
  • Incorporating too early.
  • Lack of intimacy with the customer; poor customer service.
  • Company is in the wrong or too competitive a field.
  • Poor or inadequate staffing.
  • Insufficient funding.
  • Business plan based on owners needs, NOT what the market is ready to consistently buy.
  • Working without a  business plan.
  • Establishing unrealistic time frames.
  • Attempting to accomplish too much alone.
  • Tolerating interruptions.

What can you do to avoid many of the common mistakes?  What strengths and shifts can you use to steer clear of some of these missteps? Download the Core Business Assessment . Launch your small business right the first time…so you don’t have to do over. (Click to Tweet)

What advice would you give a “newpreneur?”

Everything (Entrepreneurship) Is Hard…At First

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia
My mind floods with thoughts of danger, caution, and resistance to the possibilities. I move cautiously and tentatively. I scrutinize the clock.  The seconds tick by agonizingly slow. My breathing is erratic. Sweat pours off my body in a way that’s out of proportion to my movement. I wobble and bobble.
I’m on day 6 of a 108-day yoga challenge when the yoga instructor reminds me, “everything is hard – at first”.

Sounds eerily like entrepreneurship, doesn’t it. I can’t help but think of the newpreneurs with whom I strategize. This is what it feels like when you take your first steps into business ownership. Even thinking back to 1997,when I launched Synnovatia, makes my heart flutter with a mixture of excitement, optimism, fear, and worry.

For most of us, business ownership is new territory, complete with its own lingo. (Click to Tweet) There’s so much to learn – not only when you launch – but also every day when you turn on the lights and fire up your computer.

I will admit.  It does get easier when you learn the language and the lay of the land. However, whether you’re new to entrepreneurship or have been “around the block a few times”, we all need to know – we are not alone in our angst and exhilaration.

The Willing ‘Preneur

Given my 18 years of coaching CEO’s, Presidents, and Founders of companies through frustration with their pace of progress, keeping up with cash flow, stress, getting it all done, feeling stuck and lonely working by themselves to getting back on track, developing their focus, setting and achieving goals, and maximizing their potential, here’s what I would like to share with the new ‘preneur

1. Be willing to go the distance. Success doesn’t happen overnight for most. You’re not Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs – although you might be. The truth is, even for most enterprising individuals, business is an endurance sport. (Click to Tweet)
 
2. Be willing to invest. Playing close to the chest (i.e. cautiously) is limiting. I’m not saying that one should throw money around like it grows on trees, to borrow a phrase from my parents. I am saying that you want some sort of financial reserve to carry you through from start-up until you’ve achieved your second generation of clients.

Its not just cash you want to be willing to invest, it’s also your investment of time into learning the domain knowledge of entrepreneurship.

3. Be willing to involve others. Entrepreneurs are a proud bunch. It’s hard to ask for help. Failing to reach out to others for support only slows progress. Whether it’s a mentor, coach, mastermind group or the myriad of resources accessible, avail yourself of the expertise and wisdom of others.

4. Be willing to brave failure.  “Failure” is an interesting expression. People fear it, dodge it, and wrestle with the concept of it. Unfortunately, “failure” is a garbage-can term errantly used to describe a myriad of business situations.

Seldom do we truly fail. We do, however, find ways that don’t work at which time we have a choice. We choose to label the event as “failure” or we learn from the experiment that is business, adapt, evolve, and move on.

5. Be willing to ride the roller coaster. Every business experiences ebbs and flows. Develop the same innocence owned by a child when learning to walk. Enthusiastically embrace the receding tide, as much as the rising tide.

Rest assured, entrepreneurship, like yoga, becomes easier with time, practice, learning, corrections, and a heavy dose of courage.

What advice would you share with the new ‘preneur?

The Small Business Owners Top Ten Blog Posts for 2014

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

As final preparations are made to bring 2014 to a successful close, it seems fitting to countdown the top ten blogs you, the savvy small business entrepreneur, told us were most valuable.

Put on some holiday music, deck your office, pour yourself a hot toddy, and let’s get started!

1. You’re Got Options! Strategies to Grow Your Small Business

Thank goodness for options! Can you imagine how boring it would be as an entrepreneur without choices?! Bleh.

Every business serious about growing to the next level needs a sound, sane growth strategy to spark momentum.  If you want to accelerate your growth in the New Year, this blog is for you

   2. How to Attract Your Ideal Client to Your Small Business

Finding your ideal client is like dating. You want to do business with someone who is a good fit for your work style, values, strategies, and pricing structure. Anything less is unacceptable.

Where do you start? You can’t just “hope” they show up on your website. Be intentional in your quest for the best by outlining your perfect client.

   3. 10 Ways Your Small Business Benefits from Strategic Group Coaching

How to grow a business is changing. Gone are the days of working as a lone-ranger. It takes a village to grow a business in today’s fast-paced marketplace!

The “village”, complete with differing personalities and perspectives, is the solution for many small business owners looking to accelerate growth.

   4. Stuck? 7 Reasons Why Your Small Business is Not Growing

Oy! What is worse than being stuck in neutral – other than going in reverse? And, why is it when one’s business is immovable, it only gets worse with effort. Perhaps we’re putting our energy and focus on the wrong areas.

The only time you really want to “slow your role” is to read through this blog to discover what has your business stuck in neutral.

   5. Collaboration: The Emerging Trend for Small Business Growth

Similar to the notion of growing your business by tapping into your “village,”collaboration continues to spark growth for many small business entrepreneurs.

By adopting the mindset of “what can I contribute rather than what can I take,” your business can enjoy abundance beyond what you can imagine.

   6. Calm Your Entrepreneurial Chaos With These Four Easy Steps

Raise your hand if you’re an entrepreneur experiencing the advantage of being on top of their day! (Anyone? Anyone?)

E.O., or entrepreneurial chaos, doesn’t have to rule your day. Grab ahold of four simple steps and show chaos who is really in charge.

   7. Help! I Need an Expert! What Your Small Business Needs to Grow

In the 1996 movie, Multiplicity, Michael Keaton plays the role of “Doug”, a guy who needs one thing – more time!

Through the miracle of “science”, Doug solves his “too much to-do/too little time” dilemma by creating a clone. This works well for Doug – until his clones start cloning. Like copies of copies of copies, things become fuzzy at that point.

Sound familiar? That’s when you know its time to bring in the experts!

   8. What Every Small Business Owner Need to Know to Succeed at Selling

I know! I know! You don’t like to sell. It brings up images of loud, double-knit plaid wearing used car salesman, right?

Selling doesn’t have to be that way, though, when you turn your dial to WIIFM.

   9. 10 Signs You Need a Growth Strategy for Your Small Business

Let’s face it! Some people just aren’t naturally gifted when it comes to growing things – like vegetables, plants, or the occasion business.  Armed with the right information, anyone can develop their green thumb.

   10. 6 Strategic Questions Smart Business Owners Ask Before Using Precious Resources

When it comes to small business resources, time and money is the most valuable. As small business owners, we face daily decisions on how to best allocate our most precious of resources.

Learning to exercise your strategic questioning muscle can help you navigate the flurry of choices smoothly and successfully.

What other favorites would you like to add to the list?

10 Situations to Hire a Business Coach

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

Hiring a business coach, like hiring a personal trainer, is a matter of timing and desire. If you’ve never worked with a business coach, it can be difficult to understand why any small business owner would need to do so. Still, much like hiring personal trainer, there are some situations that call for more support and assistance to get you to the next level in your business more quickly.

1. Nothing seems to be working.

Like exercise, when you’ve tried every means to get in shape, develop your strength, or improve your flexibility with little results, it’s time to call in the cavalry.

Almost every business owner experiences a time when they have done all the right things to move their business forward and haven’t gained traction. It’s frustrating to work so hard with little return.

A business coach brings objectivity to your situation. S/he helps set goals, develop achievable plans, measure progress, and, more importantly, keep you focused on developing the skills and habits you need to succeed.

2. You’re new to business.

If you’re a new entrepreneur, welcome to the wild ride known as business! There are new skills to learn, marketing concepts to understand, and business development to undertake. It can be a bit overwhelming at times.

A business coach guides you in your new business journey, making sure you have the right skill at the right time to make the time and effort you invest in your business payoff.

3. You’re business is bulging at the seams.

If this is your situation, congratulations! It’s a sign your business is growing. That’s the good news. Ready for the not so good news? Without the right skill set and systems, a business chokes on its own growth.

Small business coaching helps analyze your current situation, assists with developing a plan for growth, and ensures you have the strategies and the systems to support your accelerated growth.

4. Fear is holding you back.

It’s okay to say you’re scared. Most of us are – we just don’t admit it publically. Fear of failure, success, financial loss…no matter what the reason, fear not dealt with properly destroys passion and dreams.

Business success means taking calculated risks. A business coach helps set up the financial, emotional, and time reserves needed so you can afford to take the risks without fear of loss. Plus, you won’t have to journey alone.

5. You need a challenge.

And, what entrepreneur doesn’t! Being in business for years can lead to complacency and a loss of passion. Don’t kid yourself – your clients know it!

When you’re ready to achieve something far more than you thought possible, a strategic business coach helps stretch you beyond your current boundaries.

6. You’re at a crossroads.

Remember the saying, “when you get to a fork in the road, take it”? Oh, if it were only that easy. When you arrive at a junction in your business where the road taken – and the business model built – depends on the decisions you make today, you want to make sure your choices are clear.

With several options before you, and many roads to choose from, a business coach helps you decide what’s most important in your life and sort through the options that will take you there.

7. You’re ready for a giant step forward.

Your business has been humming along at a nice growth rate but you’re ready to leap to the next level.  Identifying the right support structure, goals, plans, and resources is vital in jumping forward successfully. A coach can help.

8. The way you’re working isn’t working.

Whether you’re burnt out, overwhelmed, or both, you recognize that you cannot keep working the way you are. There’s only one problem – you don’t know what to change or do differently.

Business coaching helps unwind your current work habits and patterns to identify new skills, practices, and patterns that get you back to your creative, focused, impassioned self.

9. You don’t know where to start.

Hey, this sounds like an every morning occurrence, doesn’t it?! It feels that way when the projects, tasks, and initiatives overflow the hours in a day. When deadlines loom, there’s no time for delays and indecision.

A business coach helps you sort through your many tasks and projects to coach you on new and different ways to approach your day to ensure every day gets off to a great start.

10. You’re preparing for a major event.

Expanding your family, a retiring spouse/partner, or retirement for yourself are examples of situations that call for your business to pivot. Business coaching helps identify what you want your business to look like, help develop the plan to get there, and keep you focused.

CONCLUSION:

Think you have a situation that would benefit from a business coach?

Schedule a Free No-Obligation Consultation Today!

Stuck On The Wrong Track? How to Make The Switch To The Right Track

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

When you launched your business, you probably didn’t figure that, one day, you would awake to a business you never intended to create. Yet, it does happen with some regularity — and you’re not alone. Nonetheless, the questions remain the same — how did I get here and, more importantly, how do I switch tracks?

Imagine this — from early morning to late night you respond to clients requests, answer email, attend networking events, follow-up on leads, write thank you notes, invoice clients, enter receipts, return phone calls, troubleshoot project problems, keep up with industry trends, and fill-in-the-blank with the other activities you perform on any given day. That’s how we so easily get on the wrong track.

It’s not that we intentionally set out to head in the wrong direction. It effortlessly happens while we’re busy about our business. (Wouldn’t it be impressive if staying on the right track were as effortless?)

Wrong Track vs. Right Track

How can you tell which track your business is on?

Common “wrong track” symptoms include:

  • More focused on the problems rather than the promise of your business
  • Running your business has become a job
  • Waning optimism and confidence in achieving your goals
  • Lack of enthusiasm to come to work — even though you own the business

By contrast, you know your business is on the right track when you…

  • Are excited to get up and go to work each day
  • Uncover and pursue opportunities with confidence
  • Happily allocate time to plan for the next level of success
  • Stay one step ahead of where your business currently exists

Switching Tracks

Like your GPS re-routes your trip when you get lost, getting back to the track you intended is possible by following these directions:

1. Refocus your vision. Undoubtedly, the day-to-day flurry of activity has clouded the vision of your future. Brush off your lens and crystalize your vision with 10 Questions Entrepreneurs Can Ask to Refocus Their Vision.

2. Recreate your goals and plans. With a well-defined vision, it’s time to consider the goals and plans needed to make your vision come to life. Download the free goal-setting workbook and go step-by-step through the goal setting and success planning process.

3. Pinpoint the metrics. Nothing is better than numbers to keep you honest about where you’re at along the road to success. Read Metrics…The MapQuest of Business Success to understand the metrics you’ll want to track to stay on track.

4. Allocate time to implement your plan. This is non-negotiable! Your right track plan is your priority. The Daily Goal Planner will keep you focused and on fire. And, if you really want to grow your skills and master the art of success planning, discover the 5 Types of Planning Every Small Business Needs.

5. Onboard your advisory team. If you’ve been on the “other” track for a period of time, your team of service providers needs to know your renewed focus. To make sure they are involved in keeping you on the right track, you’ll love reading Why You Need to Grow Your Small Business With Strategic Service Providers. (If you feel particularly courageous, you’ll want to share the article with them.)

And, if you need someone to come alongside of you to help you shift tracks…we’re here for you.

Bulging at the Seams: How to Spot Signs You’re Outgrowing Your Skills (2 minute read)

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

Growing pains. Although you may not be able to label them as such, you know the symptoms only too well. They sneak up around the same time you’re cutting the cake and popping the champagne on the two-year anniversary of opening your business.

What really makes them frustrating is that growing pains are the culprit that causes your business to stall or plateau. What makes them even more challenging is that they’re not always easy to see — even though they exist in plain sight.

Who would have ever thought that one’s expertise as an accountant, web designer, attorney, marketing consultant, business coach, or grant writer would blind your view and block you from spotting the growing pains. But, it happens, and here’s why. With more sales, more clients, and more demands on your time, growing pains signal the need for a new and different set of skills.

Some of the more common growing pains that small businesses suffer include any or all of the following (in no particular order):

  • Inability to successfully manage your workload
  • Distended inbox
  • Frustrating delays in getting back to or responding to clients
  • Struggling to keep commitments and timelines
  • Potential client leads falling through the crack or getting lost in the shuffle
  • Difficulty keeping up with the demands of the business
  • Days spent reacting and/or putting out fires
  • Working ferociously and frantically from morning to night
  • Giving up the activities you love most or that hold great value so you can get caught up on work
  • Failing to keep promises you make to yourself (i.e., this week is going to be different)
  • Inability to find time for activities that grow your business, such as planning, sales, and/or marketing
  • Feeling powerless to change things

Are any of these familiar? If you say, “Check! Check! And Check!” here’s the good news…

Growing pains, not to be confused with a struggling business plagued by scant cash and clients, are actually a good sign. Growing pains show that your business is growing! It signals a time of transition.

Get excited! Then get some help…..

Schedule a Free No-Obligation Consultation Today!

Small Business Owner: You Have to Value Your Assets Before Other’s Will

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia
small business owner

Time — or lack thereof — is the most commonly spoken challenge for small business owners. Yet, we continue to misuse and degrade our time. Along with the degradation of time, comes an equal undervaluing of one’s talent.

small business owner

Photo by Dmitry Demidko on Unsplash

Time and talent are two of the greatest assets of any small business owner. This is particularly important for those in the professional service sector where time and talent shape your livelihood Yet if we’re cavalier about our time and talents, how can we expect others to respect and value what we bring to the table?

For Sale: Small Business Owners Time & Talent!

There are many ways in which a small business owner or entrepreneur undervalues — and wastes — their valuable resources. Most are unrecognizable and may seem inconsequential until, over time, they erode one’s ability to achieve any semblance of balance.

Here are a few of the means by which entrepreneurs demonstrate the undervaluing of their time and talent. How many do you recognize?

  • Running overtime on pre-scheduled meetings with allocated time limits
  • Giving away your billable services for free
  • Allowing scope creep to occur unchecked
  • Agreeing to every request that comes your way even though its not in alignment with your strategic plan
  • Underpricing your services
  • Failing to plan for business success

The list can go on and on, but you get the point. When we fail to apply our time and talents appropriately, we inadvertently disrespect and diminish our very own resources.

And, if we don’t hold our assets in high regard, how can we expect others to do the same? Is it possible that this notion is underlying overwhelm and burnout for many business owners? We think it just might be a contributing factor!

Boundaries: Not Just For Maps, Math, or Cricket

One of the most effective ways to demonstrate your appreciation of your time and talents is through boundaries.

Wikipedia defines boundaries as guidelines or rules that people create to identify — behavior that is reasonable and permissible. Although most boundaries serve to educate others on how to act or behave around you, TV psychologist, Dr. Phil reminds us that we teach others how to treat us…

With the tip of the hat to Dr. Phil, we would also like to add that “we teach others how to treat us”… by how we treat ourselves.

If a business owner doesn’t value their expertise and freely shares their know-how with others limitlessly, why wouldn’t others continue to ask for free advice? If an entrepreneur allows scope creep to continue unrestrained, why wouldn’t a client continue to push the limits?

Boundaries — or lack thereof — are built out of beliefs, opinions, and attitudes. The next time you feel dissed and want others to respect your time and talent, remember — you first!

How Being “Old School” Helps Your Small Business Succeed

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

Innovation has dramatically changed the business environment. Technology has made information more accessible. Globalization has increased competition. We’ve moved into an age of instant gratification that has shortened the period over which success is measured. If a client can’t get the right answers from you immediately, they get it elsewhere. Yikes!

Business is moving at such an accelerated pace that I often question if we’ve lost a vital connection to our clients and ourselves. That was the topic during a recent conversation with a colleague. We began to look back, with great fondness, to how “old school” business succeeded.

Although we love how innovation has allowed our small business to be more competitive, there are some aspects of business “back in the day” that have been lost in the digital translation.

The Way Back Machine of Small Business

 “Way back when” or “when I was your age” were terms commonly heard growing up. Intended to demonstrate how easy I had it, my parents shared their experiences to prove how the world changed.

Respectfully, to the contemporary business owner of today, I’m reminded that, “way back when”, business succeeded because…

Bringing Back “Old School”

The term “old school” conjures up images from the past. Although some consider it to be “old-fashioned”, “old school” is looked upon with high regard and respect.

Today’s modern business can benefit from a few “old school” business practices like those mentioned above.

In what appears to be a less-connected, self-serviced world of today’s business, going “old school” undoubtedly puts your business head and shoulders above your competition!

Undeniable Proof That Strategic Business Coaching Produces Results

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

I recently had the good fortune of celebrating the accomplishments of a former client. When Betty (not her real name due to confidentiality) and I first met she was overwhelmed, stressed, scattered, and didn’t know where to start to get her business back in control. As a single mom of a teenage boy, she didn’t have the luxury of taking time to put long-term strategies in place to grow her business. She needed to unravel the knots in her life and business, reduce her expenses, and generate more cash flow immediately. We started where we could have the greatest impact.

 Betty felt that in order to provide excellent service for her clients she needed to meet them in their neighborhood. As a result, she was traveling all over Los Angeles, wasting valuable time caught in traffic. She also had the added expense of micro offices around the city where she could meet her clients. Although it was difficult, we combined all her offices into one that was located near her to make it more convenient for her. We also helped her realize that if she was a good fit for her clients, they wouldn’t mind the drive — especially when you consider people drive all over the city to attend sporting events, go shopping, etc. If it’s important enough to them, they’ll make the drive.

We also needed for Betty to see her value. When one is in over their head, it’s tough to see what one brings to the table that’s of value. We developed a strategy that allowed her to embrace her strengths and abilities.  This also was instrumental in helping her raise her rates to one that was much more sustainable for her business. Prior to this, she was definitely underpriced — and underearning — with her “bargain” rates.  Her lack of belief in her own value caused her to also implement a policy of providing the first hour for free. Now that she knows and embraces her personal and professional value in the equation of working with her clients, she has eliminated the first free hour. Rather than discounting her services, she now delights her clients instead!

And, she’s no longer growing her business alone. She’s learning to delegate.

What made the difference for Betty being able to make these needed changes in order to grow her business? Focus! With weekly conversations focused on developing strategies to grow her business, she could no longer sweep things under the rug and pretend they didn’t exist. We took the emotions out of the decision-making to make smart, strategic decisions. And, we stripped away the many myths she had about running a successful business.

If you’re curious to discover what strategic business coaching can do for you and your business, feel free to sign up for your free coaching call. The first one is on us!

Three BIG Returns From Promoting Women to Leadership (Guest Author, Margaret Jacoby of MJ Management Solutions, Inc.)

Posted by
Jackie Nagel, Synnovatia

Did you know only 14 percent of executive officer positions at the Fortune 500 companies are held by women? It has remained at that level for the past six years. The board of directors seats don’t fare much better at only 16 percent.

“In fact, the percentage of women (on a board of directors) was one of the strongest correlations with better performance. Better performing companies have a higher proportion of female board directors …” — The Eversheds Board Report, The Eversheds International Law Firm, LLC, March 2011

Comparing these business leadership statistics to the U.S. labor force sparks concern, especially since women make up nearly 50 percent of the labor force and comprise 51.5 percent of management and professional positions. Switch to the consumer side … women account for 85 percent of all consumer purchases. The issue is in part about equality, but it’s more about workforce diversity. How can you effectively take into account concerns of half the workforce and two-thirds of the consumer buying power without diversifying leadership? A recent article in the New York Daily News shared the story of seven female CEOs and the lessons we can learn from them. Here are three BIG advantages to promoting women to leadership.

Women Elevate the Bottom Line

A study conducted by the U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, of executive committees, including in Europe and the fast-tracked BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China), identified the top companies in terms of their share of women on executive committees. The study then compared the financial performance of this top group with all-male executive committees and concluded:

Companies with the highest share of women on their executive committees have better financial performance than companies with no women.

Diversity Lowers Risk

A board of directors and executive leaders have the responsibility for oversight of the performance of a company’s business operations and they need to understand the changing dynamics the company faces. Diversity in leadership makes it easier to identify and understand risks and develop robust solutions to address them. Diversity should not sacrifice competence. It should be supported with a review of competence, commitment, and character of potential leaders.

A Focus on Social Intuition

In today’s socially driven era, companies are more focused on building relationships than ever before. This includes better relationships with their employees. Women have the capability of focusing on the day-to-day operations while also recognizing changes in the social environment. It’s not to say men don’t have this capability, it’s that women are more drawn to it, making identifying issues easier.

Led my Margaret Jacoby, SPHR, MJ Management Solutions delivers tailored human resource consulting services to small business clients since 1999. If you need help creating a recruitment plan, immediate help is available through her HR Department On Call® program. The program gives you the peace of mind that an expert is always ready to respond to your evolving HR needs and challenges.

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Testimonial

Brooke Billingsley

Vice President
Perception Strategies

Synnovatia is a strategic coaching firm that is detailed and knowledgeable about business. i have a small business that grew from $150K to $750K because of the goal setting and resources that Synnovatia provided. It saves me years of learning on my own.

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