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A Business Without Sales is a Hobby

My first business failed, because I had no clue about Marketing and Sales.  I had the “Field of Dreams” mentality.  If I build it – they will come.  That’s a common trait amongst many first-time entrepreneurs, especially ones with technical backgrounds.  Graduating with a Bachelor and Master Degree in engineering, I believed that the world evolve around my designs.  Little did I know - if the world didn’t know about my designs – there would be no need for my designs.

It’s simple a fact of entrepreneurship -  the fastest track back to a J.O.B. is no sales. Before launching my next venture, I would go on to attain an MBA and make a career change to Marketing and then Sales.  I will always be able to leverage my formal and on-the-job training, however some sales skills can be learned from everyday life.

Here are four sales lessons Mary Cantando, a Business Growth Advisor for Women’s Entrepreneurs Inc., learned from her family:

Continue reading “A Business Without Sales is a Hobby”

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Women Face Uphill Challenges in Keeping Their Financial Strength

According to the article below, women should learn to invest whether you want to or not.  You never know when that responsibility may get dumped in your lap.  

source: Boston Globe
by Linda Stern

As the French like to say (though they say it in French): The more things change, the more they remain the same. And so it goes.  Women today are more likely to work than not; they stand a decent chance of outearning their husbands, and they occupy some of the biggest corner and political offices in America.  But . . . on average, they have less, earn less, invest less, and end their lives poorer than do men.

The most recent data show that women’s salaries have stopped growing, in relation to men’s salaries. College-educated women between 36 and 45 earn 74.7 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That’s a penny less than it was 10 years ago.

Why should this be, when women are almost 30 percent more likely than men to go to college, when all doors are open to them? It’s not because women are less smart or less skilled at investing. Surveys done by the umbrella group of investment clubs, BetterInvesting.org, have demonstrated that their female-only clubs outperform their male-only clubs.

More …

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Women Spend Like There’s No Tomorrow – Credit Card Debt a Major Issue

Women don’t get mad at me.  That headline is taken directly from the Oppenheimer Funds Annual 2006 Survey.  It states that

The majority of women surveyed — 60% — have over $5,000 in household debt and nearly 30% said they have over $20,000. When asked what type of debt women carry, 60% listed credit card debt followed by installment loans (24%) and line of credit (22%).

On a more positive note the survey reveals that

40% of respondents (men and women) manage the household budget, update the will and teach children about money together. These numbers represent a significant increase from approximately 30% of respondents who answered the same way in 2005. 

So all is not bad.

Here are some other key findings: Continue reading “Women Spend Like There’s No Tomorrow – Credit Card Debt a Major Issue”

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Grant Opportunities Available for Women Business Owners

This post was updated on 3/23/13.  Sources are accurate as of that date.

Source:  Woman Owned . com

Most start-ups run out money, before they run out of ideas…. Here are some funding sources specifically targeting women entrepreneurs?

Small Business Administration (Office of Women’s Business Ownership)(www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness) – The SBA is doing more than ever to help level the playing field for women entrepreneurs, who still face unique obstacles in the world of business.

Count-Me-In : Make Mine a Million(http://www.makemineamillion.org) – This is organization offers annual events and grant awards to woman owned businesses who want to grow to over one million dollars in revenue.

Grants.govwww.grants.gov) – This United States Government resource provides information on other government agencies and what grants they have available.

American Association of University Women(www.aauw.org) – This foundation is one of the largest private sources of funding for graduate women in the world

The Ada Project for Women (TAP)(http://tap.mills.edu) – Includes information on conferences, discussion groups, organizations, fellowships, grants, and notable women in computer science.

WomanOwned Grant Database and Membership(http://www.womanowned.com/features/grants-and-funding.aspx) Members can access thousands of business grants and state programs for business growth and development.  Search by state and keyword and view all the details required for successful application.

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Business Start-up Quiz

Each week I feature an article specific to women’s Financial Freedom challenges.  Quite frankly most financial issues are gender independent – we just address them from different perspectives.  I found this Business Start-up quiz at Woman Owned . com It appears to be a good resource.  The questions below are questions that men and women should address before taking the plunge. Continue reading “Business Start-up Quiz”