Hi. My name is Kate.
I’m female.
I’m a business owner.
I am, therefore, a female business owner.
Wow. That was a tough confession. Having spent nearly three decades running a variety of businesses, I’ve always resisted that label. What does it matter how many X chromosomes I have?
In reality, though, my gender has been a factor in business, in ways that have been good and, well, not so good.
Persevering through stereotypes
One of the businesses I owned was a vintage airplane ride operation. Think Snoopy and the Red Baron. Over its sixteen-year history, the business was featured in hundreds of articles. I’m sure there must have been one time a reporter didn’t instantly assume my husband was the owner, but I can’t remember it. One TV personality even referred to me as Tom's “gal pal;” another referred to me as the stewardess.
Then there’s the small-business coach who, when I described my idea for the flying business, actually said the words, “Honey, maybe you should start a nice home business, instead.” I thought of him, but not fondly, when I sold the business for a tidy sum.
Or take the case of Dorothy Wetzel, owner and “chief extrovert” at Extrovertic—a 50-person healthcare marketing agency. She laments that no matter how high she is in the org chart, she’s still the one they look to when someone in the firm needs to give the "appropriate workplace attire" talk. “Apparently, gender trumps rank,” says Wetzel.
Recognizing opportunities
One of the best things, though, about being a female business owner is that you’re certifiable. And—though I’ve had my moments—I'm referring to being certified as an official woman-owned small business (WOSB) or women’s business enterprise (WBE) by federal, state and local authorities: a real door opener. The SBA’s WOSB certification is open to firms that are at least 51 percent woman-owned, controlled and managed. It provides access to government contracts that are set aside specifically for women.
Wetzel’s firm completed the certification process through The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), one of SBA’s four designated certifiers. Eager to create diversity in their supply chains, organizations including Honda, Boeing, Johnson and Johnson and more than a dozen others comprise the Billion Dollar Roundtable, an organization that was created in 2001 to recognize and celebrate corporations that spent a billion or more with minority or women-owned suppliers.
While few women-owned businesses have a seat at that particular table, being a WOSB can at least give them a spot in the line for the buffet.
The message here is that for every door that closes, others open.
As for getting through the not-so-good bits of being a business owner who happens to be a woman, here are my six tips for success.
- Don’t give the naysayers the satisfaction of letting them get to you.
- Surround yourself with passionate, positive people of both genders.
- Have someone you can vent with.
- Stop thinking of yourself as disadvantaged, and others will follow suit.
- Wow them with what you can do; it’s the results that matter.
- Blow your own horn; no one will do it for you.
Finally, pay it forward. One of the best things about being a female business owner is that we’re now in leadership positions and can start making real, positive changes. Like opening more doors.
Over the past thirty years, Kate Lister has owned and operated several successful businesses and arranged financing for hundreds of others. She’s co-authored three business books including Undress For Success—The Naked Truth About Making Money at Home (Wiley, 2009) and Finding Money—The Small Business Guide to Financing (2010). Her blogs include Finding Money Advice and Undress4Success.