Smart Women Entrepreneurs and Their Lessons for Us All:
Panelists:
Kelly Tyler – Kelly Tyler
Training Services
Michele Markey – Kauffman FastTrac
Belinda Waggoner – hr-haven, inc.
Jill Meyer – Technology Development and Commercialization
Specialist at UMKC
More women are starting businesses than men, but a lot of them are
doing it as “just a hobby” and aren’t expanding their businesses at the same
rate as their male counterparts.
This is just one of the many problems faced for women entrepreneurs
today. At iKC, the “Smart Women Entrepreneurs and Their Lessons for Us All” panel
had a roomful of eager women (and a few men, too!) ready to soak up the
knowledge of Kelly, Michele, Belinda and Jill. The panelists mostly focused on the (generalized)
differences between men and women entrepreneurs.
If there’s one
thing any entrepreneur doesn’t need, it’s a yes (wo)man.
The panel was mainly concerned about women feeling more
comfortable in their own circle of friends. However, the practice of using friends on your advisory
board (when there are more qualified people you could have chosen) is a
dangerous idea. Friends tend to
say “Gee, that’s good” instead of offering constructive criticism.
Making “someday”
today.
Michele said, “Life is full of somedays. Make someday today.” Jill
did just that and discussed the difficulties of dropping everything—the
security of your job and its 401K in particular—to start a new business. She had been working for ten
years at the same job and was essentially running the company without the
financial benefits of doing so.
She was single when she decided to leave her cushy corporate job, and so
she had no additional source of income to “piggyback on.” However, she did it because she “knew
[she] could do a better job than what [she] saw in around [her].” After taking
a leap of faith (along with lots of hard work), she became successful on her
own and would have never changed a thing about her decision to do so.
Don’t forget the
handshake!
One of the things Kelly noticed is that businessmen typically give
a handshake upon meeting, and some women may feel that this is too formal. So after she goes into the handshake,
she’ll feel awkward, then she’ll think about the awkward situation instead of
remembering her new acquaintances name!
So avoid this by going all in for a firm handshake—it’s what’s expected
in the business world—and then focus on the more important things.
The advice given by the panel was useful for both men and women—much
of what was discussed were common mistakes in the entrepreneurship world. The greatest takeaway? Start
brainstorming how to solve the world’s problems and then go do it…and make that
“someday” today!
