When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary. – Ezra Pound
As of just a few decades ago, it was hard to find women in any prominent positions. Even if they did take up such positions, the road to success would be quite long and difficult.
However, in the 21st century and with rising awareness, more and more women along with other minorities are chasing their dreams and making them a reality. This includes entrepreneurship. Many women are now starting to get into business with ventures in all kinds of industries catering to numerous niches.
However, they are still not able to garner the same level of success as some of their male counterparts. So, here are a few ways such individuals can leverage their women business enterprises.
Despite the rapidly increasing number of women-owned business, such groups are still a minority in the wider business circles. That’s why it is so important for women to focus on leveraging their businesses.
It allows them to secure better contracts within the private sector as well as the public sector. Many large corporations, as well as government-controlled organizations, are obligated or have set their own goals to dedicate some percentage of their business to supporting minority-owned businesses.
This means they must buy some products and services that come from women-owned business, small businesses, LGBTQ-owned businesses, and so on. Without leveraging their women business enterprises, such groups miss out on these key contracts that can help them establish their position in the market and grow their venture.
Women-owned business bring some much-needed diversity in the business environment, which fosters creativity, innovation and helps recruit top talent. Women entrepreneurs bring new perspectives and promote constructive discussions that can help the entire industry.
They also help in creating a more positive corporate culture, especially for women. When female employees see fellow women in high positions, they are shown to have more motivation and productivity.
Often, in male-dominated companies, women find the corporate culture inhibiting their growth and learning and stifling their creativity. This results in a poor corporate culture. However, with more companies leveraging their women business enterprises, this is changing.
Women also tend to have a more collaborative approach. These days where the market is all about cutthroat competition, collaborative efforts by women business enterprises can be like a breath of fresh air. Research shows that girls are better at working together than boys.
This is often directly translated into multiple women-owned business coming together to solve problems and collaborate on different fronts. This creates a much healthier and growth-inducing environment for all businesses involved instead of just one business progressing at the expense of others.
Most importantly, women simply make great leaders. They are able to expertly balance the necessary soft traits and hard traits to fulfill their leadership positions, which is what most employees want in their leaders. It doesn’t hurt that women tend to have great emotional intelligence as well.
Because of all these reasons, we are constantly witnessing many new women-owned business springing up. In the U.S. alone, more than one-third of privately held firms are owned by women, and they contribute around 8% to employment in the sector, according to the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).