Women continue to open businesses in the U.S. at twice the rate of men. So why don’t they have million dollar bank accounts that reflect their hard work? According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, there are 10.4 million women-owned U.S. businesses. What people aren’t talking about is that women-owned businesses aren’t doing all that well. According to the Women Presidents’ Organization (comprised of women whose businesses annually gross over $2 million):
* About 43% of all women-owned businesses have revenue of $10,000 or less per year.
* Over 70% have revenue of less than $50,000.
* Only 3% have revenue of over $1 million (compared with 6% of men-owned firms).
Today’s entrepreneurial woman wants control over whom she works for, what she does, how she spends her time, and how much money she makes. Most of all, she wants to know that what she is doing is making a difference in the world. So why aren’t women-owned businesses more successful? Often the barriers to business success for women are self-imposed.
What Women Do Wrong
1. They dismiss their intuition. They dismiss their inner knowing. They don’t take their intuition seriously. That’s not hard to do when today’s business culture scoffs at women’s intuition, makes fun of their intuitive knowing, and pooh-poohs intuitive insight. Intuition is not a hunch, a suspicion, or a guess. Intuitive knowing is deep, sure, and trustworthy. Know this!
2. They wait for approval and permission. Women have the hardest time with this. Instead of making a decision for themselves, they look to others for approval and permission before making business decisions. Wake up! You do not need anyone’s permission to do anything. Men know this much better than women do.
3. They think something is wrong with them. When something goes wrong in their businesses, men focus on the business itself, looking for things they can change, correct, and fix. For women, however, it’s just the opposite. When something goes wrong in their businesses, women look for things they can change about themselves.
4. They think other people know best. Often their inner voice-what I like to call a woman’s Inner Samurai-is giving them a clear indication of what is for their highest good and greatest well-being. Yet, because that inner voice conflicts with the advice and information they are getting from the outer world (often from those around them), they discount their inner voice in favor of another’s voice.
What You Can Do Right
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