The Woman's Advantage: 20 Women Entrepreneurs Show You What It Takes to Grow Your Business

The Woman’s Advantage 20 Women Entrepreneurs Show You What It Takes to Grow Your Business

Author: Mary Cantando Publisher: Kaplan Publishing Date of Publication: May 2006 ISBN: 1419535714 Number of Pages: 220 pages

About the Author

The Big Idea Mary Cantando Mary Cantando is a nationally recognized expert on the growth of women-owned businesses. As a member of the National Speakers’ Association, she speaks to women who want to grow their businesses, as well as to corporations who want to better understand the fast growing market of women business owners. Her new book, THE WOMAN’S ADVANTAGE: 20 Women Show You What it Takes to Grow Your Business, is available at all major bookstores and through Amazon.com. Check it out at www.womansadvantage.biz

Women are fast becoming formidable contenders in the world of business. This has been evidenced by the rise of multi-million and billion dollar ventures that are solely or majority held by females. The double standard is close to being extinct. The experiences of the following 20 women in turning their budding businesses into thriving gold mines will hopefully inspire other women all over the globe to step up and make a difference.

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The Woman’s Advantage By Mary Cantando

Women Can Change The World Studies show that one in every eleven women operates her own business. However, while multitudes of these women-owned ventures are spreading, with their numbers growing by the thousands each day, only about 5% make it to the classification of businesses that are worth over a million dollars. In her many travels as president and spokesperson of US-based and woman-centric consultancy company WomanBusinessOwner.com and as a well-respected expert on women's business initiatives, author Mary Cantando took this riddle as a challenge: If women are generally so passionate about growing their respective businesses, why is it that only a handful are reaping the maximum profits they can? What The Woman's Advantage promotes is that while making a business boom does not occur overnight, it can and does happen--as proven by the 20 women whose powerhouse ventures are featured in this book. The Woman's Advantage highlights the challenges faced and the eventual million dollar successes of the likes of Chico's FAS Inc. owner Helene B Gralnick, Mercedes Electric Supply Inc's Mercedes LaPorta, Rhona Silver's Huntingtown Townhouse's Rhona Silver, and Women's Leadership Exchange's Leslie Grossman and Andrea March, among others. The book is divided into four key components: how to position your business for breakthroughs, how to niche your business to gain influence, how to make the most out of your certification to acquire leverage, and how to market your business for growth. Each of the chapters features key business concepts that helped one of the 20 businesswomen highlighted in this book attain the kind of financial success they are enjoying today.

Position Your Business For Breakthroughs Chapter 1: Organizing Your Business For Growth Nurturing a new business is likened to caring for a newborn child. You have to see it through from infancy and apply the right planning, guiding and pruning techniques to make sure that it grows and stays healthy, and, eventually, excels marvellously in its chosen field. If you already have an existing business, what you need is an open window to grow. This is where research comes in. As with any venture, always remember that your client's need is more important than what you want to sell, so survey the market to see which of your products are garnering the most appeal and capitalize on those. If you're still starting out, not only do you need to identify what the market demands, but also the bare essentials, like pricing, location, overhead costs, etc.

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Consistency to your vision is also key. If you know what you want to achieve both in the short and long term, it will be easier for you to map out your strategy and succeed. Once you've mastered this, the more time you will have to devise contingency plans for unexpected situations, like economic and consumer taste changes. This way, your company will be able to adapt to changes and not freeze up when emergencies arise. Travel agency Omega World Travel's Gloria Bohan's experience in transforming a one-person travel venture into an official government travel service provider is the perfect example of this. For instance, when her competitors closed shop at 5PM, she took the extra effort of opening hers until 7PM to accommodate after-work clients. Her dedication, discipline and persistence helped her expand. Eventually, she mustered the courage to bid for a major government travel contract alongside top travel agencies and won.

Chapter 2: Asking Key Questions To Start And Grow Your Business Identify what your priorities are for your business and your personal life: -

What is my mission in life? What values do I consider important and how I apply them to my business? Why did I start this business? Am I happy to run it? What kinds of stress am I encountering? Do my personal weaknesses lead To negativity in my venture? What mark do I want to leave?

Identify the challenges your business is facing: -

What challenges should I tolerate and what should I seek to change? What client complaints have I not addressed and what are the tasks that I keep delaying? How long do my customers stay with me? Who is my biggest customer and what would happen to my venture if I lost him or her? What are the external factors that affect my business and the industry I am in?

Identify the questions you need to ask yourself to improve your sales: -

What are the key reasons my customers choose to do business with me? How do my offerings stand out from the competition? How do we respond to and retain customers? What do customers hate about how my industry operates and how do I address it in my business? How is the competition responding to my moves and what do I do to counter that? Are all the information presented about my business in various media Organized and updated? What do my customers really want?

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Information technology giant Innovision Technologies Inc's Nikki Olyai was able to rake in several awards for her company's success, including the 2003 US Small Business Administration's Outstanding Women Entrepreneur Award, by asking the right questions. Not only were her queries directed at how prepared she was to begin an IT and engineering venture, but also directed at how her team would work together to bring the best value to clients. Now, her company services the likes of Department of Defense and NASA, as well as a number of firms in the Fortune 500.

Chapter 3: Establishing Objectives Your objectives depend on the level your business is in right now: the start-up phase, the existing and operational phase, and the growth phase. The important thing about setting goals for your company is making enough room for changes and flexing enough muscle so you can easily adapt to external factors, like economic downturns and increasing raw materials prices. Italian entrepreneur Cristiana Panicco's objective mapping strategy helped her boost her small language tutorial service into an international language school, Sorrento Lingue. Once degradingly called a visionario in her hometown, Christina battled the odds and the criticisms by not straying from her plans and seeing them to fruition until the very end. After setting her objectives, she immediately identified how to achieve them, the right time to put them into action, and then evaluating how she performed to make sure she doesn't make the same mistakes again.

Chapter 4: Understanding Your Value to the Business What are the reasons why you decided to put up your business? Ensuring the success of your venture shouldn't just rely on the impressive finances to be gained. You must also want to be in your particular industry for your plans to work. Understand that everything that concerns your business will on a roundabout 24/7: sales, product development, marketing, customer service, financing, etc. If you don't have the passion for what you're doing, you might as well be slaved by your own creation. Know how your attitude and passions impact not only on how you respond to your duties, but also on your employees and partners, your industry and your customers. An unhappy proprietor will result in an unhappy and failed endeavour. Janice Bryant Howroyd did it right with her staffing, human resources and management solutions company ACT-1 Group. Armed with a meagre capital and a lot of passion, she was able to propel her firm into a multi-million dollar entity with more than 65,000 people working under her wing.

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What she capitalized on was trust. Her employees, from the very beginning, knew that once she said she was going to achieve something, she would really go out of her way to do it and more, while balancing her duties as doting mother and loving wife. This drive has not waned since.

Chapter 5: Instilling Confidence The four main components for gaining your team's and market's confidence are reliability, responsibility, relationships and references. Women entrepreneurs generally treat their businesses the same way they treat themselves and their family. If you show that you can consistently care for and grow your business, your market will inevitably flock to you. Build lasting professional relationships with your clients and always seek to treat your customers as you do your friends. A relaxed business environment is more likely to get maximum gains compared to a stiff air. When proposing business to a potential client, adopt a positive outlook and show how passionate you are with meeting his or her needs. Without being too talkative, note how you managed to help a previous customer achieve his goals, in order for this new one to better paint a picture of how you operate. Simply citing and enumerating your various awards and achievements will not help. In fact, it can even turn your client off. Taryn Rose of Taryn Rose International succeeded in propelling her shoe passion into a $20 million venture. It had been tricky at first given that Taryn had a medical background and only had a shoe fetish to back her up. However, with the help of employees who also believed in the value she could offer, she was able to reach out to wider base. The philosophy is this: if you believe hard enough, the people around you will follow. After just seven years, Taryn's business has boomed and still booming.

Niche Your Business For Influence Chapter 6: Developing Your Niche Business fact: the narrower your niche is, the higher your profits and sales will be. Don't be a jack of all trades only to end up a master of none. Focus on what you're good at and continuously improve on it. Not only will you be the official name dropped by every client needing your particular service, you'll also be considered an expert in your industry. Now that sounds a lot better, doesn't it? Though seemingly risky at first, this is how Marnie Walker led her Student Express transportation service to success. Noticing that special children needed special attention, particularly during trips to school, she started a bus service that catered

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only to them. As word got around, parents saw the greater advantage of sending their special kids to school via Marnie's bus services, allowing her to eventually branch out to other transportation offerings and grow into a million dollar transport group.

Chapter 7: Expanding Your Area Of Influence You can work at boosting your client base by first identifying your top ten list of people who can make a difference in your venture and then contacting each one to discuss and present your services. A list of 100 is simply that a list of 100, because they are likely to lack your personal touch. With a top ten list, you can be assured of face-to-face time with your prospects. This will give you a chance to better understand their needs and give them the opportunity to learn more about your company. You can start with peer groups like the Committee of 200, the Women Presidents' Organization and the National Association of Women Business Owners. If you have a much smaller business, you may contact local chapters of these organizations, or round up a group of like-minded women to exchange insights. Don't be afraid to network. Terry Neese and Barbara Kasoff made things happen and grew their public policy firm Women Impacting Public Policy using this strategy. Since they were unable to get a lot of people to listen to their undertakings, they selected several policy makers and talked to them instead. The key is to keep it narrow, but extremely influential.

Chapter 8: Becoming “Famous” in Your Niche Come up with signature style so people will easily remember who you are and not lose you in a sea of similar businesses. Make use of your Web site, print out articles written about you or your business, get yourself interviewed, write articles pertaining to your industry, anything to get you and your services up there and noticed. Rhona Silver revived the troubled Huntington Townhouse into the highly popular events catering firm Rhona Silver's Huntington Townhouse by introducing one thing events organizers didn't have during her time creativity. By introducing novel ways to present her services and presenting themes, word about her unique catering style became the talk of all social circles not just in the country but all over the world!

Chapter 9: Targeting New Clients in Your Niche You will need to create a profile of your ideal client and then seek ways to meet

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people and businesses that fall under this prototype. Make a list and focus on the ones that will bring the greatest value to your business. Do your research right, but don't end up being a stalker. Designer Kay Unger managed to rise up to the million dollar mark by determining which people she wants to do business with and exercising all possible means to get their attention. Now, her company, Kay Unger New York, dresses the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Charlize Theron and Hillary Clinton.

Chapter 10: Presenting Your Business in an Innovative Way Get yourself and your business noticed by being creative. The author suggests drawing up a WOW statement about your venture before you go out meeting other people, so that when they ask what you do, you can sum up everything in one sentence and leave them with their jaws down and hungry for information. Andrea March and Leslie Grossman got their clients' attention by introducing a new approach to conferencing the 12-hour, one-day event. Instead of the usual two to three day gatherings, their company, Women's Leadership Exchange, managed to pack all the essentials into a single day without compromising quality. It is for this reason that organizations, that are more often time-strapped, choose them among the throng of competition.

Certify Your Business Leverage Chapter 11: Understanding Certification A Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) certification is important if your business is majority-owned by a woman, because a number of companies opt to deal with ventures that have this stamp of approval. Some women business owners dismiss the value of a WBE certification at the onset, but those who have had it and used it have gained more out of their partnerships with other companies, mostly due to the stringent processes that need to be undergone before getting a certification. A WBE certification assures your client that your business is not only 51% womanoperated, but also has enough financial stability to be trusted. Mercedes Electric Supply Inc's Mercedes LaPorta successfully maneuvered her way into the male-dominated electrical distribution industry using her WBE certification. Since most companies believe that dealing with a woman is assurance that all processes will be carefully followed and monitored, her certification gave her an advantage over the other male-run contract bidders. Her company currently services the likes of the Miami International Airport, American Airlines and MGM Grand Hotels.

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Chapter 12: Applying for Certification To get a WBE certification usually entails a three to six month period waiting and processing time, and includes a number of requirements to prove your company's stability and trustworthiness. And it will not take a lot of convincing to tell you that the wait is worth it. Complete Conference Coordinators Inc owner Carol Kuc reaped the fruits of her wait for a WBE certification and managed to score big-name clients. Apart from her impressive marketing strategies to gain her prospects' attention, her WBE certification presented further proof that her business is, indeed, legitimate, and highly reliable.

Chapter 13: Making the Most of Your Certification Flaunt your WBE certification however which way you can, then research on and target those companies that place premiums on such licenses. Post it on your Web site, tell your clients, join a mailing list and include it on your automated signature, take part in a database, etc. Rebecca Boenigk's Neutral Posture Inc moved to the top of the pack after she informed nearly everyone of her certification. Not only were her doors opened to a new set of clients that value WBE licenses, she was also able to gain new partnerships and create synergies by meeting with other women entrepreneurs holding WBE certifications.

Chapter 14: Developing Alliances to Capitalize on Certification Extracting the greatest benefit from a WBE certification becomes even more fun when you partner with other businesswomen in your league. Having one certification is impressive, but having two is a gold mine. With proper information dissemination and with the right marketing tools, rest assured that clients will be the first ones asking about you. This is what Management Decisions Inc's Ella Koscik did and see how far up it got her and her consulting and professional services firm. When Ella received her certification, she did not know at first how to take advantage of it in order to make her clients happy. Upon consultation, she found out that some Fortune 500 firms affiliated with her company were more than willing to share insights on the value of certification. She ended up with a deeper relationship with clients with pockets much deeper than hers and instantly led her business to million dollar success.

Chapter 15: Making Things Happen at Diversity Events Supplier diversity trade shows could be your ticket to gaining new friends and clients. So don't underestimate their power to push your venture upward.

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You can either go directly to their booths and present your services, or arrange a 'matchmaker' meeting with your prospect. However way you approach them, make sure that you have prepared to answer their questions, and, of course, armed yourself with a WBE certification for better leverage. Katherine Henson would not be able to turn her Avail Workforce Management Solutions into a powerhouse staffing service if she didn't know how to work the room at diversity events. If you want to follow in her footsteps, then shyness is not an option. You have a WBE certification for crying out loud. Be proud!

Market Your Business For Growth Chapter 16: Preparing For A Successful Sales Call Five focal points to preparing for a successful sales call are: project research, setting meeting goals, creating a meeting agenda, preparing the sales presentation and assembling the right marketing materials. Without these you might as well be going into battle naked. Chico's FAS Inc's Helene B. Gralnick took time to prepare and double check everything before presenting her business to the market. She knew she had to be able to answer all the questions to be thrown at her, particularly on her unique, family-oriented sales style. From a small shop run by her family, Chico's has expanded to 763 outlets and has been trading in the world market since 1993.

Chapter 17: Conducting A Successful Sales Call When conducting a sales call, you should not only be very knowledgeable about the product you're presenting but you also have to leave a mark something that the prospect will remember you by, either good joke, or simply fantastic rapport, or a unique pitch. Clients sift through a number of offers weekly so it's important they remember who you are, even if just offhandedly, so that when you make a follow-up visit or call, you won't have to go through the same beeline all over again and end up messing around. Sepi Asefnia, the owner of SEPI Engineering Group Inc, advises that you must observe how other people sell to you in order to not repeat the mistakes they make when it's time for you to make your pitch. Don't be too stiff and just go with the flow. Enjoy the moment. Chances are, your client will also be interested in having some respite and straying a little. Give them that satisfaction.

Chapter 18: Asking Good Sales Questions Showing your client that you are interested in his or her needs will guarantee you a slot in their

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favourite suppliers list. Ask qualifying questions like “What approaches have you already tried to solve this problem?” or “How much do you plan to invest, in time and energy, to this endeavour?”. Questions like “Who makes the decisions?” or “Who should I really be discussing this issue with?” will only send you scraping for bottom scraps. ThirdAge Inc owner Sharon P. Whiteley says that you have to be in on your client's vision and mission for you to better understand their needs. Once you've determined this and discussed it with your prospect, the easier it will be for you to come up with more viable solutions that will eventually lead to a stronger partnership. ThirdAge thrives in its industry because of this method. Because Sharon constantly consults her customers, she is able to adapt to changes and provide solutions that work with the times.

Chapter 19: Closing The Deal You are only halfway done once you close a deal. Don't fool yourself into thinking that the hard part is over because the negotiations have ended. Remember that you still have to prove that you can deliver, otherwise, your client will not be interested in doing business with you again, or, worse, decide to terminate your agreement in the middle of everything. Both verbal and written proposals are important to officially closing a deal, so don't underestimate the value of either. Also, God forbid, when a problem arises in the future, you have something to fall back on for protection. Margery Kraus is an excellent deal closer, that's why her public affairs and communication company, APO Worldwide, is a $70 million dollar entity. While noting that her clients' requirements and happiness come first, she did not forget to also place her company at the same level and made sure it is a win-win situation. She was not intimidated by the magnitude of the deals she closes and, instead, focuses on what value they can bring both to her and her customers.

Chapter 20: Capitalizing On the Deal Take care of the existing deals you have while looking for new ones. Don't feel too confident that just because you already have an agreement, you have no responsibility to keep the spark going in the transaction. Always make your clients, old and new, feel important, so they will keep doing business with you and refer you to their allies. Named in 2003 as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in the World, The Hour Glass Limited's Dato Dr. Jannie Tay makes sure that all her customers feel as if their business relationship with her company is at their peak moments all the time, regardless if a decade has already passed. It is for this reason that she has received accolades for her success, including being conferred the title of Dato' by the Sultan of Pahang.

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