Stepping into the Boss’s Shoes

Women entrepreneurs share tips for starting and growing a successful business.

For the past 20 years, women-owned businesses have enjoyed great success, growing at twice the rate of all U.S.-based firms. But according to a study released in April 2008 by the Kauffman Foundation, women are starting new businesses at half the rate of men. With all the benefits of being the boss, and the significant success rate of female business owners, what’s keeping some women from taking the entrepreneurial plunge?

Uncertainties, like swapping a steady paycheck for the unknown, are often a factor. But with a little planning and research, those fears are often replaced with excitement about new possibilities. For example, many women who’ve successfully stepped into business ownership find they have more financial security than ever before. Instead of relying on someone else, being the boss puts them in control of their income.

First Steps
Small-business coach and financial consultant Cheryl Broussard says control is one of the chief reasons women should start their own businesses. “As a business owner, you’re not dependent on anyone else for your income,” Broussard says. “Women today need more than one stream of income…. You can’t rely on a job.”

Flexibility ranks high on the list of perks for women business owners, as does the ability to work with, or near, their children. And while starting and running a successful business takes work, Broussard says she’s seen an increased interest in women toward entrepreneurship because it offers a semblance of balance. “You often work at least as hard, but you have the flexibility to control when you work,” she says.

Building a successful business is a process that begins with finding a need to fill. Broussard started her own money management firm in 1989 and added small-business coaching in 1997 to help other women become entrepreneurs.

Get the Word Out
Like Broussard, many female entrepreneurs find a niche by evaluating their likes and needs. Others take advantage of lucky opportunities. Pamela Pekerman created a career for herself when she couldn’t find the job she wanted after college. Pekerman combined her journalism degree with her passion for designer purses and created a Web site about bags and fashion trends. When the Home Shopping Network (HSN) searched online for bag experts, Pekerman’s name popped up.

She’s spent the past few years building a business as both a commentator and writer for HSN, AOL, VH1 and several print and online publications, as well as evolving the site, BagTrends.com, to include retail sales. “Once I got over the idea that this wasn’t my plan, I decided it could be a real career,” she says.

The Web was Pekerman’s launchpad, but she knows a great site isn’t enough to drive a new business. She says speaking up has been key to making connections. “Women are often afraid to say what we’ve accomplished for fear of sounding like we’re cocky or bragging. But you have to let people know what you’re doing—and what you can do,” Pekerman says.

Successful entrepreneurs tap into networking groups, friends, even people they meet at parties or their child’s school to get the word out. “Self-promotion is self-preservation. And I’m my own best source of promotion,” Pekerman says.

Growing with Courage—In Spite of Failure
Once entrepreneurs determine their product or service and start letting people know about their business, the next step to success is to grow. Rebecca Boenigk knew her product—an ergonomic chair—and the market. But after a series of mistakes that coincided with an economic downturn, her burgeoning business went bankrupt in 1988.

After a little downtime, she tried again. Neutral Posture, Boenigk’s business, is now a $25 million company. The lessons she learned—about how to find the right vendors and from whom to seek advice—taught her something she shares with new entrepreneurs: “It’s important for people to know failing doesn’t make you a failure,” she says.

Her first business venture made Boenigk debt averse, but not risk averse. In fact, stepping out of her comfort zone has been a key to her company’s growth. Her first big break came in 1991.

“The order was for 700 chairs, and I thought, ‘This is great!’ It was a couple of months of production for us,” she says. But the thermal paper continued to curl off the fax machine. “That was page one of five.” The total order was for 2,300 chairs, due in 60 days. Boenigk hired new employees, coordinated with vendors and spent late nights at the warehouse, but her company delivered every chair on time.

“If I’m going to fail, I’d rather it be because I tried and couldn’t get there, than not try or just give up,” she says.

Team Up
Tapping into free resources, like SCORE’s new Web site for women, is a great way to get the information and confidence boost needed to expand a business. Another option is to take on a partner who can share the load and offer new ideas.

For twin sisters Katherine and Kimberly Corp, partnership was a natural fit. The Corp women—yes, that’s really their last name—say teamwork has been a constant theme in the various jobs they’ve held, which included working with the CIA and dancing with the Rockettes. By working as a team, the women have recently built Pilates on Fifth, the largest Pilates studio in Manhattan.

Their partnership and a strong sense of teamwork have allowed them to grow more quickly perhaps than they could have on their own. “It’s about resource allocation, and not only in finances,” Katherine says. “The burden is not on either one of us to do everything; it boils down to who likes to do what.” Working together, they’ve expanded their facilities as well as developed new products, podcasts and Pilates training programs.

But partnerships aren’t always easy. “Opening a business together was the true test of sisterhood,” Kimberly says. The sisters agree on the importance of presenting a united front to their employees and vendors. They make certain to hash out disagreements behind closed doors and come to a solution they both can agree on.

Whether it’s teaming up with a partner, getting involved in networking groups or developing a group of trusted advisors, finding the right people and resources can make business ownership personally and financially rewarding. SFW

Additional Reading

• See a Need. Do a Good Deed.
• Save Money Enjoying an Evening with Friends
• Who Says You Can’t?