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Women Get Ready, Get Set and Go Global |
by:
Laurel J. Delaney, MBA |
Today, women are starting businesses at twicerate of men and becomingmajor force both intraditional andnew global e-business marketplace.
In November, The National Women's Council's Interagency Committee on Women's Business Enterprise prepared and presented totwozerozerozero Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Conferencecase study (http://www.nwbc.gov/oecd.pdf) on successful public and private initiatives for fostering entrepreneurship among women. It notessignificant role women have played inrecent economic prosperity and affirmsfact that "countries with high levels of economic activity and withhighest start-up business rates areones where women are well-engaged in entrepreneurial activity." More intriguing still, small businesses owned by women and minorities are focusing more intense efforts on exporting than those owned by non-minority men. The U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of International Trade, instatistical report released last year, indicated that "America’s small businesses are big players in international trade — and their role is growing rapidly." Export data analysis (http://www.sba.gov/library/oitreport/oitnovnineninereport.html) shows that nineseven percent of U.S. companies that export are small businesses and women own fourzero percent of all small businesses (http://www.sba.gov/news/speeches/alvarezoneonetwoninezerozero.html).
Wanna Grow? Go Global!
Women account for threezero percent ofbusinesses that export more than half of their products. "Women-owned firms participating inglobal marketplace grow more rapidly than women-owned businesses that are primarily domestic," SBA Administrator, Aida Alvarez said. "They are more apt to developnew product or service and expand domestically. AtSBA (http://www.onlinewbc.org/), we have several programs in place to help women-owned businesses take advantage ofoutstanding opportunities available through international trade."
Achieving SuccessWoman’s Way
Could it be that businesswomen go globetrotting with their products or services more readily than men do because they adapt more easily to foreign countries and cultures? “I think women [have a] natural ability to embrace their work and their businesses asnatural extension of their own family,” says Cherie Piebes, IBM’s Global Small Business Program Director forAlliance Marketing and Women Entrepreneurs market (http://www.ibm.com/smallbusiness/women). “Research has indicated that women tend to manage fromcentralized focal point, while men manage fromhierarchical stance.” A more personalized style of business interaction makes women uniquely equipped to succeed oninternational front, where quality personal relationships are key to success. Even though we realize thatability to stick tocomplex business agenda will win our colleagues' confidence and respect,emotional sensitivity andcapacity for relationship building that is largely attributed to women can be useful in any business negotiation. National Foundation for Women Business Owners (http://www.nfwbo.org) researchers put it more succinctly: “The fact that we are women, with different challenges and perceptions inworkplace . . . can finally be turned to our advantage, judo style.”
Listen and You’ll Understand
What really enableswoman entrepreneur to go global? Here’s what two dynamic global businesswomen have to say. “It has been my experience that doing business in any part ofglobe is all about listening,” says Deb Armstrong, President of majority woman-owned Kendallville, Indiana-based, A-one Production, Inc. (http://www.aoneproduction.com),producer of bushings, hydraulic fittings and machined parts. “Maybe this is why women areones working more diligently to increase business overseas. While we listen and observe, we also see that we must be flexible to do business in other parts ofglobe, be patient with others and most of all accept and embracedifferences in people,” Deb notes. “Producingproduct or service atgood price also helps!”
Relationships Seal Deals
What else brings success to women conducting business overseas? I asked Ms. World Trader of The Year (awarded bystate of Minnesota in onenineeightfive) to see if her opinion differed. “Building trusting, quality relationships--something especially women excel--in has beenkey to international success for me,” says Yvonne Halpaus, Director of Sales and Marketing for QNET LLC (http://www.ce-mark.com),quality assurance and international trade consulting firm specializing in CE Marking and ISO ninezerozerozero/EN foursixzerozerozero/QS ninezerozerozero with affiliated offices in California, Wisconsin and Tokyo. She elaborates further: “Inpast, when I traveled throughoutworld to sell machinery, I prepared in detail to understandmarket I was visiting--includingArab world. I read aboutculture, their way of conducting business, visited with our international bankers to obtain economic reports and forecasts. While conducting business, I always made sure to ask questions and not jump to conclusions based on Western viewpoints. I tried to study situations through local viewpoints. Combined, this gave meedge in negotiations. I seemed to understand or at least be willing to try.” Deb Armstrong jumps in to add: “I would have to say that to me, another reason why we succeed more so than men inglobal marketplace is because we are open to differences in methods, practices and meeting people’s diverse needs. Because of my success with global trade (from oneninenineseven grew exports to onezero percent of company’s total sales) andchanges made incompany, I was promoted from Senior Vice President to President in onenineninenine.”
Who Says Women Aren’t Allowed?
This is all great and fine, but what about certain parts ofworld whereperception is that women aren’t allowed to participate in business dealings--then what? “When my top sale inMiddle East was valued at $two million, management stopped asking if they were doingright thing sendingwoman toMiddle East,” says Yvonne. “It becamemute point.”
Whatever Your Business, The World Is Yours
It’s clear that whether you runservice or manufacturing enterprise,wide-open world of global marketing isbusinesswoman's natural habitat. If you haven’t already gone global, you can start by visitingfew of these one-stop-global-shops that cover everything from how to start your business to how to operate inglobal marketplace. Although most ofWeb sites are designed for businesswomen, much offeatured content will be of interest to all entrepreneurs.
l>
AT&T Women in Business (http://www.att.com/wib/index.html)
Advancing Women (http://www.advancingwomen.com/index.html)
Businesswomen in Trade (http://www.infoexport.gc.ca/businesswomen/menu-e.asp)
Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (http://www.fwe.org/)
Global Funding Community (http://www.seekingcapital.com)
Online Women’s Business Center (http://www.onlinewbc.org/docs/market/index.html)
Organization of Women in International Trade (http://www.owit.org/)
The Enterprise Development Website Women and Enterprise Development (http://www.enterweb.org/women.htm)
Aboutauthor:
Laurel Delaney runsChicago-based global marketing, consulting and web content providing company aimed toward entrepreneurs and small businesses. She isauthor of "Start & RunProfitable Exporting Business" and teachesMBA Export Entrepreneurship course at Loyola University Chicago. In addition, she serves as Director of International Development for SeekingCapital.com,global funding community that facilitates education and interaction between entrepreneurs and investors. Ms. Delaney can be reached at laurel@seekingcapital.com.
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