Tips for Attending the WBENC Conference

One of the biggest conferences for women owned businesses to sell to major corporations is coming to Baltimore. What do you need to know to make the most of it?

Liz Whitehead offers 6 tips for women business owners attending the WBENC National Conference and Business Fair.

How Women-Led Companies Must Attract the Workers They Need

A recent survey of female entrepreneurs conducted by the Women Presidents Organization and EY shows that women-led companies around the world aren’t offering the progressive benefits programs necessary to attract the workers they say they need.

The survey included more than 303 women in 25 industries across 26 different countries.  Some of the findings are as follows:

• Less than 60 percent offered employees maternity leave and only 51 percent offered parental leave. About 25 percent offered flexible working arrangements, such as telecommuting, or tuition reimbursement.
• Despite this, more than 35 percent regarded recruitment and retention of talent as the biggest obstacles they faced in scaling their companies.
• More than 40 percent said that having top managerial talent is essential for them to be able to make big strategic decisions and work on what’s next, instead of being mired in day-to-day operations.

Learn more how many women-led companies' benefits programs fall short.

Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash.

Do You Make Up Your Own Rules As You Go Along?

As a business owner, do you make up your own rules as you go along?  Here's one woman business owner's take on that notion.

This concept was incredibly empowering to me nearly eight years ago when my sister and I began our company [Matchmakers in The City] in Beverly Hills.  Growing up, I would always question the status quo: I would (respectfully) question the authority figures in my life and ask why particular rules were in place.

Read more about three pieces of advice that she was glad she didn't take too seriously.

Photo courtesy Andrew Neel on Unsplash.

Women Business Owners Find Their Economic Voice

A number of policies from the current administration and the recent explosion of restrictive state legislation aimed at women’s reproductive rights have galvanized women business owners and demonstrated the power of their economic voice.  After all:

Women own more than 11.6 million businesses in the U.S., employing nearly 9 million people and generating $1.7 trillion in sales in 2017. Women are also more likely to launch businesses than men, with the number of women-owned businesses growing 114% over the last ten years.

As this article touts, "... it’s encouraging to see female leaders embrace the power of the purse and vote with their business."

Explore more on how female business owners find their economic voice.

Photo courtesy Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash.