Season's Greetings From WPO Chicago

Exit Strategy Options

Exit strategies come in several forms – selling to a strategic buyer, a merger and acquisition (M&A) or the issuing of an IPO.

An exit strategy should also bring optimum results for the business owner and therefore a carefully calculated plan has to be executed to unlock the value of the company.

Check out some viable exit strategies:  crucial plans for all business owners.

Does Your Business Need a Human Rights Strategy?

Companies must be prepared to meet their moral and business obligations when operations bump up against labor abuses — or worse.

Learn how businesses have addressed this in the past. 

Million-Dollar Business Owner Gets Creative During the Pandemic

Tiffany Williams, founder of Rich Girl Collective saw an opportunity. She launched her business to teach women how to start online businesses that have the potential to replace their full-time income, so they can leave the nine-to-five. “A lot of people were home. They realized, ‘I need a backup plan,’” says Williams.

As Elaine Pofelt reports for Forbes:

When the pandemic hit, many people finally decided to act on business ideas that had been percolating for months or years. Some were looking to keep busy while stuck at home during lockdowns; others were laid off and needed to create their own jobs. U.S. business formations increased by nearly 42% in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Read on to see what Tiffany does to keep on cranking to grow her business.  She says she typically develops her products in response to requests from her community. “They keep asking, I keep creating.  Cool.

Addressing Gaps Between Men and Women Entrepreneurs Worldwide

For 23 years, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) has provided data to guide policymakers' decisions. The latest GEM report focusing on women offers insights into many aspects of entrepreneurship.

With an estimated 274 million women involved in business startups worldwide, they are a force that can drive post-pandemic recovery globally, according to 2020/21 Women's Entrepreneurship Report: Thriving through Crisis.

Read on to discover the key findings on the report from Geri Stengel, Forbes contributor and president of Ventureneer.

Best Business Books 2021 By strategy+business

Writers from strategy+business choose the best books of the year (2021) in seven genres.

In this, our [strategy+business] 21st edition of Best Business Books, our stalwart crew of reviewers have distilled recommendations guaranteed not only to pique your interest and pass the time, but to make you a better leader, coworker, and trendsurfer.

Read on.

As a CEO, Do You Need to Develop Your Own Personal Brand?

Most WPO members realize the value of establishing a strong and memorable brand for their company or product, but how important is it to develop a brand for yourself as an individual business owner?

Do you really need to develop a strong personal brand to have a successful startup or small business?

It depends.  Read on.

How to Develop a High Impact Dream Team

The best leaders don’t just stumble upon dream teams; they know how to build a dream team, even under challenging circumstances.

These five leadership habits will encourage the right behavior in a team—the first two establish an environment of safety; the last three provide stretch.

Three Attainable Strategies for Taking Better Care of Yourself

According to CEO Thrive Global Arianna Huffington, economic theory has a whole to do with sleep.

It's simple: When you don't get enough sleep, you have to contend with diminishing returns and opportunity cost--the physical toll of tiredness doesn't allow you to operate at your greatest capacity.

Burnout among founders is a serious problem – and it can be one that's hard to talk about.

Here are three of Arianna's standout lessons for how to make mental health a priority in your life and at your company.

In Search of a Meaningful Life

Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, shares a magnificent essay on why we choose to suffer.  Yes, I know, that sounds awful.  Yet in search for a meaningful life, simple seeking pleasure isn't enough.  We need to struggle and sacrifice.

The essay is adapted from his new book, “The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning,” which will be published on Nov. 2 by Ecco.  It's worth reading every single word.

How 3 Chicago Business Owners Tackled the Global Pandemic Successfully

©2021 Enterprising Women Magazine.

Whether it's building a strong remote technology and communication infrastructure, acknowledging the emotional needs of your employees or cultivating a reinvention mindset, these three (3) Chicago business owners who happen to be WPO members too are fearless in carving out a successful future for their businesses.

Read:  How 3 Chicago Business Owners Tackled the Global Pandemic Successfully – published in Enterprising Women Magazine (fall edition 2021).

LIVE From Nashville, the 24th Annual WPO Conference 2021!

This year's exciting theme is:  Sounds of Success! 

After a long stretch of virtual meetings, this year’s WPO's conference is designed to give you more time to engage and build relationships with chapter chairs, sponsors and other members.

Join WPO to discover knowledge, connections, and inspiration that will help you amplify your impact as a business leader.

Watch all our social media channels for updates – LinkedIn, Twitter, blog and website.  

What Are the Systemic Difficulties That Women Face Today?

Few business leaders will openly state that they have little interest in a more gender-equal world. However, the gap between intention and outcome illustrates that nowhere near enough decisive action has been taken to make this the case.

Women founders face obstacles across the board.

The problem lies not in the fact that women don’t want to build million-dollar businesses, but in the disconnect between our dreams and the industry support we receive — or lack thereof. As the world embraces a new way of working and strategizes for a post-pandemic world, it’s vital to investigate new ways of supporting women’s entrepreneurship. Here are the key questions that we need to ask — and how we can go about resolving them.

Learn how to create a gender-equitable startup landscape and more.

Are You Ready to Lead a Hybrid Team?

There are many challenges a hybrid workforce leader must address and overcome if they want to lead a high-performing, agile team.

Leading a high-performance, engaged hybrid team requires that the employee experience is the same whether team members are in the office two days a week, five, or never. Leaders of today’s workforce must emphasize inclusion, eliminate ambiguity, ensure accountability, and support their team members’ social needs.

Here’s how.

18th Annual WPO Chicago Summit 2021 a Smashing Success!

©Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Thank you for attending our 18th Annual WPO Chicago Summit hosted via Zoom September 9, 2021.  We had a wonderful program and learned how to boost a brand for yourself and for your business.  In addition, we had a chance to get to know one another better to deepen our WPO relationships, which we all value.   

We thank SimplyBe. CEO Jessica Zweig for her keynote presentation and Bryan Carter for his fine assistance.

 

We thank all of our sponsors who support WPO.   

Special thanks to our virtual host Foley & Lardner – Chicago members Lauren Loew and Ellen Wheeler.

Much appreciation to our WPO Chicago Steering Committee members: Karolyn Raphael, President, Winger Marketing (Chicago I), AJ Goehle, CEO, Luci Creative (Chicago I) and Genevieve Custer Weeks, Founder, Tutu School Franchises (Chicago II). Without their help, this program would not have been possible.  

Lastly, a shout out to designer Laura Fairman for her great work on the graphic!

Looking forward to next year's Summit and meanwhile, stay in good touch!

3 Ways to Handle Competition

According to Ilisa Kaufman, Psy.D., a Miami-based psychologist, there are three ways a person can handle competition, or rather “perceived competition.” 

They either:

1. Rise
2. Rant – or
3. Remove

Depending upon how a person responds, it might impact their functioning in general, especially social interactions.

Read on to learn how you can win when competing for success.

SBA Resources for Women Business Owners

SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman recently outlined her agency’s resources for women small business owners to survive and thrive amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including SBA's Women’s Business Center network of 136 centers located across the country.

The number of women entrepreneurs grows to unprecedented levels and shows no sign of stopping, as the younger generations eschew their reliance on corporations for lifelong employment and as immigrants, who are risk-takers by nature, start their own businesses.

SBA’s efforts are aimed at bridging the lending gap between male-owned and women-owned firms.

Connect to More

Wells Fargo is starting a new wave of support through Connect to More, a business mentoring partnership with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. 

This new effort will focus on mentoring 500 women-owned businesses throughout the next 12 months. The businesses will receive access to expertise and specialized resources. The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center will provide women entrepreneurs support through its Milestone Mapping Coaching Circles.

Read on to learn more.

Attend Our 18th Annual WPO Chicago Summit 9/9/21 and Boost Your Brand (Virtual)

 

If you are a WPO Chapter Chair, member or sponsor, you are cordially invited to our 18th Annual WPO Chicago Summit on 9/9/21 (virtual).  Our theme this year is Combat the Great Resignation by Boosting Your Brand and Becoming the Best Place to Work.

In this high-energy, powerful content-filled workshop, SimplyBe. CEO and founder Jessica Zweig will discuss the brand behind the brand and how to elevate your external brand by strengthening the internal branding of yourself, your business, and your employees.

In addition, she will dive into the ways you can create a culture, and a work environment that your employees love and never want to leave – all while creating a brand that stands for something bigger than the bottom line and allows your business to become the best place to work.

We will then break into smaller facilitated e-groups to brainstorm together on ways we can begin doing this right now for our organizations.

To learn more and to register, email Laurel Delaney (ldelaney(at)globetrade.com), WPO Chicago Chapter Chair. Looking forward to your participation!

Join Us for the 18th Annual WPO Chicago Summit (9/9/21)

Building a Community

How do you build a community of raving fans to your business? All it takes is understanding what you do best, what your passion is, what impact you make, and how you share your message with the world.

Check out four steps to building a community of raving fans.

Women Business Owners Are Reacting to the New World of Work with Renewed Confidence and Adaptability

The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs – 2020 Report provides world-leading analysis on how women in business are progressing globally, highlighting the socioeconomic factors propelling and inhibiting their success, and providing a performance ranking for the 58 economies measured.

Read the entire report, which shows women business owners are reacting to the new world of work with renewed confidence and adaptability.

Prime For Growth

Building the right kind of clientele is not simply a matter of looking for the right kind of prospects and selling them. It’s an ongoing process of constantly sharpening your internal operations, knowing what kinds of clients you are best suited to handle, and steadily upgrading your client base. If you will do all those things, you can build a solid and profitable clientele—one that will provide security for the long run.

Here are four crucial factors to look at before you prospect.

The Importance of B CORP Status by CEO Michelle Hayward of Bluedog Design

Michelle Hayward (pictured), founder and CEO of Bluedog Design asks, "Are you B CORP curious?"  She adds,  "Start-ups to multi-national companies are striving for certification. What is it and what are the benefits?"

In her latest article for Enterprising Women Magazine, Michelle (a WPO Platinum member), shares her insights on what it takes to become a B CORP and why it matters.

Access: https://enterprisingwomen.com/ewdigital/enterprisingwomensummer2021/74/

 

From a Fresh Idea to a Successful Company

As a 12-year-old, Kavita Shukla drank water believed to be contaminated. Because of her grandmother's quick homemade remedy, she didn't get sick. Since then, Shukla has devoted her life to figuring out why the remedy worked and how to replicate and advance its effects to mitigate world hunger.

She went on to receive a patent on her product, FreshPaper, a natural kitchen hack that keeps fruits and veggies fresh, and established her company, The Fresh Grow Company.  One of the questions asked of Shukla:

What advice do you have for those who want to bring their own big ideas to market?

I think putting my idea in the hands of people that could really use it and give me feedback and who shared it with others was transformative. So, I would encourage entrepreneurs and inventors to just take the first step and to share their ideas with the people that could benefit from them.

Read the entire inspiring interview here.

Block Off Your Morning and Plan How You Are Going to Handle Your Inevitable Cyberattack

Have you hired your first Chief Risk Officer (CRO)?  You might want to start considering.  This is the new robbery.  Here's a crash course on protecting your company from ransomware, deep fakes, and other cybersecurity threats.  It starts with addressing 4 critical questions that you need to answer.

Remap Fear Into Opportunity

Ali Kriegsman, co-founder of Bulletin online marketplace, chronicles her entrepreneurial journey – warts and all – in her debut book, “How to Build a Goddamn Empire,” which details her path from corporate employee to pivoting and scaling a major business. The book features stories and advice from 30 other female founders who built companies of various sizes and stages.

Learn more about how to push past fear and remap it into opportunity.

"I might be the first, but I’m not going to be the last," says President Terry Wheatley

This week marks a big moment for Vintage Wine Estates. Not only is the wine producer going public with a $690 million IPO, but the company’s president Terry Wheatley will also be making history as the first woman to take an American multi-hundred-million-dollar producer public.

 "I might be the first, but I’m not going to be the last," says Terry Wheatley, President, Vintage Wine Estates.

She goes on to say:

“I look at my career and the time spent to get where I’ve gotten, and I’m mentoring young women now. Their careers are accelerating so much faster. There aren’t the hurdles that I had coming through the industry and when I describe them to them, they’re, I don’t want to say surprised and shocked, but some of the wars that I’ve been through, they don’t have to fight those battles. We fought them for them, so now their careers are accelerating I think twice as fast or three times as fast as what mine did. So, I won’t be the last woman taking a company, a multimillion-dollar company public. There will be more after me and probably in a rapid pace because more and more women are rising to the C-suite level.”

Read the entire article here.

Breaking Gender Barriers and Building Thriving Businesses

A case study by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, examines what it takes to break gender barriers and build thriving businesses in an emerging startup hub.

About the case study and Professor Kanter

The challenges of creating an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem can be seen through the stories of four women—two of them Black, one Latinx, and one white—who launched new enterprises in Miami with an eye to diversifying tech jobs in the future. According to a recent case study by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, their experiences permit an inside look at pushing past barriers.

Read the entire article here.

How to Tell If You or Someone Else Will Make a Great Leader (Within 5 Minutes)?

Answering these 10 questions (honestly) with "often" or "almost always" would certainly indicate that you or someone else may be fit to lead at a high level.

Who Is the Minority Group of Business Owners in the USA?

Well what do you know.  White men are now the minority of business owners in the United States.  Read on to learn more.

How Mentorships and Peer Groups (Like WPO) Can Make a Difference

Women Presidents' Organization Los Angeles 1 Chapter member and CEO and President of Marketing Maven Lindsey Carnett (pictured) writes a wonderful article about the importance of mentors and peer groups for support and expertise to women business owners.

The big call to action from Lindsey?  "Remember – it is very rewarding as a mentor. And do not keep WPO to yourself. Spread the word to those qualified women who can be stronger with the support of fellow business owners through a proven peer group."

Read the entire article here.

How to Generate $1 Billion a Day in Revenue

©2019 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Gosh I wonder what it would be like to generate $1 billion a day in revenue and what it would take to support it (e.g., people, products, processes and so forth).  Well, Apple can give you a glimpse of how it is done, what products are selling, and whether the momentum is sustainable.  Learn from the big guy.  Oh, here's a glimpse of what Apple CEO Tim Cook said:

Cook said on a conference call with analysts that all five of the best-selling smartphones in the U.S. during the quarter were iPhones. The top two sellers in China were iPhones. Four of the top six in Japan were iPhones. The top four in the U.K., iPhones. The top six in Australia, iPhones.

Another interesting detail.  They apparently are not experiencing any global supply chain issues.

What's your best-selling product or service offering?  Think you can take it to $1 billion a day in revenue?

Read on.

Women Business Owners Survive and Thrive During Global Pandemic

More than half of women business owners are the breadwinners in their families. 

Among women of color, it’s an even greater share — 65% — and these breadwinning entrepreneurs are being disproportionately affected by the pandemic, according to a report by small business platform Gusto and the National Association of Women Business Owners, which polled about 1,200 women business owners.

And here's the deal.  The hardships breadwinning women entrepreneurs have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic have led to a $1 billion drop in spending on children, a recent report estimates.

Learn more about what these women business owners have had to do to survive and thrive during the global pandemic.

Financial Freedom Is a State of Mind

According to Tony Robbins, financial freedom is not just about money.

“We all want to be truly free,” Robbins writes in The Path. “Free to do more of what we want, when we want, and to share it with those we love. Free to live with passion, with generosity, with gratitude and with peace of mind. This is financial freedom. It’s not an amount of money; it’s a state of mind.”

Check out his 8 steps to financial freedom.

Finding a Mentor or Experienced Adviser

Connecting and networking with experienced advisers can help your business grow.  To find a mentor, you need to open your eyes and ears.  Oftentimes, they can be right in front of you – even in your own WPO chapter.

While getting a mentor may seem like common sense, there's a gap between knowing a best practice and putting that knowledge to use. 

Forbes indicates that 76 percent of people think mentoring is important, but only 37 percent currently have a mentor. Having a mentor increases the chances of success and helps avoid the costly mistakes of entrepreneurship [and business ownership.]

Learn the common, costly mistakes a mentor can help your business avoid or mitigate, where to find mentors, how to be a good mentee, and where to turn for additional resources.

Bluedog Design #1 for Best Places to Work in 2021 by Crain's Chicago Business

Culture matters.  Just ask founder and CEO of Bluedog Design, Michelle Hayward (pictured), who just earned the #1 spot as the Best Places to Work in 2021 by Crain's Chicago Business.  We are busting our buttons with pride because Michelle is a force for good and also a WPO Platinum member.  We are thrilled for her and her team on earning this extraordinary achievement.

It takes creativity, hard work, tremendous effort and 'intent' to achieve this honor, especially during such a harrowing time in our lives.

Congrats to Michelle Hayward and her team.  Great leaders inspire others to become great, too.  Lead on! 

Learn more.

How to Push Forward When You Are Tired

What sustains your work, especially when you are tired?

Have a look at 4 women who talk straight on what keeps them moving forward – from making an impact, to remembering your why, to listening to music, to connecting with new people.

Read on.

Jump-Start Emotional Engagement Among Your Employees

Financial results are an outcome, not a root driver for employee performance. A growing body of evidence tells us that overemphasizing financial targets erodes morale and undermines long-term strategy. 

When a leader spends the majority of their airtime on a “make the numbers” narrative, it creates a transactional relationship with their employees, making them more likely to create transactional relationships with their teammates and customers.

Learn how you can jump-start emotional engagement among your employees, keep your focus on building belief in the larger purpose of the work.

12 Ways to Spark Motivation

At Sara Moniuszko's latest article for USA Today, she starts with, "Feeling unmotivated?  You're not alone!"

She goes on to say that with the one-year anniversary of pandemic lockdowns in the United States and no definitive end to the pandemic in sight, many are struggling now more than ever to spark and maintain motivation.

Sara rounded up 12 ways you can try to spark some motivation, whether for work or play.  Test if they work for you.

Let's Sharpen Our Business Leadership Skills Post COVID-19

Let's reexamine the way we lead our businesses and our people, and redefine strength itself. 

COVID-19 has ushered in a new template we should be following when recruiting our managers and team leaders. Those with highly developed “soft skills” will be the ones who take our organizations into the future.

Read on to learn what leadership looks like post COVID-19.  It requires real change.

How to Stand Out in Someone's Inbox

You may think storytelling would come in handy if you’re preparing for a presentation, but Lee Lazarus and Janine Kurnoff, founders of The Presentation Company and co-authors of the book Everyday Business Storytelling, say it can also help your email get answered.

The challenge with email is to cut through the noise and stand out in someone’s inbox.  Here's how to do it.

Are You Experiencing COVID-somnia?

With March being National Sleep Awareness Month, we thought it only fitting to talk about how sleep is so hard to come by, especially during a global pandemic. 

In fact, so many people have been having trouble catching zzz's that scientists and reporters have coined this widespread sleeplessness "COVID-somnia." And as we approach the one-year mark (or "coronavirsary") this month, stress and uncertainty might very well continue to wreak havoc on our shut-eye.

These three nonfiction sleep books might help you come up with some practicable and effective sleep solutions so you can better manage your business and your personal life.

Reach Your Greatest Potential By Strengthening Your Mental Muscle

Reaching your greatest potential doesn’t require you to work harder by adding desirable habits to your already busy life. Instead you can work smarter by eliminating the routines that erode effectiveness and siphon off mental strength. 

Here are the 13 things mentally strong people don’t do.

The Story of Presidents' Day

It all began in 1800.  Following the death of George Washington in 1799, his February 22 birthday became a perennial day of remembrance. 

While Washington’s birthday was an unofficial observance for most of the 1800s, it was not until the late 1870s that it became a federal holiday.  Senator Stephen Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose the measure, and in 1879 President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law – the first to celebrate the life of an individual American.   Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, signed into law in 1983, was the second.

Read on to find out the story of Presidents' Day and who championed to shift the celebration of several federal holidays from specific dates to a series of predetermined Mondays.

What Common Traits Are Essential for Business Ownership Success?

There's a reason why successful female business owners like WPO members are, well, successful.  They are able to overcome the many challenges facing them in order to start their own companies. 

But how? As the article says, no two women are alike—they all have their own stories, but these are some of the common traits found among successful women who started their own businesses.

What's the Biggest Change You've Ever Made?

What's the biggest change you've ever made and what impact did it have?  Meanwhile, here's what four CEOs said.

Women Entrepreneurs Elevate Their Businesses With Access to SBA's New Platform

SBA recently launched Ascent, a brand new free e-learning platform that provides help with issues ranging from hazard pay to how to create a profit and loss statement. 

The agency partnered with the White House, the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury to develop the new tool.

When you get to a million dollars in annual revenue, pay a visit to the Women Presidents' Organization.  And when you need help going global, try out Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All these great organizations are here to serve your growth needs.

Learn more about Ascent.

Turn Your Ideas Into a Project that Feels Fun and Manageable

It’s the start of a new year (2021), which means setting goals and making resolutions. If that includes being more creative or finding time to work on passion projects, you’re not alone. 

Facebook creative director Ji Lee believes that side projects are critical to staying inspired and not getting burned out by work, especially when working from home.

Check out her ideas here because doing is everything.