Season's Greetings and Best Wishes for a Prosperous New Year

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Make Your Team Thrive in 2018

Yes, it's doable:  you can start a business and have a baby at the same time.

When Caitlin Zaino, Founder of Porter & Sail, a hospitality company, was expecting her first child, she was desperate find an example of another female founder who’d juggled childbirth and running a startup.  She found the role model she was looking for in Birchbox co-founder Katia Beauchamp, who shared this advice.

“Everyone wants to think that they are the most important person in an organization but the team still thrives, if you’ve done your job well, all should move forward.”

So when the time came, Caitlin took time off, wanting to show that it was more than OK for anyone — even the founder — to take time away for a new baby.

Read more about how you can strike out on your own, start a new company, grow the economy, and have a baby.

WEGG Enables Global Growth for Women Business Owners

Laurel Delaney writes for the WPO blog:

Women-owned firms that export,” reports the White House Council on Women and Girls, “not only earn more but employ more people and are, on average, more productive than women-owned firms that do not.”  But estimates show that only 12 percent of women-owned SMEs in the U.S. export.  Either women do not think they have what it takes to export or they lack the appropriate support, such as training, education, and advisory networks.

Solutions are available.  Visit Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global

WEGG is a proud partner to the Women Presidents' Organization

Fire Clients Who Hold You Back

I am a big fan of Marshall Goldsmith and this article is one of my favorites because it rings true on so many levels for me.  The biggest nugget in the article below is how toxic relationships -- whether a client, customer, employee, boss or group -- can hold you back.

Which relationships should you continue to develop, and which should you gently let go? In business, Goldsmith recommends that customers be referred elsewhere (fired) when they do these six different things.

The bottom line is that it isn't terribly hard to cut ties with people or groups who bring you down.  And when you do, you lead a more stress-free and healthy life.  And that can only be a good outcome.

When It Comes to Women Business Owners and Babies, VCs Ignore Them

The struggles of a breast-pump startup underscore venture capitalists blind spot when it comes to women and babies.

Venture capitalists, however, do not appear to share my [author at The New Yorker magazine] enthusiasm for breast-pump #disruption, perhaps because the industry is ninety-three per cent male. 

Read more about why mothers who are business owners don't seem to be worth anything to venture capitalists.

Screenshot: Medela

Stand Like a Rock

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." -- Thomas Jefferson

Inspiring Quotes from Women Business Owners and Leaders

As Sara Blakely (pictured), founder of Spanx says, "Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else."

Discover other inspiring quotes from women business owners and leaders.

Making the U.S. Tax Code Fairer to Women Entrepreneurs

With Congress putting the finishing touches on a tax plan that’s aimed at overhauling the system, there is one other reform Caroline Bruckner thinks they should consider: making the U.S. tax code fairer to women entrepreneurs.

Currently, federal tax incentives targeted to help small businesses grow and access capital either effectively exclude or bypass altogether the majority of women-owned firms, according to groundbreaking research I [Caroline Bruckner, Executive in Residence, Department of Accounting and Taxation, American University] conducted on how the tax code affects women business owners through American University’s Kogod Tax Policy Center. 

For the first time, Caroline's research considered specifically whether women business owners can (or do) take advantage of tax breaks intended for small businesses.

Read more about how the US tax code bypasses women entrepreneurs.

From Our WEGG Partner: Women Entrepreneurs Are Crushing It

If there’s anything that defines women entrepreneurs, it’s their ability to figure out everything from how to write a business plan to launching an app to taking a business global.

When you are ready to launch and grow your business, keep these six tips in your back pocket from women who’ve done it before.

Read:  What Women Entrepreneurs Have Done Without Regrets to Crush It

Why I Joined the Women Presidents' Organization: A Member's Perspective

Doing Business With the Federal Government

As Annie Pilon for Small Business Trends points out:  "The federal government is awarding more contracts to women owned small businesses than ever before. There’s still a long way to go. But for women who haven’t ever considered doing business with the federal government, it might be a good time to reconsider."

Check out her article providing tips for women business owners looking to navigate the world of government contracting.

How to Stay Strong and Healthy While Growing Your Business

The New York Times-bestselling author, Bethenny Frankel, is the founder of food and beverage company Skinnygirl, which sold to Beam Suntory for a reported $100 million in 2011.

Frankel also launched a television production company called B Real Productions in 2015. This fall Frankel is going to share her experience with aspiring business owners as a guest judge on ABC’s Shark Tank and she was a speaker at Advertising Week New York. 

But her latest venture is the one that is closest to her heart. Read more ... secrets to building a multimillion-dollar brand.

Jim Collins Delivers What Makes a Good Leader

What To Do With Employees Who Rub Others the Wrong Way

No matter the specific behavior, your employee is rubbing people the wrong way. As the business owner, you know it’s your job to address the issue, but you’re not sure how to start the conversation because it's awkward. What should you say? How do you broach the topic?

Experts weigh in here but before you begin the conversation, prepare what you want to say and how you plan to say it.

Why Do People Love to Hate “Process” but Rail Against Disorganization?

Why do people love to hate “process” but rail against disorganization?  Elizabeth Doty, a former lab fellow of Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and founder of Leadership Momentum, a consultancy that focuses on the practical challenges of keeping organizational commitments, writes an excellent piece for strategy+business on Liberate Your Team With Clear Processes. 

But back to why people love to hate process:

It is because most people associate processes with checklists, forms, and rules — the overseer breathing down their necks. Not surprisingly, leaders wanting to foster innovation and creativity are reluctant to institute such rigid controls and procedures.

Learn more ...

Who Is the Mysterious Aureta Woman?

In this post we focus on how women are leveraging Instagram to build their brand and their following.

Take Aureta Thomollari.  With no last name on her account and captions barely longer than three words, she could be anyone. But as it turns out, Aureta Thomollari is a woman with an incredible eye for beauty and Instagram is her hobby.  In fact, Thomollari's main focus is on her career as an entrepreneur and investor.  She takes images from locations around the world.

By simply looking at her Instagram account, a mysterious feeling arises. Who is this “Aureta” lady with the beautifully curated, colorful account chalk full of fashion, art, design and yes -- a few selfies?

Read more here to learn how you can build your image with not so much work and garner thousands of followers too.

Screenshot courtesy here.

Become a Chicago WPO Member!

Not a member of the Women Presidents' Organization and based in Chicago?  No problem.  We are hosting our 14th Annual WPO Chicago Summit on Thursday, September 14th and if you join before then, you can attend.  Contact Laurel Delaney at ldelaney(at)globetrade.com to get signed up.  Look forward to your membership and the possibility of you joining us on 9/14.

Congress Is Looking to Revamp the Tax Code

For the first time in 30 years, Congress is looking seriously at revamping the tax code, which means we have a once-in-a-generation chance to transform the code into a tool that empowers women entrepreneurs. The question is, will Congress seize this opportunity?

A new report by Caroline Bruckner of American University's Kogod Tax Policy Center and the national advocacy organization Women Impacting Public Policy (WPP) found that women business owners can't take full advantage of more than $255 billion in tax incentives because of how they are legally organized and the industries they serve.

To access the report, "Billion Dollar Blind Spot: How the U.S. Tax Code's Small Business Expenditures Impact Women Business Owners," go here.

Read more ...

14th Annual WPO Chicago Summit 9/14/17

Finding Synergies and New Ways of Doing Things

©iStock/emyu

Ever wonder how you can get the most out of absurd ideas while running your business?  I do too. Let's face it, every day we are bombarded with cool ideas that come from our employees, suppliers, advisors and customers.

As we wait, our own mental wheels start spinning. When we hear an outlandish idea, most of us have a rapid reaction: We dismiss it. It sounds stupid, like nothing our company would ever do. Worse still, it sounds like something that the head of the department would never consider.

So how do you let go and free your imagination to take in new ideas and possibilities that might grow your business beyond your wildest dreams?

Here are two ways that can help you discover new ways of doing things.

Getting the Most From Absurd Ideas