2020 has been the year of lessons for small businesses worldwide. Women-owned small businesses in particular, have been especially impacted. From the challenge of work-life balance arising from household and childcare responsibilities being shifted to women, to navigating current times and challenges to adapt their business model to the new economy, many women small business owners have been struggling to say the least.
Despite advances made by and for women business leaders, including the 1988 Women’s Business Ownership Act promoting female entrepreneurs, and the nearly 13 millions women-owned small businesses employing 9.4 millions individuals and earning $1.3 trillion in revenue, there is still a lot of progress to be made. The pandemic has taken some of this progress away, instead penalizing women for owning businesses.
As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), I’m always eager to listen to and learn from women business owners. From their experiences and stories, here are 20 lessons from 2020 for women small business owners:
- Always educate and inform yourself.
A business is an endless source of learning and applied lessons. As contexts and business environements change, as they certainly did in 2020, so are small business owners expected to learn new trends, new concepts, and new ways of doing business. This is even more important for women-owned businesses that are more at a risk of not surviving than others.
- Know your business inside out.
Do you really know your business, from your vendors to your customer base and cash flow? Many small businesses fail to survive or stay stagnant because of a basic lack of understanding of the business itself. While you don’t have to be an expert in all areas of your business, you should understand it well enough.
- Focus your business.
An unfocused business is a business at greater risk. The more you can focus your business, from streamlining your operations to simplifying your offerings, the more you can control your business and the quicker you can adapt to change.
- Plan for childcare.
As a woman business owner, you may have to deal with the responsibility of childcare, along with running your business. Whereas before, your life and business could have been running somewhat smoothly together, now they are blended more than ever. Planning for childcare in a way that allows you to be the best mother and the best business owner you can be, is a priority.
- Mind your cash flow.
Most businesses fail because of poor cash flow management. Women-owned businesses are no exception. A cash-poor business is a business that is limited and unable to expand. Make it a point to manage your cash flow, and work to increase it so you have access to additional resources in times of economic strain.
- Explore new streams of income.
A successful business is a business with multiple options to create income. This doesn’t mean that you need a gazillion product or service offerings. However, it implies being able to maximize your current products and services so as to create multiple streams of income that can prove helpful in times of crisis.
- Mind your costs.
Along with managing your cash flow, you must also make managing your costs a priority. Where can you cut costs in an efficient manner? How can you consolidate some of your costs? These are questions you must periodically ask yourself in order to run a lean and efficient business that can survive and thrive in times of crisis.
- Have an emergency plan.
Do you have a contingency plan in case of emergency? Do you have business savings you can potentially dip into when the going gets tough? Due to lack of funding and financial precariousness, many women-owned businesses may not have the necessary emergency structure to help them navigate difficult times. This is a reminder to invest in emergency plans and savings in your business.
- Get online: you MUST have a website.
The 2020 pandemic has shifted most businesses to their online platform and offerings as a way to survive at a time when in-person contact was prohibited. This has emphasized the importance of having and developing an online presence as a business.
- Diversify payment options.
How can your customers reward you for your products and services? When in-person contact is out of the question, can your business still receive revenue in different forms? Diversifying your payment options, through online and remote alternatives mostly, can also help your business make it through challenging times.
- Invest in mentors.
As women-owned businesses face more challenges, especially as related to funding and growth opportunities, than men-owned businesses, having expert guidance can tremendously help. Investing in mentors in and outside of your industry and business type can help you get to the next level, and address challenges and obstacles in a more focused and informed manner.
- Focus on hiring and retaining employees.
The 2020 crisis has seen an unprecedented rise in unemployment, which has contributed in weakening businesses at an alarming rate. Hiring and retaining employees has thus proven to be one of the greatest challenges brought on by the pandemic. Yet, it is also one of the greatest business needs faced by small businesses.
- Learn about financing options.
While women have historically been at a disadvantage when it comes to business financing and funding, there have been increased efforts to grow and develop resources to fill this gap. Make it a point to learn as much as possible about financing options and prepare your business to avail yourself of these.
- Create a flexible business structure
A heavy, clunky business structure is also one that doesn’t lend itself to change and growth. Whether it’s around your operations, your personnel, or your finances, ensuring that you can be flexible in case of change, or even worse, crisis, can help you maintain and grow your business over time.
- Embrace innovation.
Necessity is truly the mother of invention. When you need to create something out of nothing in your business, and to remedy the lack of resources and results as experienced during the pandemic, you need to innovate. Embrace doing things in a different, still efficient manner, rather than being attached to the same processes and outcomes.
- Prioritize relationships.
Business is done through relationships. Being away from each other during this pandemic has reinforced this notion, confirming that businesses really suffer in the absence of concrete, healthy relationships.
- Charge what you’re worth.
Women are notorious for not charging what they’re worth, be it through salary or business negotiations. The feminine instinct to help, coupled with a disadvantageous lack of confidence, keep us from truly maximizing our gifts and talents and asking for what we are truly worth. This is also what keeps us from building successful and sustainable businesses, amplifying the impact of crisis like the 2020 pandemic.
- Prepare to deal with uncertainty.
Uncertainty is par for the course when it comes to business and life in general, as we’ve seen in 2020. Part of building a great business is also building a foundation that can survive in times of uncertainty and change, through flexibility, adaptability and innovation.
- Do it now or never.
Time is not promised to us. Neither is the possibility of starting and running a powerful business. Many women fall prey to insecurity and lack of confidence, foregoing their chances to build the business of their dreams. Don’t be one.
- Technology is your friend.
Last but not least, 2020 has shown us all the incredible power of technology in times of crisis. This is a power that as women small business owners, we must learn to harness and use to our advantage to not only bridge the female entrepreneurial gap, but thrive through it.
What other lessons have you learnt as a woman small business owner?
The Corporate Sister.
