Have you ever considered becoming an entrepreneur and literally shirked at the prospect of putting yourself out there? Do you feel you don’t have the confidence it takes to launch your own entrepreneurial dreams, especially in industries and areas where women are in the minority and unfavored? Are you wondering how to be more confident as a woman entrepreneur?
I remember starting a side hustle a few years back, wondering how in the world the introvert in me would ever find the confidence to start and grow it. Even though I could somewhat hide behind my laptop screen while blogging, I still needed to put myself out there, which was scary to say the least. Fast forward over a decade, I’m still growing and putting myself out there, somehow building the confidence that I believed was severely eluding me when I first started…
In general, men are shown to own three times as many businesses employing people than women. However, in 2021, more businesses were started by women (49%) than by men (42%), mostly as a result of pandemic-related business opportunities. Women were also shown to own more younger businesses than their male counterparts, at the rate of 75% of 15-year old or younger businesses for women and 66% for men. However, despite these significant advances, there is still a notable difference in average annual revenue and funding opportunities between men and women-owned businesses, to the disadvantage of the latter. According to Biz2Credit, women’s businesses earned $199,136 less than men-owned businesses in 2021. On the funding side, while men were approved for 67% of the loans they applied for, women could only achieve about half of this.
With these dismal statistics in mind, how does one muster enough confidence as a woman entrepreneur? Is it even worth the try?
From my own unconventional experience as a side hustler, an introvert, and a multiple minority in the entrepreneurial world, here are a few tidbits from my own experience that may help:
Start with your strengths and desires!
This may be the most unconventional business advice you may have ever received. Much of the business advice out there will recommend that you create and grow a business in a profitable field or industry. While this is valuable advice, it often skips the part where your strengths and desires should also be considered.
What has served me best (and still does) has been to focus on my strengths in areas where I can find the joy, motivation and strength to keep going despite the odds. It’s also what I refer to as my “zone of confidence”.
Focusing on your strengths, your core skills and desires, especially when you’ve already gotten positive results in those areas, will help you develop and cultivate the confidence and resilience to get started and keep going. This is especially important when the going gets tough, and all that’s left most days is the sheer will to keep forging ahead…
Grow slowly and incrementally
In the era of continuous metrics and overnight success, slow, incremental growth is not the most popular business concept out there. Yet, in terms of raising your confidence levels, it may be just what the doctor ordered.
In my own experience, solidifying one area before growing another one has helped me develop the assurance needed to keep going. It may be tempting to give in to the “shiny object syndrome” affecting so many, especially in the online space, trying new tools and gimmicks every other day. However, focusing and developing one key skill and area at a time, may help boost your expertise, thereby increasing your confidence in the process.
Get your numbers straight!
As you could tell from the discouraging statistics above, women-owned businesses, while growing more in recent years, are still lagging behind men-owned businesses in revenues and funding. This is also where many women lose their faith and confidence in starting and growing successful businesses.
As a CPA and consultant, I’ve had the privilege to witness the evolution of some women-owned businesses, many of them plagued by financial inaccuracy and lack of financial confidence. This in turn has significantly reduced their opportunities to go after various sources of funding, and increase their revenues.
Getting clear on your business’s financial goals and objectives, as well as its financial results, can help alleviate some of these doubts. This can impact the business’s revenue generating ability, as well as increase its chances to obtain more funding.
Own your stuff!
With the advent of social media, many women entrepreneurs, and many entrepreneurs in general, are hosting their businesses on online platforms like Instagram or TikTok. However, as has been shown through algorithm changes and technical outages, these may not be as reliable as most may believe. As a matter of fact, many entrepreneurs and creatives have been painfully griping about the loss of revenues and influence they’ve been experiencing on these same social media platforms for the past year or so. Talk about a loss of confidence…
As a woman entrepreneur, the more control you can have of your business, the more confidence and motivation you can muster to continue growing. This can be achieved by actually owning and managing your own business platforms, whether it’s your own blog, website, or physical location.
Avoid the trap of comparison
One of the most precious pieces of business wisdom I’ve gathered over time is to avoid the trap of comparison. There is always going to be a business that is more successful, generates more revenue, has more followers on social media, etc…That in itself is enough to destroy any entrepreneur’s confidence…
While I have certainly succumbed to the temptation to compare my micro enterprise to other solopreneurs, especially in the online space, distancing myself from it has helped boost my confidence levels over time. For me, this means observing some social media cleansing periods, not overly focusing on popular metrics, and developing my own goals and objectives.
Overall, developing a solid sense of confidence as an entrepreneur, whether at the micro-level as a solopreneur or side hustler, or on a larger scale, does not have to be an impossible task. By focusing on your own “zone of confidence”, growing incrementally and avoiding the trap of comparison, you can actually leverage your entrepreneurial venture to boost your sense of confidence.
How are you developing more confidence as a woman entrepreneur?
Most people who know me well know I’m serious about money. I’m an accountant by trade, who also happens to teach accounting, which also means finances are often on my mind. Truthfully, I always had an inkling for it, not just when it became my main field of study and work. I believe I can trace it to my upbringing, being raised in a single parent family home by a single mother who taught me the importance of managing what you have, and managing it well. It later morphed into a desire to never go without, a search for the tangible, palpable security the little girl in me had not been able to find growing up without a father’s presence…This is why it’s so important for me to have a financial sense of direction, especially at the beginning of the year. This year, I am going one step further than setting up my usual financial plan and budget, and actually am setting on the path to creating a financial mission statement for myself and my family…
And this is not at random…As a Black woman, mother, wife, professional, among so many other hats I, like other women, wear, I am all too aware of the financial disparities and challenges faced by women. These challenges not only affect women’s levels of financial literacy, but also their financial well-being, and access to financial support and tools to acquire, develop and generate wealth.
According to the 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decision-Making, women are 79% less likely to pay their bills on time than their male counterparts (84%). They are also shown to be 52% less likely than men to have sufficient emergency savings to cover three months of expenses than men (at 56%). Lastly, the survey reveals women are 15% more likely to have upped their debt and credit card usage, as opposed to only 12% of men. While the gender wage gap certainly contributes to these statics, increasing childcare costs and the effects of inflation are also notable contributing factors that put women at constant financial risk.
Research also shows there is an acute gender gap in financial literacy explained by household specialization. This occurs when men specialize in financial decisions for the household, while women get confined to other household functions. As a matter of fact, the UBS 2019 Global Investor Watch found that globally, only 23% of women handle long-term financial planning decisions. A majority of women worldwide (57%) keep deferring critical financial decisions to their spouses, with millennial women surprisingly displaying this behavior.
All these reasons (and more) make it not only necessary, but absolutely indispensable for women in particular, to build a solid financial house in order to protect themselves and their families. This is where a financial mission statement goes a step further than a simple financial plan or budget.
A financial mission statement, or wealth mission statement, articulates your unique financial vision, in alignment with your own values, goals and principles, to help you define the steps you need to take to thrive financially. In this sense, it’s not just about following a series of popular, albeit financial guru-approved, rules and regulations. It’s about diving deep into what financially matters to you as a woman, mother, wife, sister and friend, and devise your own path towards the objectives that are uniquely ours.
If, like myself, you are yearning for finances that reflect who you are and what you deem important, here are a few steps that may help to build your financial mission statement:
Articulate your financial vision
Vision is everything. One of my favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 29:18, “Without vision, the people perish.” Often, especially when it comes to finances, we as women tend to adhere to other people’s visions, whether it’s our spouse’s, families’, or whatever financial authority is trending at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Suze Orman fan. However, what I’ve come to understand, is there is a BIG difference between being inspired by someone’s advice, and having one’s own vision.
What is your financial vision? What do you see, in the eye of your mind, happening for you and your family financially in the next year and beyond? Where do you financially see yourself and your loved ones in the next year, the next five or even ten years? Not just in terms of owning the rarest Birkin bag (which can serve as an investment piece, but that’s a discussion for another day), but in terms of your financial house of spending, savings, and investments?
These are crucial questions that do not just enlist your ability to dream about an abundant future. They are also questions that prompt your sub-conscious to envision a financial future reflective of your personality, history, and desires, but also of your self-perceived limitations and traumas.
Lay down your financial values, goals and principles
What do you value when it comes to your finances? What are you household and family values in terms of money? Where is it important for you to spend, save or invest?
Defining what you value as an individual, and together as a family, is a crucial step in refining your sense of financial purpose and direction. For me, tithing and investing in my children’s education are priorities, based on my own sense of values, but also my story and my mindset. What are financial priorities for you and your family?
Decide on your financial actions for the next year
What financial actions will you be taking based on your vision, values and principles? What goals will those actions lead you to? What are the steps that will get you there?
Reflecting on your financial vision and laying down your financial values, goals and principles, are the prelude to deciding on your financial actions for the future. Usually, these decisions come first, at the expensive cost of proper alignment with one’s authentic vision, purpose and values. It is then no wonder that most of our financial goals end up being abandoned after only a few weeks or months…
All in all, building a financial mission statement is a powerful exercise in laying a solid financial foundation against which to pursue goals well aligned with our unique vision and values. It also provides us with the opportunity to reflect on our core principles and what guides us in general, and question some of our core beliefs as well. For me, it’s been a revelatory process of self-discovery and self-realignment, a journey of sorts into the paradigms I’ve been upholding about money. After all, it’s deeper than money, it’s about who we are, what we believe in and where we are going…
Have you ever built your own financial mission statement?
I remember discussing my very first paid speaking engagement and being unable to even utter a price when asked. Not only did I not know what to ask for, I also did not even have the courage and personal power to determine what I was worth. As a baby entrepreneur, I had to learn what negotiation meant for women in general and women entrepreneurs in particular, and it went beyond just setting a price or rate.
In the world of entrepreneurship, negotiation is a critical skill that can spell the difference between success and stagnation. For women entrepreneurs, navigating this terrain comes with its own unique challenges. Women entrepreneurs often face distinct hurdles in their pursuit of success. Gender biases, stereotypes, and historical imbalances can all play a role in negotiations. However, with the right strategies and mindset, these obstacles can be transformed into opportunities.
1. Cultivate Confidence
Confidence is the bedrock of successful negotiation. Self-assured entrepreneurs are more likely to secure favorable deals. As a woman entrepreneur, believe in your abilities, your business, and your vision. Cultivate self-confidence through continuous learning, networking, and acknowledging your achievements.
2. Master Your Pitch
Your ability to pitch your business idea or product effectively is paramount. Craft a compelling narrative that highlights your unique value proposition. Emphasize how your solution addresses a specific problem or need in the market. Practice your pitch until it flows naturally and persuasively.
3. Research Thoroughly
In negotiation, knowledge is power. Conduct comprehensive research on your potential partners, investors, or clients. Understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. Having data-driven insights at your fingertips will bolster your negotiating position.
4. Embrace Collaborative Negotiation
Strive for win-win outcomes in negotiations. Collaborative negotiation fosters long-term relationships and builds trust. Seek mutually beneficial solutions that align with the interests of all parties involved. This approach not only enhances your reputation but also opens doors to future opportunities.
5. Network Strategically
Networking is an invaluable resource for women entrepreneurs. Attend industry events, join entrepreneurial groups, and connect with mentors and like-minded peers. Building a strong network can provide support, advice, and potential collaborators or investors.
6. Overcome Fear of Rejection
Rejection is an inherent part of entrepreneurship and negotiation. Don’t let the fear of rejection deter you. Every ‘no’ brings you one step closer to a ‘yes.’ Embrace rejection as a learning opportunity and a chance to refine your pitch and approach.
7. Build Resilience
Entrepreneurship can be a rollercoaster ride with highs and lows. Cultivate resilience to weather setbacks and uncertainties. Learn from failures, adapt to changing circumstances, and persevere. Resilience is a key trait of successful entrepreneurs.
8. Develop Active Listening Skills
Effective negotiation requires active listening. Pay close attention to the concerns, needs, and objectives of the other party. By understanding their perspective, you can tailor your proposals to better meet their expectations, increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome.
9. Leverage Your Unique Strengths
Women often bring distinctive qualities to negotiations, such as empathy, intuition, and relationship-building skills. Embrace these strengths as assets that can enhance your negotiation strategies. Show empathy by understanding the needs of your negotiation counterpart, and use your intuition to gauge the dynamics of the negotiation.
10. Practice Negotiation Scenarios
Role-playing negotiation scenarios can sharpen your skills and boost your confidence. Engage in mock negotiations with mentors, peers, or advisors to refine your approach. This practice will help you anticipate challenges and adapt to various negotiation styles.
11. Seek Professional Guidance
Consider seeking the advice of negotiation experts or consultants, especially for high-stakes negotiations. They can provide invaluable insights and strategies to help you secure favorable deals.
12. Be Prepared to Walk Away
Sometimes, the best negotiation tactic is the willingness to walk away from a deal that doesn’t align with your business objectives. Knowing your limits and being ready to decline an unfavorable offer can strengthen your position and lead to better opportunities.
13. Document Agreements
Once a negotiation is successful, ensure that all agreements are documented in writing. Having clear, written contracts helps prevent misunderstandings and disputes down the road.
Negotiation is a core skill for women entrepreneurs aiming to thrive in the world of business. By cultivating confidence, mastering the art of pitching, and embracing a collaborative approach, women entrepreneurs can overcome gender-related challenges and secure the deals and partnerships that drive their businesses forward. Remember that every negotiation is an opportunity for growth, learning, and building a brighter future for your entrepreneurial endeavors.
What challenges are you facing when it comes to negotiating as a woman entrepreneur?
I remember seeing women, many with babies hanging at their hips or suckling at their breasts, at the corners of sandy streets back home in Senegal, selling one product or another under the hot sun, from crackling roasted peanuts to fresh sorrel juice. At the time, I did not even know what the concept of entrepreneurship was. I just instinctively knew the important role these women were playing in the fabric of our society. I knew behind many of their yellowed smiles and inviting and astute banter, hid countless economic and social hardships that the meager revenue from their sporadic sales barely alleviated. These were the first women entrepreneurs I was ever exposed to. Every time I think about entrepreneurship, these are the women I think about…
Yet when I started my own entrepreneurial journey, as an immigrant and a career woman side hustling my way into business, I somehow forgot about these women…I drowned, consciously or not, into the noise of the world around me, giving into salesy gimmicks and marketing hoaxes. So do so many of us out there…Until I’ve had a wakeup call lately, and remembered the women of my childhood, selling at the corners of sandy streets and alleyways, heartily bantering, authentically sharing from the heart to feed their families…Every time I have to get back to business, literally and figuratively, I intentionally pause and remember these women. I remember their hearts, their art, their determination, their drive. I remember their signature marketing anchored in relentless humanity, away from marketing gimmicks and sales ploys…
According to the 2021/2022 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Women’s Entrepreneurship Report, women constitute two out of every five early-stage entrepreneurs active on a global scale. Women are also one in three high-growth entrepreneurs, and one in three innovation entrepreneurs focusing on national and international markets. In general, women in lower-income countries tend to report intentions to start a business at higher rates than women in high-income countries, with the Dominican Republic showing the highest startup rate for women (43.7% vs.41.7% for men). They are also found to exit businesses at lower rates than their male counterparts (3.6% for women vs. 4.4% for men), but this may also be impacted by their lower rates of business entry.
Unfortunately, the pandemic altered these statistics, with women’s entrepreneurial intentions decreasing from 19.1% to 16.7% in 2021 mostly in low-income countries. Women also unfortunately suffered an increase in business exit rates during the COVID-19 pandemic (from 2.9% to 3.6%), while men observed higher rates (from 3.5% to 4.4%). Despite this, almost half of women entrepreneurs at the early stage recognized new business opportunities created by the pandemic, demonstrating a similar alertness to new opportunities and ability to pivot as their male counterparts.
Overall, on a global scale, women entrepreneurs show a high level of activity in growth and high innovation businesses with a focus on national and international markets. While there are few gender-related differences in education and age, women entrepreneurs are generally less affluent than their male counterparts, except in low income countries. Most of the notable differences between men and women entrepreneurs are industry and business size-related, with fewer women with businesses in Information, Computer and Technology (2.7% of women vs. 4.7% of men) and with employees. In terms of stereotypical gendered perceptions around entrepreneurship, the largest gender divide was observed around access to investments, mostly in low income countries.
As a woman and/or mom, if you’re thinking of reconnecting with your entrepreneurial self, whether you’re getting back to your business or side hustle, or are looking for more ownership in your career, this is also your reminder, and encouragement, to do so:
Identify needs and problems
Women and moms have long been attuned to the needs and issues around them, which is a crucial factor in entrepreneurship. It is this attunement to the needs and issues around them, from their own financial needs and those of their families and communities, to gaps in the society around them, that fuels their aspirations to start businesses.
In the same way, identifying the needs and problems around you, whether it’s at work or in your own business or side hustle, is essential to reconnecting with the entrepreneur in you.
What are the needs in your team at work? In the classroom you teach? What are the problems you are experiencing in your life?
As lower business exit rates show the resiliency of women entrepreneurs, it also outlines one of the most crucial elements of women’s entrepreneurship. It’s the ability to stick it out despite obstacles, including lack of funding, damaging stereotypes and scarce support, that keeps women’s businesses afloat and thriving.
For me, the beautiful, resilient and creative women selling roasted peanuts, fresh sorrel juice and so many other products at the corners of sandy streets and alleyways in my hometown of Dakar, Senegal, will always be the picture of entrepreneurship. Their ability to identify problems and needs, to recognize new opportunities in the midst of crisis, and to stick it out in unwelcoming environments lacking the resources they need, will always exemplify the essence of what it means to be an entrepreneur. As a woman and mom, these are the values that help me reconnect with the entrepreneur in me, in my career and business. I hope these are also the values you use to reconnect to your own entrepreneurial side, at work and in business.
Although it is not a tax, the “pink tax” refers to a pricing structure favoring women’s goods and services. According to BALANCE, women pay around 13 percent more for personal care items like body wash, shampoo, lotions, and perfume than men. Even razors targeted at women were 9 percent more expensive. Pink is a common hue for packaging products for women , thus the term “pink tax.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, full-time American women earn 83 cents for every dollar earned by males. Women have been impacted by this discrepancy all of their lives, especially women of color, from the beginning of their professions until retirement. Women also earn less in Social Security and pensions due to lower lifetime incomes than males. This is compounded by the fact women are expected to pay much more for identical products during their lifetimes than males due to lower salaries and higher expenditures on personal care items.
As a result, women tend to make less money overall due to the gender wage gap, yet still pay more than their male counterparts for the same products due to the pink tax. The fact that women often live longer than males adds an even heavier weight to these statistics.
Indeed, the average lifespan for American women is 80.5 years compared to 75 years for men. As such, women are indeed being paid less and charged more. Additionally, they also routinely endure more significant levels of stress, anxiety, social inequity, and lower income than men. This creates massive problems for women, as they end up having fewer savings to pay off debt or build emergency savings.
Another compounding factor of this blatant inequity is that while men tend to accumulate more debt than women, their financial means allow them to take prompt action to pay off debt through debt consolidation or any other debt relief options. Yet, the same thing can’t be said about women who tend to have less savings and need to be more careful about their finances and tax.
The Pink Tax Repeal Act, which “prohibits the selling of equivalent products or services that are charged differently depending on gender,” was reintroduced by Rep. Jackie Speier in June 2021. Since reopening the dialogue, some states have started campaigns to eliminate discriminatory taxes. Twenty-four states have abolished the luxury tax on products used for period care. Gender-based pricing in services like dry cleaning and hair treatment is prohibited in New York City, Miami Dade County in Florida, and California. However, these states may charge higher fees if the service demands more significant time, effort, or expense.
How to avoid paying too much on pink tax
Although the pink tax and inflation won’t go away soon, women may still take action to avoid paying too much on certain products. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned. Here are a few ways to avoid the pink tax:
Purchase gender-neutral goods
Depending on how much you favor nicely curved pink razors or flowery-scented deodorants, as well as how much math you have the time and energy to do when shopping at CVS after work, this may be simpler in principle than in practice. Since men’s and women’s items sometimes come in different sizes, you can’t always just compare costs. Instead, you should calculate the prices per ounce if it is not already stated and compare these.
Consider purchasing products that don’t require two different versions—one for men and one for women—such as shampoos, soaps, and razors. There are also several unscented men’s or gender-neutral bath products available on the market if you don’t want to “smell like a guy.”
Even certain perfumed goods for guys might appeal to ladies. Similar items are subject to the “pink tax,” although occasionally, brand or variety has a more significant impact on price. Many female-focused online merchants also provide pink tax-free personal-care goods via subscription programs if you’d rather stay with feminine alternatives. You may reduce pink tax costs with this method.
Purchase garments that don’t require dry cleaning
Purchase clothing that can be machine-washed, hand-washed, and line-dried, such as no-iron blouses. Even in states like California or Washington, DC, where it is illegal to discriminate against customers based on gender at establishments like hair salons or dry cleaners, you will still be charged extra if you want your long hair trimmed or a nice shirt cleaned.
However, it certainly isn’t easy to find apparel that is initially less expensive, especially if you’re plus-size. There is also limited recourse you have to stop certain shops from charging more for women’s clothing than men’s, other than to protest when you notice it happening.
Purchase reusable menstrual supplies
One of the most sinister aspects of the “pink tax” is that it forces women to purchase goods that men don’t need at higher prices, such as sanitary supplies for instance. While shops or manufacturers cannot legally be held responsible for this disparity, there certainly is a push out there to level the playing field in this regard. Indeed, there is a campaign to make menstruation products free for women, as well as a movement to outlaw sales taxes on tampons as they discriminate against women.
In the meantime, you may save money by utilizing reusable products like the Diva Cup, sea sponge tampons, reusable pads, or Thinx period underwear. In addition to being more environmentally friendly than single-use items, some of these goods could also be healthier to use.
Reduce your use of pricey makeup
This is likely something you already do if you feel at ease doing it. It’s also another example of how gender standards cost women more than males.
Complain against discrimination
Speak up if you see a particular manufacturer or merchant attempting to impose absurd gender pricing on unaware customers! Make a call to the corporate office or the manager. Post a review of the company on social media, contact the consumer protection office in your area, and inform your friends.
In practice, it could be more challenging to outlaw gender-based pricing for goods than services since so many variables are at play, such as packaging and marketing variations, that are acceptable justifications for corporations to charge more. Yet, businesses may change or modify some of their practices if customers cease purchasing particular goods or protest.
Develop greater discernment
It also helps being informed about price discrepancies, and going above and above to locate the most significant goods for the money, regardless of packaging. Speaking up if they notice unfair pricing is another alternative. A powerful way to voice dissatisfaction is to complain on social media, in consumer groups, to local lawmakers, and to the business as well. Consumer behavior can provide manufacturers with valuable information.
When shopping, check if there is a pricing difference between the women’s and men’s versions. If there is, check if the quantity and composition are similar. Take a photo of both goods and include the hashtag #AxThePinkTax if they are identical.
Conclusion
It’s important to remember that the pink tax is just one example of how women can be unfairly disadvantaged in the marketplace. By being aware of these issues and addressing them, we can work towards a more equitable society for everyone. It’s high time women set concrete financial goals and work on them.
Author Bio: Attorney Loretta Kilday has more than 36 years of litigation and transactional experience, specializing in business, collection, and family law. She frequently writes on various financial and legal matters. She is a graduate of DePaul University with a Juris Doctor degree and a spokesperson for Debt Consolidation Care (DebtCC) online debt relief forum. Please connect with her on LinkedIn for further information.
PS: Please note this post contains affiliate links.
The New Year is prime time to set goals, including our financial goals. While many tend to think about general life and career goals, few really devise an approach to tackle their finances in the new year. Hence why many find themselves repeating the same negative cycles of financial loss year after year…
As working women and moms, setting appropriate and achievable financial goals is all the more important as many of us tend to manage the finances in our homes. This is without mentioning the many single working women and moms who are sole earners in their households. Furthermore, as moms, we’re often partly or entirely responsible for the financial education of our children, hence compelling us to have a solid financial vision for the future.
I know in my own experience, it has taken me quite some time to get in the habit of setting strong financial goals every year. Despite my business background and growing up in a single-parent household where money had to be carefully managed, setting financial goals didn’t always come to mind. It is with time, experience, and through conversations with fellow women that I actually started paying more attention to the importance of financial objectives in our lives and careers.
If you’re thinking of setting financial goals in the New Year, here are three I would like to suggest to your attention:
Develop a more positive money mindset
As women often socialized to aspire to less in terms of remuneration (hello wage gap!) and money in general, we may be inclined to think of finances and money in a negative way. As a matter of fact, many may develop a scarcity mindset when it comes to money, not feeling like we deserve to be paid fairly in the workplace, or that we should not aspire to reaching higher levels in terms of position and compensation. When we add to it suffering from imposter syndrome as working women, having a positive money mindset can become a daunting prospect. Many women also suffer from being raised in families and environments where money was not discussed, let alone with the women in the family.
All these factors, and so many others, speak to the importance of mindset when it comes to setting financial goals. Developing a positive money mindset rooted in abundance instead of scarcity is the first step to achieving any desired level of financial success.
Yet, how do we go from a negative, or lukewarm money mindset at best, to a positive one? It’s a change that requires re-training our minds to think differently. One of my favorite tools to re-train my money mindset is through financial education, mostly financial books geared at women, such as “Women and Money” by Suze Orman or “Get good with money” by Tiffany Aliche.
Understand and own your money
The second financial goal that I’d like to propose is that of understanding and owning your own money. Too often, we have no, or very little of an idea, of the ins and outs of our own money. As busy working women and mothers, we can be so caught up in our daily commitments and duties that our own money slips through the cracks. This can translate into financial debt, loss, overuse of credit and overall disastrous consequences for ourselves and our families.
This is where setting a goal to better understand, own and manage our money can make a world of difference. This means committing to a consistent practice of taking inventory of our money, being aware of and accountable for our expenses, and setting up a reasonable budget that fits our personality and lifestyle. Personal finance software such as Quicken, Mint,YNAB, or TurboTax for taxes, can help in the process.
Plan to create generational wealth
Last but not least, the third financial goal I’d like to propose may sound like a lofty one, but is one most of us should think about when it comes to our finances. As working women and moms raising the next generation, impacting our communities and creating a legacy, our finances can serve as a powerful tool to create change and make a lasting difference. This is why it is so important to have a long-term financial view that includes planning to create generational wealth.
Generational wealth is wealth that can be passed on to future generations. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not something only reserved to the rich families and communities of this world. It is actually possible to build, starting with each and everyone of us. It can be done through investing in children’s education, in the stock market as well as in real estate. It also can be achieved by creating a business, and taking advantage of the benefits of life insurance. However, all this requires setting solid financial goals and having a clear plan.
Overall, setting financial goals is an important part of starting a new phase or season of life such as the New Year. Among these, developing a strong money mindset, understanding and owning your money and planning to create generational wealth are three of the most important goals we can set as working women and moms.
What financial goals are you setting this year?
With Gratitude,
The Corporate Sis.
PS: Please note some of the links are affiliate links.
When times get a little, or a lot tougher economically, we often start thinking about our finances first. As working women and mothers, many of whom are the primary breadwinner in charge of the finances of our house, or on the other end of the financial spectrum, suffer from not being involved enough in the household’s finances, knowing how to manage our finances and budget during challenging economic times is crucial. Not only does the welfare of our families depend on it, but our own ability to thrive and not just survive is also linked to how well we can maintain and grow ourselves financially.
As an immigrant coming to school in the United States, I had to learn very early on to budget in an effective and often even creative manner. Knowing how to stretch a dollar was a necessity as I grew up into adulthood. Growing up in a one-parent household in SenegaI, I watched my mother budget in an efficient way so as to keep food on the table, clothes on our backs and even private school tuition paid. That’s where the foundation of my financial knowledge started, and continued into my educational background as an accountant and Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
So how do you budget effectively when tough times happen? Here are a few principles I’ve learned and kept on using to adequately handle my finances during challenging economic times:
Don’t wait for tough times to budget for tough times
Budgeting for difficult economic times happens before the challenges even arise. This means getting in the constant and consistent habit of budgeting. One budgeting rule that I often follow is it 50/30/20 rule. According to this popular rule, we are to spend 50% of our income on essentials, 20% on savings including investments, and 30% on everything else. While there are variations of this rule depending on each individual’s situation, the main principle here is to develop a consistent habit of giving your money a place to go, and enforcing the discipline to save resources over time.
Categorize your money
I once heard from someone that money that doesn’t have a name is money unloved. In other words, if you don’t assign your money a qualifier and a job, you have more chances of losing it. In a culture where we’re so used to instant gratification, where we can purchase anything at the click of a button, it’s never been easier to lose track of your spending and hence your money. This is why it is so important to categorize your money as soon as it lands in your bank account.
I like to assign my money at home as soon as I receive it. By home, I mean specific accounts destined for given purposes. While some bank accounts are for general spending or savings purposes, others are for longer-term purposes, creating an investment or dream vacation fund, for instance. I have found the practice of assigning my money a home and labeling my accounts as specifically as possible, allows me to avoid over-spending while increasing savings, especially in tough economic times.
Shift your mindset.
Many of the challenges we face during tough economic times are not just related to money but also, and most importantly, to our money mindset. For many of us, managing our money during tough economic times turns out to be a painful exercise, because we haven’t made up our minds around our finances. Making a conscious decision to save money, or to reach a certain financial goal, is highly dependent upon our mindsets. The good thing about mindsets, thankfully, is they can be changed.
Throughout the many challenging economic periods of my life, I have taught myself to think about money not as a scarce, but an abundant resource. This has allowed me to feel less powerless in the face of rough economic times, and to keep working at bettering my money habits and mindset.
Another mindset shift that has been really important in my experience has been too learn to distinguish oh between my wants, needs and dreams. By order of impact, I have made it a habit to prioritize essential needs and dreams, and be especially vigilant around wants. Very often, our wants are punctual and not really reflective of what truly matters or has the longest-term impact. Compare wanting a $1,000 brand name purse to a lifelong dream of starting a business, taking a dream vacation, or retiring our spouse or parents early, for instance. Funding our dreams almost always ends up providing a greater return and satisfaction in the long run.
All in all, tough economic times are an excellent opportunity to train ourselves to manage our money more effectively. As a matter of fact, managing our money in difficult times should not be all that much different from managing our money at any time. The same principles apply, albeit with some level of variation, depending on our personal circumstances and environments. As such, learning to budget before tough times arise, assigning our money at home, and changing on money mindsets are the three most essential tools to effectively budget our money when crisis hits.
Now let me ask you, what are the tips and tools do you recommend to manage your money and budget effectively during top economic?
