原始文本

What are some of the most prominent challenges women-owned small business owners face, 你是如何克服它们的? 

帮助女企业家和小企业主克服挑战, 我们向创始人和首席执行官们询问了这个问题，寻求他们的最佳建议. 从寻找合适的网络到获得资金, there are several challenges and tips to overcome them that may help you feel seen and supported as a woman in business. 

Below are 12 challenges female small business owners face and solutions to overcome them.

寻找合适的社交网络

我花了几百个小时在各种社交团体里, 作为一个女人，我努力寻找一个真正属于我的社区. 一次又一次, I was told that I was too young and inexperienced or looked down upon because I was a woman networking in an older man's world. 自从我发现了一个叫做Women Belong的组织，这个挑战就消失了. 连名字都告诉我，我来对地方了. As soon as I tapped into a community with other strong and empowered female leaders, 我知道我来对地方了!

奥黛丽Hutnick, Smallwave营销

完美主义

当我开始B时.Komplete, I was the one doing just about all of the content development, programming, and more. There would be times when I would work on one PowerPoint slide for hours until I realized that no one besides me would notice if the font were "exactly" the proper size or if the shade of the background was a little too bright. When I let go of the idea of perfectionism, I gained massive 产品ivity and business growth. 完美是无聊的! 我现在的座右铭之一是，“足够好，继续前进。."

水苍玉克里斯凯, B.Komplete

实现工作与生活的平衡

作为商界领袖，要平衡工作和生活通常是很困难的. 还要承担做妻子的责任, 妈妈, 照顾我们的家庭, 一天的时间永远不够用. 说到生意, you have to show up and do your best work every day and support your team in the process. Each day there is so much responsibility on our shoulders that we can't take for granted. 虽然这些角色和责任是一种祝福, 它们最终会挑战我们寻找和维持工作与生活平衡的能力.

阿丽莎挤泰勒, Alisha Taylor室内设计

对失败的恐惧

女性企业家比男性企业家面临更多的审查, 利用他们的信心，放大他们对失败的恐惧. I believe a fear of failure is natural, but giving in to it is never an option for me. I have too much to do and too many goals to achieve to let this kind of fear paralyze me. Rather than let it rule me, I use my fear of failure as fuel for my continued success.

凡妮莎Molica, 睫毛专家

不要害羞，大声说出来

被认真对待有时是一种挑战. I'm a blond, Southern woman, so I'm immediately stereotyped before I even utter a word. To overcome this challenge, I entered every business meeting and interviewed prepared. 我对我的公司了如指掌，我不怕展示我的专业知识. 我认为，如果你想成为一名成功的女企业家，你就不能害羞. 你必须找到自己的声音，为自己说话.

凯蒂·里昂 效忠旗供应

在男性主导的行业工作

我当时在一家科技初创公司工作，那里的男性员工占绝大多数, 偶尔会带来不平衡的灵魂. 会议, 沟通, and the entire company culture are different when there's a lot of testosterone on the table. 有时候看起来很有趣，但通常会让人筋疲力尽. I had the idea of building a women's group with two other ladies (four, actually, at that time). We mainly discussed our thoughts on how we could have a stronger voice in the company, 例如, 引进女工程师，让更多女性担任领导职务.

Saskia凯兹, Mojomox

典型的偏见 

基于性别的刻板偏见, 包括我的团队, was one common challenge I faced at the initial stages of my entrepreneurship journey. 在早期的日子里, I quickly realized that some employees had a problem with a woman making all the decisions and telling them what to do. Such employees were also prone to misconstruing my intentions or actions and actively sabotaging my efforts. I had employees like this in my team who made the work environment toxic and ineffective. I had to let go of some of these staff members because they refused to change and be better. 从这次经历来看, I also learned how to identify and dismiss interviewees who would find it problematic to have a female employer if granted employment. 这为我和我的其他员工省去了与这些人打交道的麻烦. As a result, we haven't experienced a problem of this kind since this initial experience.

丽莎•理查兹 念珠菌饮食

独自创业的孤独

这不仅仅局限于女性小企业主. Anyone starting as a solopreneur or operating as a company-of-one for many years understands this challenge. 你没有人可以跟你交流想法, 大家一起集思广益，制定新的品牌战略, 或者当事情没有按计划进行时你可以求助的人. When I experienced this myself, I initiated three things to overcome this challenge. 第一，我加入了不同的社区，在那里我可以和其他的个人创业者联系. 两个, I reached out to people I met within those communities to who I felt an instant connection to chat one-on-one and then set up regular check-in calls afterward to stay in touch. 第三，我和其他创业者一起组织了合作活动.

Leang涌, Pelora堆栈

不尊重我的专业知识和经验 

One of the common challenges I face in my industry is the lack of respect for my expertise and experience. Clients are generally more inclined to consult my husband regarding our 产品s and services despite having the same level of experience as him on the field.

克服它并不容易, but working on my 沟通 skills has greatly helped change our clients' views on my role in the company. Commanding the respect I deserve can be translated through clear and confident delivery of my knowledge and expertise in this industry.

格鲁吉亚这样一来, 露营者常见问题

继续出现

One of the most challenging parts of being a small business owner is staying the course. 在8年的经营中, I have found that the least glamorous part about making a business work is showing up every day and doing the work. 

我们知道，在我们的愿景中始终如一的行动是我们到达我们想去的地方的方式. 然而, 作为领导者, you often have less external structure and accountability to hold you to your commitments by default. 这通常意味着我们必须自我启动，非常自律, 即使在我们没有动力的日子里. 

建立一个成功的营销策略, 客户端管道, 销售过程, 现金流量表, 产品, 等., is all the result of showing up every day and doing the work that needs to be done. 这并不光鲜，但很有效. 

我有每天都去上班的心态. 这句咒语让我一天一天地朝着实现伟大梦想的方向前进.

珍希望, 嘿，珍·霍普

偏见、偏执和欺凌

这些都是同一个挑战的一部分. 作为一名女性小企业主, 我经常发现自己与那些仍然, in 2022, 我想我是管理员. 我介绍的人都被我忽略了, 把他们的名片递给我, 然后很唐突地说他们想和老板谈谈. Not only is this incredibly ignorant on their part when women own 31% of small businesses, 但如果你这样对待我的管理员, 我们不会做生意了. It bothers me that we have to incentivize people through diversity metrics to work with women business owners. 仍然, until the double standards evaporate (and this is true no matter what non-dominant groups you're a member of), 可悲的是，这样的假设确实存在. I overcome it by making it abundantly clear I am a woman-owned business on my website and other marketing materials. 我们不一定需要“女老板”的保险杠贴纸, 但我们需要自豪地代表我们的组织作为领导者.

莎拉•Ratekin 幸福就是勇气

资金

我面临的一个共同挑战是获得资金. 分配给女性领导的创始人的资金少得可怜. 有色人种女性获得的资金更少. 来获得运营我的组织所需的资金. 我必须建立关系网, 建立关系, 加入那些不仅提供支持而且提供资源的社区.

艾丽西亚白色, 项目的花瓣