To celebrate the start of Women’s History Month, Anneomaly Digital would like to pay tribute to the accomplishments of female entrepreneurs whose numbers and success stories are growing exponentially. Despite the continued growth, more can be done to propel brilliant female minds to jump into entrepreneurship and the business world with both feet!
What successful women often state as the biggest problem facing females starting their own business or moving up the ladder is the lack of mentorship. According to Inc. Magazine, “almost half-of female founders (48 percent) cite a lack of available mentors or advisers as holding them back.” Often, without the network, the advice and the encouragement of someone who has gone before them, it is difficult to know when and where to take the next step. Women entrepreneurs need mentors who can connect them with the right people, locate the resources they need, hone and perfect a business plan, and show them where to get the capital they need to get their venture off the ground.
Seek and you shall find
There are a number of groups focused on female entrepreneurship that can help you and others find someone with the answers and the connections. These groups are great ways to network and meet key influential people that will inspire, lead, and maybe even become lifelong mentors on a journey to business ownership and success.
The National Association of Women Business Owners has been around since !975, so they know better than most the journey that women have taken to get where they are today and where they are looking to go tomorrow. They have over 30 Chapters located across the United States. Their goal is to empower and inspire women and help them in the pursuit of accomplishing their dreams.
American Business Women’s Association is another large, sustaining organization. Their mission is to help women “identify opportunities and overcome challenges, both professional and personally.” They hold yearly conferences in three large cities where women can grow their “personal and professional network.”
There are a number of other professional organizations that are focused on helping women become the best they can be professional as well as personally. If you are interested in joining a larger network, where the possibilities and opportunities to connect are endless, check out the list on at Fora Financial.
There are other more casual options for women who are looking to grow their network and meet like-minded people. Meetup.com allows anyone to start a group of their own making, to suit any purpose and chase any dream. Meetup.com currently has over 162 “Women Mentoring Women” groups around the world. The majority of them are in the United States. Check it out and see if your city has a local group, and by all means join! It’s free empowerment. And, if there isn’t one, consider starting a new group.
Linkedin is, of course, a great networking tool, and they have added a new feature, Career Advice, that helps its members connect and get the advice and mentorship they are searching for. On your Linkedin Profile go to the dashboard and find the hub for Career Advice. It will give you recommendations of possible individuals that you can converse with, ask questions and possibly develop a mentor/mentee relationship.
And, if you’re local to Brighton, the Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce is launching a Women 4 Women Business Alliance this month. I am looking forward to that!
As humans, and especially as women, we sometimes have the mentality that we need to go it alone, but the smart decision is to gather as many people around us as possible that can help propel us to greatness. As, we celebrate Women’s History Month, let’s go out and make some more history! And, let’s reach out and connect with other women because two are always greater than one.