Why Did You Write Big Rich Money For Women Entrepreneurs? ~via @KatjaPresnal
As you probably know from a recent newsletter with a Tumplate post, where Katja is CMO, I met Katja Presnal when I was the CMO of e.l.f. Cosmetics in 2008. She was a huge supporter of me then, has been a valued friend and colleague since, and she helped set the course of my future by introducing me to my business soulmate John Andrews. /Ted
A question I received from a well-meaning friend: “Why did you write a book for women entrepreneurs and not for corporate leaders and CEOs?”
True, Candice and I could have written many kinds of books. But why would it automatically mean if the book is written for female entrepreneurs that it is not for CEOs, not for change makers, not for those who will build big companies? Weird.
But I get it. I could have also written a book called “Galaxysize Your Business” or “Strategic Marketing Intelligence”, I even already bought the strategicmarketingintelligence.com.
And in all honesty, three years ago I planned an astronaut training boot camp with my team in Iceland. It was for a TV show pilot, but I really wanted to start organizing corporate leadership boot camps with the astronaut theme. I wanted it to offer physical training and thrills to balance the mental work business leaders do. I imagined that there could be team-building exercises where you had to find your way out of a lava cave and that the business workshops would include anecdotes about innovating when you couldn’t take anything for granted, like oxygen, or gravity.
I really got into phenomenon-based learning, and the more I learned about space, and astronaut training, the more I could see what all could be used for leadership training.
Unfortunately, the astronaut training for business leaders never happened and the founders of the space company never paid me over $50,000 of my salaries owed, and I went on and started my own marketing agency.
Bottom line, my first business might have been selling clothing and gift items for children and moms, but my business experience is much wider than knowing the mommy target market.
Women Have The Power To Create Change
Did you know women influencers changed the way marketing works today?
Mommy bloggers were the group that made social media and influencer marketing mainstream. If we changed how marketing works, what’s the next thing we can change in business?
The world needs strong female leadership, and women business owners have the potential to be the group that makes the shift in our economies, in our lives, and in the wellbeing of our communities and Earth.
We believe in the power women have, and we want women to be in charge of their own earning power.
Women Entrepreneurs Need Support
I really appreciate all you corporate warriors with impressive careers. There are some days I want to be you, and when I have amazing clients I sometimes think how cool would it be if my client would just hire me in-house.
The thing is, most of you corporate folks have people around you to cheer you on, even if it doesn’t always feel like it. You might not have the best team or the team you handpicked yourself, but you have a group of people working towards the same goal.
An entrepreneur, a small business, or a startup owner often feels they are alone.
I also have nothing against men. I am married to one, and I am raising one. Men are awesome!
Some of my best bosses, best mentors, and best clients have also been men. Most of the best business books I’ve read are written by men. Many of the inspiring speakers in business conferences I’ve attended have been men.
And that’s part of the problem.
Men have their own privileges, boys clubs (especially here in Finland, where they still have business meetings in the sauna), and the entire world is built for the white man to succeed, and nobody is asking him who is taking care of his children while he gets his startup funded.
Women need more support, and we need more women who speak up.
Are there already amazing women who speak up? YES! But we need more. You and I need to speak up too.
Women have different challenges and expectations as business owners than men. Women’s businesses are supposed to be cutesy, like selling cupcakes. Women are still expected to pick up their kids from school, make dinner for the family and clean their house after a day of pitch meetings. Or during the Covid time: help their kids to do distance learning at home. And I’m not even talking about the expectation coming from their spouses. But from the society.
Many women, including me, have supportive spouses, but a much bigger change is needed than changing the attitudes of husbands. Many of them are different from their fathers.
"Stop The Boss Babe Movement!"
We asked our community (that we created for women entrepreneurs) which one they want to be called: boss lady, girl boss, mompreneuer, female founder, or woman entrepreneur. Most of our community members don't like these labels, and most want to be seen as entrepreneurs, founders, well, people, without the gender label nor parental label because those two things are mutually exclusive.
There are many women who are passionately against the "Boss Babe movement".
I understand that. Obviously, the goal here is that we are all treated equally.
Unfortunately, we are not there, and statistics paint a clear picture.
Women Entrepreneurs Need Money
Part of the problem is that many women feel uncomfortable talking about money.
That’s why we named our book Big Rich Money – can we already normalize women talking about money and making money?
When women talk about money, it’s seen as cold, selfish, and you hear things like “money can’t buy happiness” or “there are so many more important things in life than money.”
All true, but when you have money, you can take better care of your family, your community, the world.
Many women don't start their business with a mission to make money, but with a mission to improve the lives of people, make the world a safer place, or invent something that is better for our environment. Often women are those inventors who saw a problem, solve it, and become accidental entrepreneurs to bring that solution for others as well.
It is true, many women don't want to fight in the same capitalist white man's world, but want to rewrite the rules, and create a better world.
Boston Consulting Group analysis found that when women-led startups do get funded, they’re more likely to be successful. They “ultimately deliver higher revenue — more than twice as much per dollar invested”. Many say it's because women do business differently, and they are more mission-led, statistically speaking.
There are multiple types of global research made about the percentage of female startup founders, and the results vary from anywhere from 5% to a generous 20%. When it comes to funding, the % is even sadder.
According to Urban Mobility, A European initiative for the future of urban mobility, “only around 3 % of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups in Europe was secured by women”.
Crunchbase reports that “U.S. startups overall raised a record $143 billion in 2020, up 12 percent over the previous year, but funding to venture-backed companies founded solely by female entrepreneurs dropped 22 percent during the pandemic year”. Women-led startups in the US received only 2.3% of venture capital funding in 2020 according to Harvard Business Review.
Do we really wonder why more women-owned companies are not making more money and growing faster and think the reason is what gender people are? You need money for growth, scaling requires investments.
Give money to women, and just watch and see what they can do with it.
They most likely will not want to burn their bras and celebrate a Boss Babe movent, because they are much more focused on other things.
Bottom line, do you need a vagina to read Big Rich Money? No.
Lastly, when you create and market a product, it’s always better to have a defined ideal customer.
We are very vocal about our ideal customer for Big Rich Money: a woman who is starting a business or wants to grow their business. We are also very knowledgeable about being a woman business owner, and working with women entrepreneurs, and we did extensive research when writing our book.
And yet, Big Rich Money is so intriguing that we’ve already sold books also for men, and we have men learning from our e-course.
Just like for years women have learned from content that was made by and marketed for men.
Big Rich Money: How to Turn Your Business Intentions Into A Profitable Company book is available now online at Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Sign up for the Big Rich Money E-course now.
