Women Entrepreneurs On The Move

According to an Inc.Com article (reference link at the bottom), women-owned businesses have been growing at a much faster rate than other demographics (to be precise 2.5 times). More than 850 women start their own businesses in the US every day. In the past 20 years, women-owned businesses have increased by 114%.

In this week’s Agile Entrepreneur podcast series, I am excited to feature three women agile entrepreneurs who are brave enough to share their journey with me and of course all of you. Each story is unique but the connecting thread is their determination, drive, and disciplined approach to making their businesses work.

Stacy Verdick Case, the owner of Peony Lane Designs selling vintage home decor, was an accountant with a passion for vintage furniture. Her passion turned into a side hustle selling vintage furniture initially and later turned into her main business. In this podcast, she talks about her difficult first year in business and how she was the most stressed and also most happy at the same time. She got her first paying customers from the Etsy store and used social media platforms like Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook to complement her shy personality to sell without being in front of customers. She gives a blueprint on pinpointing the ideal customers (in her case they are millennials and mostly women between 35 and 45 years) and how to make buying decisions of products that she sells.

Stacy’s simple advice is (1) ‘Don’t overthink’ (2) Find a support system, especially during the first year. She talks about what she learned from some classic books such as ‘Why We Buy’, ‘Poop to Gold’, and ‘She means Business’.

Listen to Stacy Verdick Case’s podcast on iTunes Or read the transcript here.

For other platforms: Subscribe: Stitcher | Google Play | Spotify | SoundCloud | CastBox

Joellyn Sargent is on her 3rd venture and currently is a business coach passionate about helping entrepreneurs succeed. Having built a corporate life as a marketing executive that everyone said she “should have”, Joellyn followed her heart to fill that ‘something missing’ and jumped into her latest venture. She talks about the need to invest into your business (in her case investing in mentors), ‘strategically quitting’ projects that are not working out, and not to be afraid to fire ‘bad clients’ who are a drain on your energy.

She believes that the entrepreneurial journey is about personal growth and self-discovery and not just about freedom and income. Joellyn explains the characteristics of business owners who succeed. They are (1) introspective (2) open-minded (3) desire to grow (4) indulge in self-reflection. Joellyn wants would-be entrepreneurs to think about 3 things on their way to a successful journey (1) Is this what you want to do? (2) Would customers pay for what you want to do? (3) Are you in this for the long term? As an author of “Beyond the Launch: The Practical Guide to Building a Business that Thrives”, Joellyn gives advice on balancing between brand building and revenues.

Listen to Joellyn Sargent’s podcast on iTunes Or read the transcript here.

For other platforms: Subscribe: Stitcher | Google Play | Spotify | SoundCloud | CastBox

Kristie Jones, the founder of Sales Acceleration Group, sincerely believes that adversities are the mother of opportunities and we should grab them. Her company helps tech start-up companies with sales strategy, process, hiring, coaching, and training. Kristie gives advice on growing one’s network in an analytical and disciplined manner (in her case she wanted more local contacts). If you ever wanted to pick someone’s brain on pricing your ‘services’, you must listen to Kristie’s podcast or read her transcript as she walks through her learnings.

Kristie covers a broad spectrum of topics such as managing multiple clients simultaneously as a solopreneur, ‘power prospecting’ to fill customer pipeline, and having a mix of services & products to earn revenues. Kristie gives advice to would-be entrepreneurs to (1) first focus on building your network (2) join local meetups/entrepreneurial groups (3) find the right mentors. Kristie emphasizes the need to stay engaged socially like volunteering, find good networks (in her case prosper for women), find good tools (like Hubspot CRM in her case, and finding a support network.

Listen to Kristie Jones’s podcast on iTunes Or read the transcript here.

For other platforms: Subscribe: Stitcher | Google Play | Spotify | SoundCloud | CastBox

You can read the prior articles in The Agile Entrepreneur series here.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/agile-entrepreneurs-marc-andre-susan-petang-alina-trigub-dontha/

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/agile-entrepreneurs-tara-langdale-schmidt-jason-patel-ramesh-dontha/

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/agile-entrepreneur-podcast-ramesh-dontha/

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/agile-women-entrepreneurs-ramesh-dontha/

Other Reference Links mentioned in the article

https://www.inc.com/business-insider/more-women-entrepreneurs-today-than-20-years-ago-its-troubling.html