Promoting Women's Success - An Interview with BizWomen

As much as women benefit the business world, many companies continue to belittle them. BizWomen has taken a stand by creating an online environment that promotes successful and fulfilled women in their careers. BizWomen features the latest news to help women build their businesses and provides a weekly newsletter that highlights the latest stories and business trends. I spoke with them to learn more about their take on women in the business world.

Brooke Lazar (BL): What assets do women bring to the workforce?

BizWomen (BW): Women business owners are driven toward making their companies a success, just as their male counterparts. Women see themselves as having clarity, a strong sense of purpose, vision, and the drive to make things happen. They need strong drive since many work long hours, and a high portion of them sacrifice their personal responsibilities for the demands of their businesses.

A higher portion of women owners in companies with 5–499 employees are single versus men owners. They are doing it alone—they do not necessarily have a partner backing them with all that they juggle.

Women also bring thoughtfulness and vigilance to the workplace. According to our data, they are likely to be concerned with business issues (staffing, costs, customer relationships, etc.), as well as the personal issues that result from the demands of running a business (personal stress and family time.) They are conscious about what it will take from a macro-to-micro level to bring about success for their companies.

Another strength is women business owners' high degree of engagement with local communities. The majority of women do business with local firms. They give back and understand how important local relationships are to the success of their companies.

Reaching out is not just about making money; they see partnering with local businesses as good citizenship. They do their best to address their community's key social and environmental issues.

BL: Why do many women leave companies to start their own?

BW: We don't have statistics on the number of women who leave companies to start one of their own. However, in our latest study, we did ask a question to ascertain why it is that women start their own businesses. There were a number of things that they agreed with. Nearly 75% said that they were 'building something.'

This desire to build something was quickly followed by a desire "to be my own boss", "to make money," "to have more control over my schedule," and "to do what I love and see my ideas come to life." From these responses, it seems that starting a company for them has both emotional and rational components.

It is about bringing their vision to life, as well as to organize their life space in a way that gives them priority over their own destinies. They are not willing to put that decision in someone else's hands.

BL: What makes a good business woman?

BW: Ten traits of successful women:

• Are highly engaged in the local community


• Leverage social media


• Use WOM, online, and traditional channels to obtain new leads


• Actively manage leads and customer contacts


• Stay fit, and engage in self-care


• Leverage technology


• Creatively adapt their businesses to meet customer demands


• Get loans, and invest in new equipment


• Use a mix of digital and traditional media vehicles


• Do business with brands they trust

Brooke Lazar is WITI's content manager and digital editor. She has a BA in professional and technical writing from Youngstown State University.

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.