According to a 2013 report from American Express OPEN, the number of women-owned businesses in the United States is growing at a rate one-and-a-half times the national average. In 2013, more than eight million women-owned businesses are bringing in over a trillion dollars and employing nearly eight million people. In fact, over the last six years, privately held, women-owned firms have enjoyed a net increase in employment while much of the rest of the country has seen a decrease.
I don’t care. I still refuse to be a woman-owned business.
Don’t get me wrong; I am a woman and I own my business. I’ve owned and run my business for more than a decade, and I do it with integrity, a good heart, a drive for success, and a dedication to my clients. I have insurance; insist my clients and I sign contracts to work together; have a domain name and a web site; carry business cards; attend meetings and networking events; answer my phone and email; maintain a regular billing cycle; and I give a nice firm handshake and a friendly smile to business prospects and colleagues alike. I do all of that without a Y chromosome.
Surely, though, there is some benefit to being named a woman-owned business, sharing that status with the world, and making it clear to your customers. After all, the US Small Business Association (SBA), a major resource to entrepreneurs, saw fit to designate an entire section of their web site to help women-owned small businesses get started. Interestingly, though, the links from this special page for women go to sections of the SBA web site that are designed for all businesses. The photographs the SBA has chosen at the top of each page are almost all of either women or women and men together, with the exception of one photo. On the “Choosing Your Location” page, a man with a warm smile poses in front of a wall of drills—this despite the finding in the American Express OPEN report mentioned above, stating that construction happens to be one of the only industries in which women-owned businesses are equally as profitable as men-owned businesses.
When I am asked what advice I can give fellow women business owners, like the SBA, I struggle to find any advice that would not also apply to men.
- Make customer service the highest priority.
- Present yourself professionally but with some personality of your own.
- Develop, communicate, and adhere to a clear set of ethics and values for your company.
- Write detailed proposals and contracts.
- Stay abreast of advancements in your industry.
- Be a good person.
If this sounds obvious, step back for a moment and ask yourself what being a “woman-owned business” really means, beyond that chromosomal difference. In the daily functioning of your company, what are the decisions you make that have anything to do with your gender? I would venture to say that, unless you sell a product or service designed for one gender or the other, your own gender is meaningless. Of course, there is a benefit to registering as a woman-owned business for the purpose of getting government contracts, and there are endless resources out there to help you through that bureaucratic process—just do a quick online search, and you’ll find them.
In the way you present yourself to the world, however, I recommend this: don’t be a woman-owned business. Be a business. Know that people hired you and your firm because you are fantastic, not because you are women.
And then go out there and leave their Y chromosomes in the dust.
Published: November 15, 2013
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