Any business requires an investment. A start-up capital is a given that you should have regardless of the business you would want to venture on. For ages, men are only ones considered fit to run a business. With everything that men can do, they have been tagged as the superior gender. However, as the years passed, society begins to see what women are capable of that led to the practice of gender equality. It is a much competitive world now knowing that some businesses are owned and managed by women.
Why women should be given the chance in business?
If you take a look at it now, the number of women taking leadership in running different brands are beginning to increase. Women are now having leadership positions in companies, which implies that women are doing a great job in contributing to the company’s success. But what good does it make when women are the ones in position? Here are some advantages that we have outlined for you:
● Diversity Resulting in Innovation
Men and women use different approaches when it comes to business. The challenge lies in terms of collaborating with people who can exude creativity and contribute innovative ideas for the company.
● Business Leadership Needs Women’s Soft Skills
When the CEO of the company is a man, the skills to be expected from him are more on technical and fundamental skills as they are deemed essential for the success of the business. Usually, effective communication, self-awareness, and empathy are believed to be intangible metrics while one’s character and performance are said to be the cause of the 9.35% company ROI in a span of 2 years.
Soft skills such as strong work ethic, positive attitude, time-management skills, etc., are what set women to compete with men. These skills coupled with emotional intelligence allow women to outperform men as a result of the study conducted by the firm Hay Group.
● Women Contribute Much in the Economy and Significant Insights for Consumers
They said that these times, it is the women who rule the world. But not literally speaking, it pertains more on the ratio of women to men which is said to be 1:10. It’s no surprise if studies would show that 85% of consumers are women. From 3% last 2008, creative marketing directors composed of women are now at 11%. Yet, despite women giving the economy a boost, they are still undervalued and underserved in the marketplace not knowing that they are the best to tap and the most valuable in bringing market insights. However, tapping both genders can make the products and services more marketable and profitable.
It is surely a struggle proving that women can do what men can. Part of the male ego says that women should take on the lighter responsibility other than running a company and that these responsibilities should be left in their hands. But then, women of today’s generation are ready to face the challenges and meet the expectation that the society imposes on them.
Entrepreneurial Tools for Women On-the-Go!
There are different tools meant for different businesses. Each tool is made to be of help to a particular business. More so, if you take a look at the bottom line as to why these tools were made, it only boils down to one thing: to run the business smoothly and in an organized manner. Here are some tools that can help a lot for women entrepreneurs:
1. DUE
A business involves financial aspect. This is one area that a company can’t afford to mess up. Most of the time, the financial aspect of the company determines the expenditures, earnings, and the salary of the employees as well. Due is a tool that can help businesses in processing payments easily and in a timely manner.
2. WRIKE
For group work or collaboration, nothing beats the features that Wrike offers. With its free version alone, five users can make use of it. Wrike allows employees to manage their tasks, share their files, and monitor their group activities on a real-time basis. This is a very good tool for working on reports. You may switch to a higher tier as your company grows.
3. YNAB (You Need A Budget)
YNAB is a tool that gives you a first impression of thinking that it’s a tagline. Unfamiliar as it sounds, this tool is helpful with the debt visualization techniques as well as with the categorization aspect. It also helps companies in scaling their products for profitability.
4. JOIN.ME
Discussions are one of the things that take part in a company. Entrepreneurs should have a way of communicating with their employees. There are things that call for a conference meeting and Join.Me is one handy tool that makes video conferencing possible.
5. SLACK
For businesses with remote teams, Slack gives the best solution to handling them. This tool has different channels that allow the exchange of messages, voice or video calling, and file or screen sharing.
6. WAVE
Another way of making easy payments is with the use of the tool called Wave. This tool takes care of your company’s accounting needs that include book balancing. Its free version allows you to receive accounting reports. It also allows you to create and scan receipts/invoices directly into the system. If you need more than its basic functions like autointegration for direct deposit during payday and payments, you may opt to have a membership paying $19 per month.
7. INTERCOM
It is a must that customers should have a way of reaching your business for support. If you see that small chat box at the lower right of the site you are visiting, that’s Intercom. This tool has been by far the fastest form of reaching a company’s support team.
8. MAILCHIMP
Email marketing is the best platform for introducing your business to your target market. This is a very helpful tool in getting leads and subscribers to your newsletter. This cool tool also has email templates that you can use for a start while you are trying to create your own.
9. SHOPIFY
A business needs a website to represent them online. With an increasing number of online shoppers, an e-commerce store will really bring a good stream of income.
10. GOOGLE DOCS/ DROPBOX
Files are essentials of a business for communications and record keeping purposes. Google Docs come handy as they go with one’s Gmail account. For entrepreneurs looking for an online storage, Dropbox is one good tool to entrust your files to. You can choose between their individual or business package.
Entrepreneurship to the Next Level
A business needs careful planning and budgeting. Digital nomads these days enjoy a life of traveling while keeping their hands on their business. Since there might be exchanging of files involved in the process, it is better to secure your web-based actions with a VPN. If you’re well acquainted with this virtual tool, you would know that a good one doesn’t come cheap. Make good use of the Black Friday VPN deals while they’re still around to get yourself a year-long subscription for the best price.
ExpressVPN is the highly recommended and most trusted brand by entrepreneurs. It guarantees a safe browsing and a fully-encrypted to secure not only your information but that of your company’s as well. Its DNS lock feature along with its 256-bit AES encryption secures your online details without giving the prying eyes a chance to peek in it. Since modern-day entrepreneurs are fond of traveling and doing business at the same time, ExpressVPN’s strong and stable servers are there to keep up with the pace.