Wednesday Linkblogging: Women Entrepreneurs

• Apparently, Atlanta-based Girls with Goals have declared October to be Women in Small Business Month. What an awesome idea! Hope this spreads.

• Indiatimes.com has an article on the coming of age of Indian women entrepreneurs.

Bhardwaj estimates women entrepreneurs at a tenth of the Indian entrepreneur universe — currently there are 1.3 million SSIs and 9.1 million registered SMEs — in India, with the percentage growing every year.

• The Jerusalem Post has a fascinating article about Beduin woman entrepreneur Miriam Abu-Raki'ek, owner of Daughter of the Desert cosmetics firm.

To describe Abu-Raki'ek's life as a single woman entrepreneur as "untraditional" would be an understatement. "It's been very difficult with my family," she says, acknowledging the pain on all sides. "Even before I went to England, I had to deal with the issue of marriage. My father was very good, in that he funded my studies. But when I came home, he insisted that I marry, and I didn't want to do that. I refused. Since I couldn't do what he wanted, to me that meant I couldn't take money from him, either. I still live with my parents, but right after England I started working to be able to pay for whatever I needed. I did all kinds of work - translating, selling Avon products, working in people's homes. But all the while, the pressure on me to marry was increasing. All I could do was say, 'I'm here. I'm standing on my own. I can't do what you want me to do, but I won't ask you for money, either.'" 

• Entrepreneur.com blogs has a post by Wendy Piersall on how giving back to other women in your community can further your business.

My life made a dramatic shift almost 4 years ago when I made the decision to make “contribution” one of my highest values. I found that when in sales, if I focused on getting the deal, I never did nearly as well as when I focused on serving my clients.
And as we chatted about making ‘giving’ a high priority in business, we both agreed that although it can be a difficult mindset to attain, letting ‘contribution’ lead your business decisions creates the most rewarding and successful companies we had both ever known.

• A recent Boston women entrepreneurs showcase highlighted "mompreneur" Christine Ingemi, whose invention of safe-volume earbuds for audio players has made her some money.

• I have no idea why this would be "weird & funny", but the "Daily Weird & Funny Posts" blog posts about the first woman to top the list of wealthiest people in China.

• A new survey by RSM McGladrey and the National Association of Women Business Owners profiles today's women entrepreneurs. Thanks to entrepreneur.com.