Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Wednesday Linkblogging: Women Entrepreneurs


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

2 comments:

Women's Initiative for Self-Employment said...

Its imperative that Women Entrepreneurs have portals and forums to support each other in the business world. I wanted to let all you Female Entreprenuers in on the "Make Your Dreams Come True with Mirassou" contest. You can only enter if you're a woman, and dont live in CA. The prize is $50,000 and a team of professional consultants to help kick start your business. Visit the site at http://www.mirassou.com/women_in_business/dreams.asp , the deadline is Dec 15th 2007. I work with them so I wanted to let you all in on the scoop!

Original Post by: Lisa | October 17, 2007 at 09:52 AM

Women's Initiative for Self-Employment said...

thanks for the tip, lisa!

Original Post by: claire | October 17, 2007 at 11:03 AM