WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS

Why join a women’s organization? One word: success. Businesswomen are creating higher-level success stories and it is in no small part a result of collective camaraderie and new tools like the NAWRB Women’s Global Resource Center. Women are starting over 1,100 businesses a day and women-owned businesses grew by 27.5 percent from 2007 to 2012. This professional attainment has gained so much momentum that last year the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it met its annual lending authority threshold of $18.75 billion. The SBA also recently awarded 5.05 percent of all federal small business contracts totaling $17.8 billion to women-owned small businesses, surpassing their 5 percent goal.

resources to fund their enterprises, women business owners fail to hire employees and are consequently unable to expand and sustain their companies. The access to capital fields and the utilization of women-owned businesses needs to continue improving. Meanwhile, women’s groups and organizations are essential to preventing women and their ventures from becoming merely memories. Talent and ability are undeniable and crucial, as is tenacity and perseverance. If you work hard and dedicate yourself, chances are you will find quality success along your path. However, even the most successful entrepreneurs had help along the way.

“Women are twice as likely as men to close down their businesses due to lack of capital...”

Despite these victories, there are obstacles facing female entrepreneurs that persist, and the Census Bureau estimates that 88 percent of women-owned businesses don’t surpass the $100,000 revenue threshold. In Force Multipliers: How three fundamental adaptations can help women entrepreneurs scale big, Ernst & Young (EY) and Babson College disclose that only two percent of women-owned businesses achieve $1 million in revenue; businesses owned by men are 3.5 times more likely to reach the million-dollar mark. More troubling than these financial difficulties is the fact that many of these businesses are poised to experience them from the start. A 2014 Senate Committee report reports that women receive only 16 percent of conventional small business loans, 4.4 percent of the total dollar value of all small business loans. Despite the progress in accessing capital, obtaining it remains a prominent struggle for women entrepreneurs. This goes on to have significant additional effects, and the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) confirms the dismal truth that 91 percent of women-owned businesses have no employees other than the owners. Without the appropriate money and

Becoming part of an organization, a community of like-minded individuals, can provide you with the support and guidance to make successes out of your undertakings. In their report, EY and Babson College further explain, “What’s the advantage of finding community? The first benefit is the removal of self-imposed limits on what you can accomplish,” and, “We’ve also seen how this community enables participants to shorten learning curves, gain insight into tough business problems, collaborate, and create valuable business partnerships.” Surrounding yourself with a supportive circle benefits your progress as an entrepreneur, and also accelerates the speed of your development. In Forget the Glass Ceiling: Build Your Business Without One, Geri Stengel articulates, “Knowing other entrepreneurs plays an important role in directly enhancing aspirations of women to start their own businesses, and supporting their growth by providing access to ideas, opportunities, and resources.” Habits, ideas, mindsets rub off on those around you, and you also become influenced by them; this happens every day. If you are around successful people invested in your accom

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