Face the fact. Women earn less and live longer than men. But that may not be the only difference between the sexes in terms of perspectives on money and how to manage, grow, and save it.
As you create your plan to build your business and accumulate wealth, think about how your own attitudes, fears, behaviors (and even childhood views about money and success) have an impact on how you operate your business.
- Do not fear math! Running a business requires you embrace your P&L with almost as much passion as you hug your loved ones. Many women are insecure about their financial skills, which ultimately factors into their ability to focus on the money side of their businesses. Dawn Fotopulos authored a fantastic book, Accounting for the Numberphobic, to prompt you to love your balance sheet. (Check out her website too!) Here’s a quiz to help you figure out if you’re suffering from M.A.D. (Money Anxiety Disorder).
- Do you have the right “money team” watching your back? When I started my own service business, I fumbled for a while. I was used to having a dedicated CFO (Chief Financial Officer) working with me, balancing my creative side with pragmatic financial decision making. As a small business owner, you need to assemble the right “A-team” – banker, accountant, bookkeeper, lawyer, HR expert, and other advisors who will bring skills and tools to the table that you might not have yourself. That said, as the business owner, you MUST review your own financials carefully and make the important decisions yourself.
- Take risks…but smart ones. Men and women have different styles in terms of financial risk-taking. What “risk personality type” are you? Find out here.
- Know your worth. Setting prices for your services is tough for some women and an alarming number of women (80%) admit to refraining from talking about important financial matters to people they are close to. Over time, entrepreneurs usually develop more confidence in their skills and may be less tempted to discount prices as a primary selling tactic. Some research shows that, with proper training, women may even be better financial negotiators than men!
- Bounce back from financial setbacks…but be honest with yourself and others. Whether you’re a woman or a man, mistakes and financial failures are facts of business life, but women may feel greater pain when they lose money. Here are some great ways to recover from setbacks.
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