What does the research tell us about how to make sure your business is one of the successful ones? Dr. Edward Hess who is the Goizueta School of Business’ Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship recently presented the results of his 30 years review of the research to a group of us,women alums from Emory. The news is both good and bad. He finds that there is no correlation to personality,age, IQ, education and numerous other variables for successful business owners. Rather he finds that there are several processes that are essential: being good at “iterative” processing and taking a series of small risks. The iterative process is one that develops through trial and error and is constantly being refined over time. It is not rigid and final but is constantly taking in new information and responding to that. The small risks are a more cautious outlook;risks that don’t bet everything on one outcome and can afford to fail without a wipeout. This may go against the typical stereotype of the wheeler dealer but it is a finding that should encourage women as we are especially strong with this kind of process.

The disadvantage of being a women relates to the existence of the “boys” network and the facility with which men are able to give each other a boost along the way and create a network of people who owe each other favors. Hopefully as we women get better and better at network creation and have more resources with which to help each other this will begin to shift. In the meantime, there are many men who are interested in mentoring women and who are helpful to us and the trick is to find one who takes an interest in your project. Also as you move forward in your success, make a committment to help the other women who are coming behind you.

Why do women underearn? For many complicated reasons, including caretaking responsibilities and role divisions in the family. However a primary reason is because we are hesitant to ask for the money, afraid to go against the taboos of money talk and making others (as well as ourselves) uncomfortable. I began to realize that for a woman who thought she was money wise I had a long way to go….and then I realized that my southern female training was so entrenched I could be working on this for the rest of my life. I now strive to be matter of fact in my business dealings and to talk openly about the money issues and the feelings they engender. When we do this, there is an increase in the amount of knowledge we have about each other , a new level of understanding and comfort that is reached, knowing that we can talk well about this difficult topic.

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www.stopbuyingcrap.com
www.poorerthanyou.com
www.bostongalsopenwallet.com
www.bloggingawaydebt.com

The last one also connects you to ncnnetwork.com where you can set up a chart to show and tell your progress as you pay down your debts. It’s great that the internet is being used for this kind of sharing and accountability. It increases your motivation as you imagine your “public” watching you pull yourself into the black and feeling that you will let them down if you don’t succeed. It’s also inspiring to see others do it and report back how great it feels to be free of debt. “If they can do it, I can do it” is a thought that can carry you through the challenge of changing.
Use the internet to help you become free of consumer debt that will hold you back later in life.

I particularly want to help women in the 20’s and 30’s become free of consumer debt and to think carefully about the amount of student loan debt they take on. Many students and young adults are taking on more debt than their future career can sustain. I would like to continue to find ways to get women to address money issues in a motivating and fun way.

Please contact me a mg@doctorgresham.com to have me come to speak to your group about the mind and money issues related to this kind of debt.