Mars & Venus: Business Ownership

I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.
- William E. Henley

WHY WE START BUSINESSES Regardless of gender, entrepreneurs started their businesses because they want to be in control of their own futures. In a survey we conducted recently with over 500 men and women who own businesses, this was the most common theme, cited by 56% of business owners as a factor in their decision to start or buy a business of their own. As further evidence of this desire to master their destinies, both men and women said they wanted to be able to choose the people they work with (40%), were tired of corporate politics (38%), or were tired of having a boss (33%). Clearly, freedom to work in the way one chooses is a huge motivator to those who make the leap to start a business of their own.

Although freedom is important to everyone, it is interesting to note that women and men differ in the ways they may be defining it.

 
Greetings From Jane

It's a shiny new year and we look forward to experiencing the challenges and victories ahead with all of you!

At Jane Out of the Box, our mission is to help women entrepreneurs create the businesses and the lifestyles of their dreams, so we're here to support you. At Jane, we know that in order to help your customers, you need to understand them. Therefore, research is a critical part of what we do and we'll be sharing results of our studies with you from time to time.

We've recently conducted in-depth interviews with over 400 women entrepreneurs all about why and how they started their businesses, the challenges they face, and how they feel about their businesses. In this week's feature article (see sidebar), we're exploring the special needs of women entrepreneurs who are moms as well.

And, if you know a "mom-preneur" who would be interested in participating in a research interview with us, or if you have some great tips/advice for how to balance "mom" with "entrepreneur", email us your thoughts. Members can share their tips and pointers directly on the Mompreneurs Discussion Board.

Whether you need expert advice, someone to share ideas with, a helping hand or a big "congrats!", this community is your place. So forward this email newsletter to all of your women friends who own businesses so they too can benefit!

Michele DeKinder-Smith,
Founder

P.S. Congratulations to members Kyley B and Kathryn B for winning great prizes in our Discussion Board weekly challenges!
Featured Listen & Learn
 New For Members This Week!

Do What You Love

A great place to create change this year is to commit to spending more time doing what you love! Take just five minutes today to listen to this issue's featured audio clip -- an "Ask the Expert" interview with Melanie Benson Strick of Success Connections.

Go here to hear some of Melanie's strategies for ensuring you're focusing on what you do best - guaranteeing a high return on the investment of your time.
(Not a member yet? Click here to try Jane for FREE for 7 days.) New items are being added all the time. This weeks’ newest items in the Jane Out of the Box community:


Tools & Templates
  • How to Write Headlines that Get Read
  • Virtual Assistants (VAs) - Your Secret Weapon
  • Multiple Streams of Income -- 5 Reasons Why You Absolutely Need It
  • 3 Reasons Why You'd Better Know Your Customers
  • 5 Tips for Writing Articles that Sell
  • Advertising on a Budget -- Part 2: Thinking Small
  • Advertising on a Budget -- Part 3: Frequency, Frequency, Frequency
  • 6 Steps to an Altitude Adjustment
  • Your 5-Step Plan to Turn your To Do List into a Ta-Da! List
  • 4 Steps to Getting the Most Out of a Seminar
Meet a Jane Member ...

MaryPat Kavanaugh has a strong and varied background in entrepreneurism, having owned retail businesses, restaurants, and consulting practices before starting Strategic Results Marketing LLC Queen of Marketing in 1999.

As President and Chief Marketing Strategist, MaryPat has helped numerous entrepreneurs strengthen their businesses. Her particular talent lies in facilitating profitable and long-lasting strategic partnerships and joint ventures for her clients.

MaryPat originally became an entrepreneur by default when she found she couldn't earn the kind of money she wanted doing what she wanted to do by working for someone else. When she did land the "dream job," she then learned how frustrating it can be to work for someone else!

So, MaryPat happily returned to entrepreneurism because she loves having the freedom to choose her clients, her job description, her workload, and her schedule.

The greatest rewards MaryPat has experienced are being able to control how she uses her time and loving the work that she does with her clients. As she said, "The ability to spend more time working on particular projects that I LOVE and to spend more quality time with my family WHEN I want. I feel very fortunate to spend my 'working' time on my passion instead of something that would qualify as 'the daily grind'".