How can we support women-owned businesses? And why should we?
Over the last few years, there has been an increase of women moving away from the general workforce, and instead of working for ‘the man’, they are creating their own businesses. Female entrepreneurship statistics for 2021 show that women own 31% of small businesses or franchises in the US. And the percentage of women-owned businesses is up 27% from the previous year!
Many of the moms I work with either want to get out of the corporate world due to the stress and long hours. Or they don’t want to be a stay-at-home mom, relying on their partner’s income but still want to be at home or at the very least have flexible hours that she can fit around her kid’s needs.
But starting and running your own business is no easy task either. And although you might want to support your friends, family, or random women you know from social media because they are small women-run businesses, you might not have a bank balance like Mark Zuckerburg to dip into to buy all of their things!
So how can we support women-owned businesses?
1. Buy Something
OK, let’s get the most obvious out the way first! You can buy a product or service from the woman you want to support! This doesn’t have to be buying something for yourself though. When you are buying gifts, make the effort to find businesses that are run by women and buy from them.
I follow a lot of creative women on Instagram and will often save posts into a collection especially if a see something that would make a good birthday or Christmas gift. It’s easy then to flick back through, it becomes like a curated gift guide for your own friends.
Or put up a post asking for recommendations, I’m in a Brit moms group and we often do this for businesses specifically in the UK.
2. Share the love to support women-owned businesses
If you use social media daily then this is hands down the easiest way to support little businesses. You see social media works on an algorithm and it can be really hard for a business owner to get your posts seen.
The platform measures the popularity of a post by checking the interactions, which can be like, share, save, send to a friend, and comments. Liking a post is by the far the easiest but it also carries the least weight. So yes, keep liking posts but also share occasionally or leave a comment. Send the post to another friend, or as I mentioned above, save the post.
3. A few kind words…
…can go a long way. When your work is all your own, it can feel like a real kick in the gut when you get troll/nasty comments. Or if your launch bombs or sales are not coming in, it is really easy to feel low and unmotivated. But one thing that is so simple and has a huge impact is when someone leaves a nice comment, compliment, testimonial, or positive review for you.
If you worked with someone and even if they don’t ask for it, offer them a testimonial. If you purchased something and the site is open for reviews, go and share the love. Takes just a couple of minutes and can really bolster the business owner’s confidence.
4. Show empathy as a way to support women-owned businesses
Not all women who run businesses are parents but if you know the business you are working with is, you showing empathy in a situation can make a huge amount of difference to the business owner’s stress levels.
Of course, we all have issues that come up whether it be snow days, floods, accidents, and of course COVID which are all totally stressful in their own right. But parenting adds an extra layer of oh-crap on top. That is to say, dealing with kids’ stuff, school closures, hospital trips, schooling at home… It can take the stress to a whole different level!
But like I said in the 10 good things about corona virus post being a mom in business forces you to re-evaluate and make decisions about your priorities which may well mean putting family first. These decisions are never easy so if you are working with a business mom, just keep it in mind and if it is possible, cut them a bit of slack.
5. Collaborate with other female-owned businesses to help them grow too
One of the things I love about working online is having the chance to collaborate with women from all over the world. In the Wonder Mom Success Club, we have a guest expert each month. I love to share their wisdom, expertise, and insights. And it’s a great way for the Wonder Moms to find out about new people to follow that might not have been on their radar otherwise.
Over the last few years, I have been involved with the My Mega Bundles too, this has been a great way for me to collaborate with like-minded souls and boost our businesses too.
6. Be a connector
This is another simple thing you can do which can really help people out. If you see someone asking for help with a certain topic, tag a woman you know who is an expert in that field. If you happen to come across someone that you think would be a fab contact for another friend, introduce them to each other.
If you see someone online (or offline) asking for a recommendation, drop the link to someone you think would be a good fit.
Personal recommendations are HUGE when it comes to sales, so don’t be shy about becoming a connector.
7. Celebrate their wins
Wins come in all shapes and sizes. It might be hitting that big financial goal or it might be getting an order out of the door on time even though you had 3 sick kids underfoot. Society has this ridiculous notion of work-life balance so sometimes a win can be just getting everything right for the whole week without any major disasters or fallouts.
So when you see someone celebrating a win, big or small, cheer them on!