March is Women’s History Month—and though we celebrate female entrepreneurs every day, this month is a great opportunity to prioritize supporting women-owned businesses. After all, in the United States, 42% of all businesses are women-owned. That means there are over 12 million woman-owned businesses, with 1,800+ new women-owned businesses created each day.
Whether you’re a new entrepreneur or thinking of starting your own business, read on for inspiring advice from 5 successful business women.
Bethany Bordeaux co-owns several short-term rental properties in Tennessee with her husband, Keith Bordeaux. They combined their marketing savvy and travel experience to create beautiful guest houses, and have been welcoming visitors since 2016. Her advice to other female business owners is to fight for your dream—without being unrealistic.
“Know when to dig your heels in and fight for your dream, but also be wise enough to discern when it just isn’t making sense and you need to cut your losses and find a new approach/ product/ service/idea. We have certainly hit snags in our hosting journey, from random home repairs to the pandemic, but have persevered through it all, and are so blessed to get to keep doing what we love. At the end of the day, doing what you love is more fulfilling than any paycheck or award you can earn.”
-Bethany Bordeaux, co-owner of The Sweet Retreat at Pigeon Forge & 12 South Carriage House
Missy Parker is the owner of Glasses & More, an eyewear shop in Fairless Hills, PA. Her business advice for women is to focus on forging connections.
“Make time to create relationships with other local business owners. This will give you access to a supportive community, plus you can begin building connections with their network through word-of-mouth promotion.”
– Missy Parker, owner of Glasses & More
Angie Lilly is the business owner and baker behind Del City Farm, where she has been turning out homemade goodies since 2017. Today, she’s a staple at farmers markets in her Central Ohio community, and even sells her products via social media. As a one-woman show, Angie relies on in-person connections, local business partnerships, and word-of-mouth marketing to spread the word about her business.
“The relationships between me and my customers often become almost (and sometimes literally) a friendship. I try my best to be my true self in all aspects of my life, and that definitely includes my business. I joke around with, celebrate with, mourn with, build up, and commiserate with my customers. These interactions lead to honest reviews and recommendations and even flavor suggestions and recipe tweaks. I love it!”
– Angie Lilly, owner of Del City Farm
There’s a lot to be said for promotional products—and it’s one of Sara Russell’s best pieces of small business advice for women. As the owner of a creative agency, Sara loves to connect with customers using high quality pens.
“I think it’s important to give customers and prospects gifts like pens to stay top of mind. When you give someone a high quality and useful item they will keep it around, they’ll get good use out of it and they’ll appreciate the fact that you gave them something that could make a difference, even if it’s small, in how they function. They will also hopefully associate the quality and value with you and how you do business.”
-Sara Russell, founder of intraMuse Creative
When you’re running a business, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day duties and forget to take care of yourself. But Kailey Mohrweis’ advice for women in business is to prioritize self-care.
“I think it’s very important for small business owners to recognize when they need to care for themselves. I find that I am much more productive if I take that little hour cat nap my body is telling me it needs because when I wake up, I am refreshed and ready to get going on the tasks I need to finish.”
– Kailey Mohrweis, Owner of Kailey A Photography
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