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Robin Tabakin, Esq.
State President of New Jersey Association of Women Business
Owners (NJAWBO)
The most challenging thing facing women in business is getting
business. A lot of companies that buy from small businesses
are buying out of state and they also tend to rely on the
good old boys network because they’re used to using
the same vendors. However, Robin says there are a lot of
resources available to women. “They can join an organization
to network among business owners and corporate buyers. One
of the things women aren’t doing that they should
is getting certified as a small business. Some of the challenges
women have overcome are balancing life and work. Technology
has helped. “It used to be that women couldn’t
work because they wanted to stay home. Now they’re
able to use E-mail, do Internet research, and basically
run a business from the home.” Robin also believes
the education available is greater than it used to be. “It’s
easier to get educated on how to start a business. Programs
are geared toward women.” The biggest problem continues
to be getting government contracts. The Commerce Department
encourages corporations to buy from women and minorities.
“But the government is not doing enough to address
it. An executive order provides all government agencies
need to award 5% of their prime contracts to women in business,
and the prime needs to award 5% of their business to women.
This has not been enforced. The federal government’s
number is well below the 5% mark.
Betty C. Spence, Ph.D.
President, National Association for Female Executives
(NAFE)
NAFE is the largest women's professional association and
the largest women business owners' organization in the country.
She runs the daily operations of the association of 60,000
members. She serves as organization spokesperson, speaking
on topics related to women in business, including career
success at corporations, the gender wage gap, mentoring.
She wrote Be Your Own Mentor (2001), a book on propelling
your own advancement. There is a greater number of women
starting their own businesses, from all walks of life. Some
are highly educated, some are right out of school. She says
this stemmed from a strong showing of women who were seeking
a more rewarding life than they were getting in a corporation,
mostly due to glass ceilings. They want flexible hours,
to be able to raise a family. There are still a lot of obstacles
standing in their way. Women are still being excluded from
networks, and there is a lack of mentors, a lack of role
models. There are some areas where women are succeeding,
one of them being networking, which is very important for
success. “You have to make networking part of your
job description."
Denise Bridgens
CEO, Argo Navis IT
Her company provides global audio conferencing and web conferencing.
She is a “value-added reseller,” offering her
services to many Fortune 500s. She has owned and run her
company for two years. She saw a great opportunity in having
a woman owned business in communications services. She felt
confident about going into business by herself because she
knew a lot about the market and the technology, having previously
worked for AT&T. She says she was excited and motivated
to start her own business and “I was smart enough
to know that I didn’t know a lot. I have an MBA, but
that doesn’t prepare you.” Denise says it has
been a huge struggle and her eyes have been opened. Denise,
along with 30 other competitors were invited to an online
auction to bid on a job for a very large corporation. They
made it to the finals, but ended up being number two and
losing the job. She believes they lost because she is a
woman-owned business and companies feel “more comfortable”
with the established good old boys network. Denise feels
strongly that because the government encourages companies
to give 5% of their contracts to women-owned businesses
as a “goal” and not as a requirement, large
companies don’t take those businesses seriously. “Women-owned
businesses have just as much integrity as those owned by
men.”
Marjorie Perry
President, MZM Construction
This small business owner of a construction firm started
the business with a partner, and then bought it herself
in 1992. She says, “I came into business very naïve.”
Marjorie started out with around $50,000. She came from
a large firm and didn’t know how to function without
fully-staffed departments. “Doing everything on my
own was hard. The minute you want to make it past $1 million,
you need departments to carry forward your vision.”
Marjorie says joining organizations helped her do what she
wanted to achieve. She was able to make strategic alliances
with other people who could help her with things she didn’t
feel confident about. Also, strategic partnering with another
larger companies gives you credibility. With her MBA, she
learned about partnerships, strategic planning, financial
analysis and corporate understanding. Early on, she had
some mentors in construction, but now she realizes the importance
of also having business mentors. One of the most difficult
things for her was learning to delegate. “You think:
it’s my baby. But you have to learn to trust your
people.” Currently she has 7 people on staff. In the
beginning, she feels she was also too reliant on outside
sources. “I was only good at selling and managing.
What was difficult was learning to become a leader and a
visionary.”
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