Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

  • Home
  • Shop
  • Media
    • Advertise with Us
    • Inside Conversations
  • Partners
  • Events
    • 2022 Startup Pitch Conference
    • Strategy Brunch – August
    • Accelerator Program
  • Resources
    • Market Research
    • Community Hubs & Co-working Spaces
    • Tech Resources
    • Human Resources
    • Financial Resources
    • Courses
  • Innovation
    • Clean Technology
    • Green Technology
    • Medical Technology
  • Blog

Sep 12 2016

Women On Top

 

FB Pic

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about life as an entrepreneur versus life in the corporate world and how it has affected me as a woman. I am thinking in particular about my ceiling in both worlds.  How much success can women achieve in both worlds?  How far out of reach is the ceiling and have us as women found the magic formula to breaking that glass ceiling?

Let’s start with the corporate world.  In my case our corporate structure is that of the “good old boys club”.  Senior executives are the picture of corporate with not a woman in sight.  Middle management is made up of about 10 percent women.  On the bottom of the totem pole, the structure is as expected – a male dominated production group and a female dominated office group.  To excel in an environment as this takes a lot of game play and sometimes ruthlessness.  You cannot be too tough or else you are labeled as “bitchy” or “moody” and you cannot be overly nice or you can be deemed to office “harlot.”  You not only have to play the game, but you also have to continuously prove your knowledge and capabilities to the powers that be.  This part has me baffled.  Why?  I’m sure those powers would not have made you a part of the organization if you were not remotely qualified to do the job or if they didn’t feel you were well suited for the position and the company.  How far up the corporate ladder can women get in an environment such as this?  It’s a far climb for us and especially rough when obstacles are placed in our way.  My feeling is that we are fighting continuously for what we deserve – even when it is earned.  Not many of us know how to demand what we have earned.  In my case, I have set my goals to what my definition of success would be in the corporate world.  Do I want to be President of the company? NO!! What I want is what I have earned – nothing more and definitely nothing less!!

As an entrepreneur I have the opportunity to be the President, Owner, Assistant, Director, coffee runner, pencil sharpener…you name it, I am in charge of it.  More women are going down the entrepreneurial path without really understanding how much more work it takes to be successful. As a female entrepreneur, when I attend networking events that are male dominated I get a lot of pats on the back and “good for you”, “you’re a smart girl”, “you did this all on your own” from the male networkers.  It is as if I am not perceived of being capable of achieving all that I have or that I have or that it is a surprise that a woman can really be successful in their world.  There are also always a few men who are there to be the “saviours” or “messiah.”  I remember being told by one man in particular who came to a female dominated networking event that he was there to help the women.  Take note, he said HELP not SUPPORT. Now, I will be the first to agree that we all need to support each other, but what I do not like is the notion that women cannot find ways to help each other succeed.  We are a resourceful group and we find ways to dig our way out of a hole.  There is still that mental and societal influence that makes us feel like being solopreneurs is the pinnacle of success.  Why not strive to grow your business into a multinational corporation? Sky is the limit-not the glass ceiling.  It truly depends on what your personal goal is.

For me, I enjoy the challenges of both the corporate world and the entrepreneurial world.  Women will always have to work extra hard to break that glass ceiling.  For most of us, the ceiling is not made by others, but by our personal limiting beliefs.  Identifying what is causing these beliefs is the first step towards breaking the ceiling and allowing ourselves to strive for the highest of highs.  I know one thing – this woman plans to be on the top when it comes to the entrepreneurial game. I will not stop until my business is where I want it to be – Canada-wide.  I will not let being woman be a hindrance.  It is not a crutch.

 

Dwania is the Founder and Executive Director of Canadian Small Business Women Contact Canadian Small Business Women:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Website

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Email

Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Canadian Small Business Women · Tagged: business, Business Woman, Canadian Small Business Women, corporate world, entrepreneur, executives, glass ceiling, good old boys club, help, limiting beliefs, networking, solopreneur, support, women, Women on Top

Jul 10 2015

Why Your Business Model Needs to Evolve OR it will perish

Karima

 

When no risks are taken, there is no chance for a reward to be achieved. For a business model to continue seeing success, it needs to evolve over time because people evolve over time. Technologies are continually improving. If a business gets stuck in a world where they keep doing things because “that’s the way we’ve always done things,” then that is a journey which will inevitably lead to failure.

Target Canada is a prime example of this. In just two years of operation, the 133 store chain has decided to leave the Canadian market for good. It’s mistake? Assuming that operations in Canada would be similar to that of the United States. During the announcement, Brian Cornell stated that Target Canada had lost money every day.

More Marketing Doesn’t Save a Business

Many executives have a theory that goes something like this: maybe if we spend more money on marketing and make ourselves attractive to [fill in your favorite customer demographic], we’ll be more successful.

Unfortunately this thought rarely creates success. More marketing is not a substitute for ineffective business practices. If you’ve already got customers coming into stores like Target Canada had and they aren’t buying things, what will happen with more marketing? You’ll get more customers into a store that are still choosing not to purchase anything.

Sometimes going on social media is the approach. Engaging customers is a great tactic to use, but it also comes with a certain risk. People generally talk about the negative experiences they have with a business online and rarely talk about positive experiences. Businesses are expected to provide a positive experience. Engagement usually creates some feedback that is difficult to hear, which means it is ultimately ignored.

Social media must be part of a holistic approach. You’ve got to change the actual dynamic. You must choose to innovate. Once that happens, then you can begin a new marketing effort

Businesses Choose Whether or Not to Become Innovators

Change means risk. There is a chance that a risk may not pay off. Circuit City discovered that the hard way by losing over $100 million on their DivX product. Sometimes ideas are ahead of their time, like Microsoft’s tablets, which came out a decade before the iPad. Even looking at the struggles of McDonald’s right now show how quickly a company can begin to decline when changes aren’t received as well as expected.

Small businesses are not immune to the need to change. Failing to innovate and change is one of the top reasons why small businesses fail and die. Innovation has to be a component of change, which means change cannot happen without risk. It is a choice that every business makes, whether they realize it or not. Avoiding a risk is a choice to not evolve or challenge history, tradition, or the other roadblocks that might stand in the way.

How to identify places where innovation can thrive can sometimes be difficult. Adapting new technologies into traditional routines inevitably creates growing pains. Throwing more marketing at a problem, however, doesn’t make that problem go away. It just means more people become aware of it. This creates a negative spiral that inevitably ends in failure.

Evolving your business model can be uncomfortable, but it can also create enormous success. That’s why change, not more marketing, is so important.

Karima-Catherine is the co-founder of Red Dot Digital, a digital agency that strives to deliver top-notch solutions to various clients.  Red Dot Digital drives real, meaningful, quantifiable business outcomes for companies. Karima-Catherine is also the co-moderator of #MMchat, a Twitter weekly forum which focuses on business, marketing and social media.  

Connect with Karima-Catherine:

karima@reddotdigital.net

Website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Email

Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Karima-Catherine Goundiam · Tagged: Brian Cornell, business, business model, Canada, Canadian Small Business Women, Circuit City, DivX, engaging, entrepreneur, executives, failure, innovators, Ipad, Karima-Catherine, marketing, McDonald's, Microsoft, Red Dot Digital, Reward, risk, social media, Target Canada, United States

Stay Social with Canadian Small Business Women:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Login

© Copyright 2012 Canadian Small Business Women · All Rights Reserved