Biz Mix: Women-owned business thriving in down economy

Lisa Trank Biz Mix

R osie the Riveter. Oprah Winfrey. Martha Stewart. The woman who lives next door. What do all of these people have in common?

Simple. They represent the vast spectrum of women in business, from the most powerful and influential to the entrepreneur and the owner of a shop on Main Street. According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, women own 10 million companies in the United States, with a three-trillion dollar annual economic impact that translates into the creation and/or maintenance of more than 23 million jobs.

Where does Colorado stand in this picture? The Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce states that “when it comes to launching new ventures, employing Americans and generating dollars, women-owned businesses are a boom to the U.S. economy. In Colorado, there are an estimated 223,347 privately-held, 50 percent or more women-owned firms and generating roughly $37 billion in sales.”
Again, according to the CWCC: “Women in Colorado employ more than 250,731 people with the Front Range Denver being one of the nation’s top 20 metropolitan areas with the greatest share of women-owned firms.”

But beyond gender, what are the common denominators that make women in business such a powerful and growing force, both on the national and local scene?

Communication: While this might sound like a cliché, most women love to talk. The other side of that coin is that women are adept at listening. The ability to enter a room, sit down and connect with others is a remarkably useful tool for starting a business.

Relationships: From a very early age, women learn how to negotiate their world through relationships. As women in business, we have learned to take this social skill into solid business partnerships through networking, support and solid word-of-mouth systems.

Multi-tasking-ability: Name a 21st century woman who can’t handle doing multiple things at the same time and chances are she doesn’t exist. Multi-tasking is second nature to women, especially in these technology-driven times – and for those whose job descriptions include partner, mother, grandmother, aunt, friend, employee, business owner and neighbor, multi-tasking is a way of life.

Gumption: Needless to say, as a woman and a business-owner, I’m biased when I say that when the going gets tough, as it has been for many of us this past year, women get their gumption up. It has been thrilling to witness the upsurge and variety of women-owned businesses cropping up in Longmont across the demographic spectrum.

Longmont’s business community boasts a high number of women-owned businesses, three of which were recently recognized by the Daily Camera’s top 25 Women-owned Business of 2009: Blue Spruce Design and Construction, Longs Peak Equipment Company Inc. and Hillcrest Glass. Make a 2010 resolution to get to know and support our Longmont women-in-business community. All you have to do is head over to Main Street to support some of Longmont’s many local women-owned businesses, including:

Bead Lounge; Dance Dimension; Longmont Dance Theatre; The Orange Door (co-owned); Divine Divas; Barbed Wire Books; Encore; Cayenne Kitchen (co-owned and named Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2009 Small Business of the Year); Adorn; 4th Avenue Salon; Crackpots; Hard Copy Solutions; Inspire Salon; Longmont Florist (co-owned); Madifine; Quilters Studio; Maternal Instincts; Stitchers Garden; Serendipity; and 2nd Avenue Savvy.

As someone who grew up in the pre-Title IX era, the past decade has been inspiring for me. But there is still work to be done. Corporate America is still woefully behind in terms of gender equity, not to mention the need to support more women of color in all business sectors and at all levels of management and leadership.

And more women business leaders must continue to step up in important mentoring roles to ensure a continuing field of opportunity for future women-in-business.

Lisa Trank is owner of One Purpose PR & Communications, a sustainable public relations, social media and communications firm founded in 2007. Lisa has called Longmont home for close to 10 years and is thrilled to be running her business and raising her family here.