The power of women in business

By Citizens Staff

It’s a challenging and exciting time to be a female entrepreneur. Babson College research reveals that more than 67% of female entrepreneurs saw reduced revenues as a result of the pandemic, and over 23% closed their doors permanently. At the same time, though, LinkedIn data shows that the number of women on its site identifying as entrepreneurs grew 5% year over year, more than double the pre-pandemic average.

During the dynamic and unpredictable period, women business owners have had to pivot, innovate, and focus on business fundamentals to succeed.

Three 2021 Citizens Small Business Community Champion Award winners recently shared their insights on the challenges and opportunities facing women in business. They also provided advice for how their peers can be ready for success. The award winning women business owners we spoke to include:

• Julia Gilchrist, owner of Julia’s Essentials, an online boutique for healthcare worker essentials located in Camp Hill, PA.
• Tejal Mehta, principal attorney with the Law Office of Tejal Mehta, a King of Prussia, PA-based firm specializing in immigration law and estate planning.
• Denise Weale, owner of Dam Good English Muffins, a family-operated, Peekskill, NY-based wholesale bakery of artisan sourdough English muffins.

Citizens: Is there anything you wish you had known when you started your business?

Julia Gilchrist: You need to have resilience — both in good and bad times — to run and sustain a business. If you want to be in it for the long haul, you can’t give up. If you invest in something and it doesn’t work, learn from your mistake. Keep going, and try another approach.

Tejal Mehta: If I was going to start over again, I would spend more time learning about marketing, specifically how to market professional services. I initially thought, “Well, I’m really good at what I do, so I won’t have trouble finding clients.” I didn’t realize that it doesn’t matter how skilled you are if you can’t reach people and persuade them to hire you.

Denise Weale: I wish I had known how long it would take to find the right space for our production facility. It would have saved us a lot of time and aggravation if we had worked from the start with a commercial realtor rather than searching online on our own for a space with the bones of what we needed, like a proper ventilation system. Of course, hindsight is 20/20.

Citizens: What lessons have you learned as a female entrepreneur?

Gilchrist: It’s important to be cautious before entering into partnerships or agreements. If you want to do business with someone, take the time to read reviews, and ask for references. There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there, so it pays to be careful.

Mehta: You need to build a network of people with whom you can exchange ideas on substantial issues related to your work, and to gain business referrals. Another important lesson is to hire staff who are aligned with your vision for your business, as they will be an essential part of your business’s success.

Weale: You have to be good at making decisions on the fly, and then be able to run with — and be comfortable with — those decisions. You’re going to encounter challenges on a daily basis, and it pays to see them as opportunities to learn and grow. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone.

Citizens: Are there any particular challenges you’ve experienced?

Gilchrist: I had to learn to take my emotions out of business. Sometimes I would do what was best for someone else, rather than what was best for my business. Even if you’re dealing with a friend, you need to look out for your own best interests.

Mehta: Because most of my career had been spent in Washington, DC, it was a big adjustment creating professional connections for my new practice in Philadelphia. It was hard breaking through initially, but I gradually gained traction. After I established myself, figuring out how to scale up my business was challenging.

Weale: When we were building out our production facility, it was sometimes challenging working with tradespeople who were male and not always professional. At the same time, I had to find people who wouldn’t try to take advantage of me because I was a woman doing something for the first time.

Citizens: What do you think are the keys to success for women in business?

Gilchrist: Time management is critical. I started my business last year during the pandemic. I’m a single mother with two small children, and they were suddenly learning at home because of COVID. I had to quickly get a handle on how to prioritize and delegate, because life isn’t just work.

Mehta: It’s important to play to your strengths. For example, if someone isn’t comfortable giving an aggressive sales pitch, they should emphasize the fact that they are a good listener who can empathize with their clients. Also, be willing to adapt to change, whether from market conditions, technology, or your own circumstances or interests.

Weale: Have proof of concept. We started out selling our English muffins at farmers’ markets to discover if customers would come back and buy again, to see if we really had something that people liked. You also need to be cautious about overhead. Don’t rent physical space right away if you can avoid it — if you can start your business out of your home, or operate in a shared space, or rent by the hour, do that before you invest a lot of money into something.

Citizens: Are there any financial challenges you faced?

Gilchrist: When I started, I didn’t know where to begin to look for financing. For anyone starting out, I’d recommend taking a course in financial literacy, so you know the basics like the importance of shoring up your personal credit rating before you apply for business credit. That way, you’re positioned better to qualify for financing.

Mehta: Because I funded my firm from my savings when I started out, I limited my expenses to keep my operation lean. I worked from home rather than renting out office space and did as much as possible by myself. Not surprisingly, the pandemic has hurt my business, and so I’ve adapted by adjusting commitments and accessing available resources. However, I’m confident business will improve once we get back to a normal economy.

Weale: Initially, I wasn’t able to secure a credit line. It’s a Catch-22: You have to prove that you’ve made a certain amount of money to get credit, and since we were in the early stages of our business, we were denied. We secured a credit line this year, which helped with cash flow when customers were late with payments. The Citizens Small Business Community Champion Award came at an amazing time and was super helpful — we are scaling up, and it helped us with hiring more employees and buying equipment.

Citizens: What are your business priorities for the next year?

Gilchrist: I’d like to set up a mobile boutique, so people can shop in person. I’m also hoping to partner with community organizations that help individuals find jobs and to donate uniforms to help people get started on the road to success.

Mehta: l want to focus on establishing a social media presence to connect with more people to let them know how I can help them. Also, I’d like to learn how to utilize technology better to help my business become more efficient. For example, we’re currently testing an online scheduling app to streamline onboarding of new clients, and we’re using a time tracking app to identify how to best utilize our resources. And, like many others since the pandemic began, I’ve been using Zoom to meet with clients.

Weale: As everyone knows, hiring is difficult right now. We have a lot of opportunities in front of us — for example, we want to introduce a new variety of English muffin, which would be our fifth offering. But we can’t do that until we are able to hire more staff.

Citizens: Any tips or advice you’d share with other women in business?

Gilchrist: Conduct research into the type of business you want to create, and outline what you really want to accomplish. Talk to a business consultant, and see what support is available in your community for small businesses. You don’t have to do it alone.

Mehta: Be passionate about providing an excellent product — this will help grow your business through word of mouth referrals or customer reviews. Keep checking back with your overarching goals to see if you’re still on target with what you really want to do, and if you need to make adjustments.

Weale: If you can, work for someone who is in the same field or a related business of whatever you want to start. That’s key, because you’ll have a better understanding of the challenges and the road ahead for you — you can see what you might want to replicate and what you might want to do differently or better. The Small Business Association and your local chamber of commerce can help you with things like writing a business plan, connecting with other entrepreneurs, and finding mentorship opportunities.