• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

PlanningShop

Plan. Start. Grow.

  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • Book Rhonda
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • Book Rhonda
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search

Women Business Owners: Time to Stick Together

February 27, 2019 //  by Rhonda Abrams

What if you wanted an easy way to help women business owners succeed? If when you went to buy something or hire someone, you could select a woman-owned business?  Well, if designer/entrepreneur Rebecca Minkoff has her way, you’ll soon have a way to quickly identify women-owned businesses—a “female founder” symbol to look for whenever you shop or hire.

“First and foremost, we want a symbol that can be recognized on packaging, or websites, or storefronts,” said Minkoff. “We want to galvanize a community to buy from and support each other…We can educate the consumer in the way that she’s been educated to turn over and see (if a product) is non-GMO or organic.”

Since March is Women’s History Month, now’s a good time to see how women entrepreneurs—and many corporate partners—are pulling together to help women entrepreneurs succeed.

Last September, Minkoff—co-founder and Creative Director of the popular fashion design company that bears her name—launched the “Female Founder Collective.”

One of the main goals of the Collective is to increase women-owned businesses’ share of sales revenue. To do that, they launched a symbol—a seal—that women-owned businesses can use to identify themselves. “Women are more likely to support female-owned companies if they only know how,” said Minkoff.

But the Female Founder Collective is designed to be more than a symbol. Minkoff and other Collective founders aim for it to be a platform and a movement for female business leaders to connect and support each other, socially, legally and economically. “There are between 1100 and 2000 female-owned businesses starting every day,” said Minkoff, “and I think those women face unique challenges that they’ve never faced before.”

“The goal is to have a directory of all these (women-owned) brands,” said Minkoff. “It will be a b2c (business to consumer) directory, and a b2b (business to business) portal for these companies to continue to help one another.”

While the Collective was only launched in September 2018, it already has more than 3000 women members. “When you see a ground swell of this kind of activity, it reflects a need that is not being met,” said Minkoff.

“I have 11 million businesses to reach,” said Minkoff. “I would love all of them to turn lights on this seal, so it’s recognizable and we change our shopping habits…If we’re all shopping from females, that wealth trickles up.”

Does the idea of identifying businesses by gender, or ethnic or religious groups bother Minkoff?  “It’s been filtered the opposite way for a really long time. So if the pendulum has to swing a little bit to get things more equalized, I’m okay with that. Men can have their own symbol.”

Minkoff has entered into a partnership with Visa, which has recently launched the “She’s Next” campaign to help empower and educate female business owners. On March 6—International Women’s Day—the Collective and Visa’s She’s Next will host a day of workshops in New York City for hundreds of women entrepreneurs to help give them tools and training with the goal of helping them significantly in scaling their companies.

A recent Visa study on the State of Female Entrepreneurship indicated that 73 percent of women entrepreneurs reported having difficulty securing the funding they needed to start their businesses, so Visa and Chase will co-host a workshop on lending to help women get the loans and capital they need.

“Starting and growing a business can be both incredibly rewarding and daunting,” said Suzan Kereere, Visa’s Global Head of Merchant Sales & Acquiring, who is heading up Visa’s She’s Next campaign. “There is never enough time or enough resources, but when we work together to support each other, amazing things can happen.”

If you’re a woman business owner who wants to join the Collective, go to the Female Founder Collective website and fill out the application. Your company must be majority-owned by women. Once you are a member, “We send you the seal to use…so consumers can see it, wonder what it is, and hopefully seek it out,” said Minkoff. “You get access to our Slack, Google, and Facebook groups. You get access to events, and we send information of use to the community.”


Copyright Rhonda Abrams, 2019

This article originally ran in USA Today on February 27, 2019

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Category: Solution Center, USA TodayTag: business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Female Founders Collective, Rebecca Minkoff, rhonda abrams, She's Next, small business owner, Visa, Women's History Month, women-owned business

Previous Post: «Girl Scouts You Won’t Guess the Biggest Girls Business Training Program
Next Post: The Surprising Topic Business Students Expect You to Teach »

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Rhonda's Blog via Email

Instagram @rhondaabrams

Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #newsletter #smallbizguru
What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of your smallbiz customers, in my latest @usatoday column. Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #customer #digitalmarketing #smallbizguru
National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to sta National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to start the weekend!! Enjoy, and go find yourself some doughnuts 😋 🍩 
.
.
#smallbusiness #fridayfeeling #nationaldoughnutday
#smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #ins #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #inspirationalquotes
“And I’m proud to be an American, where at lea “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” - Lee Greenwood -
.
.
#memorialday #neverforget
We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some R&R, productivity . . . whatever your small business needs~
.
.
#smallbusiness #weekend #entrepreneur #fridayfeeling
Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #tips #entrepreneur #newsletter #smallbizguru
#smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquot #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquotes
Here's to a great week, small business owners! . . Here's to a great week, small business owners!
.
.
#smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #mondaymotivation
My Tweets
  • Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #newsletter #smallbizguru
    What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of What’s old is new again! How to stay in front of your smallbiz customers, in my latest @usatoday column. Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #customer #digitalmarketing #smallbizguru
    National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to sta National Doughnut Day on Friday?? Great way to start the weekend!! Enjoy, and go find yourself some doughnuts 😋 🍩 
.
.
#smallbusiness #fridayfeeling #nationaldoughnutday
    #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #ins #smallbusiness #tuesdaythoughts #entrepreneur #inspirationalquotes
    “And I’m proud to be an American, where at lea “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” - Lee Greenwood -
.
.
#memorialday #neverforget
    We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some We're heading into a long weekend! Here's to some R&R, productivity . . . whatever your small business needs~
.
.
#smallbusiness #weekend #entrepreneur #fridayfeeling
    Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tip Sign up for my newsletter - get small business tips and the latest info. sent straight to your inbox! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #tips #entrepreneur #newsletter #smallbizguru
  • Footer

    Our Products
    Instructor Central

    Privacy Policy
    Contact Us

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    Copyright © 2023 PlanningShop · All Rights Reserved · Site design by paulinaart

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. ACCEPT Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT