Business Networking and Sex - Ivan Misner [23]
Many female entrepreneurs—and, in fact, a growing number of young male entrepreneurs—deliberately limit the growth of their businesses to allow themselves time to pursue interests beyond the office. They want to spend time with their family, church, or in their community, or pursue other personal interests such as hobbies or travel.
Erin Albert, author of Single. Women. Entrepreneurs., has this to add: “Women, especially Generations X and Y, want to make their business and personal lives and aspirations work more in harmony. Because of this, they choose to limit the size of their businesses and not pursue outside funding from investors or loans to fuel more growth.”
It is my experience from years of coaching women and men that the definition of what is important is the major cause of friction, not to mention all-out roadblocks, in networking between genders. I also believe it is responsible for the reason women feel that they are not taken seriously by the men they network with. Respondents reflect on these experiences here:
Men do not always display respect for women in networking situations.
When a woman stands up to say that she sells skin care and color cosmetics, or that she offers in-home designer clothing shopping so you can comfortably acquire purchases in your living room with friends rather than fighting the crowds at the mall, there are often groans, snickers, or mumbled comments from men in the room. Whether they are simply joking to each other about not wanting to give their wives another reason to spend hard-earned money or downgrading the profession of the woman speaking is not clear. It does, however, come across as a disrespectful, nonsupportive environment, whether or not it’s the men’s intention.
The men in my network read what Erin Albert and Jeff Cornwell had to say and further justified not taking women seriously with these additional assumptions:
• They must not be the primary breadwinner for the family;
• The don’t take their business seriously;
• It is only a part-time hobby, not a businesses;
• They must have other sources of income.
Automatically the men wrote off those women, assuming they were not serious about their businesses. Contrary to the casual-seeming style of a social business like the home shopping party, these companies can and do really thrive. One such example is Denise Praul of Accurate Tax Management (http://accuratetaxmgmt.com). Hers is considered a lifestyle business, which she takes very seriously. Because she is a single woman who can do what she wishes, she shapes the business to conform to her life. It is her primary business and she does quite well. Further kudos to her; she is the only professional in her state with her credentials, having earned rights for certifications that normally only government employees get. She applied for years for this opportunity and was finally awarded the privilege to take the classes last year.
Guys, What Seems to Be the Problem?
Men just create problems for themselves when they fail to recognize and respect other business professionals. The narrow-minded perception of only applauding a business that has the same goals as one’s own is unfortunate. Because some of these businesses revolve around a different business model (social or in-home selling), and utilize more of the word-of-mouth and chitchat skills to create a sales presentation, men do not recognize them as important because those aren’t the skills they value. Too bad they can’t see that at the end of the “gathering” phase, there are acquisition, production, and cold-hard-cash benefits to be gained.
Mary Kay Cosmetics is a perfect example of a business that men tend to not take seriously or recognize as worthy. Though the business is privately owned and does not release financial information, some stats are available on Wikipedia