Mashable posed the question: ‘Is today’s business environment more aspiring for female entrepreneurs?’ Take a look at the points below and let us know whether you think they’re true or not.
1. ‘Virtual workplaces and digitally mobile lifestyles give aspiring women entrepreneurs the flexibility to achieve the balance between work and family. Digital tools mean that women can now build a business from home and create unique work schedules.’
2. ‘Women possess strong communication skills and social intelligence. The digital economy requires these skills, and women enjoy a slight edge over their male counterparts’
3. ‘Women prefer lower risk. The digital age offers a wealth of low-risk opportunities. Ventures like blogging, web-based services, ecommerce and software development require smaller upstart costs than manufacturing-based, brick and mortar type businesses. Cloud-based tools and virtual workforces further lower the cost of entry, making the idea of starting a business more feasible and/or palatable for risk-averse entrepreneurs.’
4. ‘Women make good listeners. This translates to several advantages for the entrepreneur, who can better attune herself to customer needs and build more effective teams of employees, contractors and partners. In fact, many women entrepreneurs often describe building their business as building a team.’
5. Women collaborate. A 2009 Time magazine article by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay says, “[Women are] consensus builders, conciliators and collaborators, and they employ what is called a transformational leadership style — heavily engaged, motivational, extremely well suited for the emerging, less hierarchical workplace.”
[Image courtesy of sxs112.tw]
