Women: Natural Entrepreneurs?

The author of a blog dedicated to earning passive income online recently wrote about the strength of women entrepreneurs in a post titled Why Women Do So Well Starting Businesses.  I can't find a name on the site, but judging by the site design, content, and writing style, I'm guessing this blogger is male.

He claims women are predisposed to be great "entrepreneurettes" -- as I've dubbed them -- for several reasons.

1. Historically women have been independent (managing the home alone) while men have been off working in groups (hunting, fighting, etc.)
   ....he seems to be asserting that self-starting is now in our genes or social fabric.
2. Women are more comfortable asking for help.
3. Women are more accustomed to tasks that are "meticulous and repetitive."
   The author cites food preparation and sewing. I think a better description is "detail oriented."
4. Women have more experience facing adversity. 

The underlying thesis is that all of the above traits or skills are useful and/or necessary to start and run a business.  My question for other women: What do you think of this blogger's assessment?  What other gender-specific traits or experiences present advantages or disadvantages for women entrepreneurs?

Empty Me

"...of the selfishness inside, every vain ambition, and the poison of my pride..."

Next Stop: Rotterdam, Netherlands

Almost exactly one year since I last visited Holland, I'll touch down once again in the flat, beautiful, windmill-dotted lowlands just three weeks from today.  My arrival in the Netherlands will mark the beginning of a multi-continental voyage sure to be filled with adventure, challenges, camaraderie, and memorable experiences.

In case you didn't hear...

Belmont University has a team that has qualified for the final round of the 2012 Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Worldwide Case competition in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
College of Business Administration students Ayesha Ghaffar, Rami Nofal, Jordan Holt and Shirah Foy will compete at the Kralingse Zoom in Rotterdam from Feb. 26 to March 2. They are among the “10 best teams in the world”  who will face off at NIBS to come up with solutions for a strategic business problem. Each team will have four hours to prepare a case without outside help. Their presentations will be assessed by a jury of professional and academic experts.
This will be the second international business case competition for Belmont’s team, which previously participated in the Eighth Annual Center for International Business Education and Research Case Challenge in October.
Click here to read more on the 2012 NIBS Worldwide Case competition.

I have had the pleasure to work with one of my teammates, Rami Nofal, over the past few years as we've helped build up Belmont's International Business Society.  Rami is our team's macro-economic specialist, while Ayesha is the finance whiz, Jordan brings great marketing skills and creative thinking, and I'm the "pull it all together" person.  It's been so much fun working with all of them, and I'm so excited that our wonderful, always-encouraging faculty advisor, Dr. Marieta Velikova, will be accompanying us to the finals!

There is much more than scholarly activities on the itinerary - this is sure to be an amazing networking opportunity, filled with sightseeing, great conversations, myriad learning experiences, and international business exposure.  What a neat opportunity to participate in such a competition during my last semester!

A Few 'Lies' & the Truth About Creativity

I have more than enough work to keep me busy 24 hours day for the next several months, but if there's one thing I learned last semester, it's this:  A little time to reflect, relax, and simply think renews my enthusiasm for my work and sends my productivity skyrocketing.

Jon Acuff

So before I start the two papers I will write this afternoon, I want to share a few words of wisdom that I
heard yesterday during Jon Acuff's visit to Belmont.  Jon is the guy who started a blog called Stuff Christians Like - a hilarious spin-off of the comical Stuff White People Like blog.  But beyond making a name for himself in the blog world (Belmont's write-up of the event stated that Jon's blog is read by "2 million people in over 97 percent of the countries in the world"), Jon has authored a few books and honed his talent for public speaking. He was brought to campus this week by Belmont's Center for Entrepreneurship to speak on Five Lies Entrepreneurs Should Ignore for Success.

I was laughing too hard to write down or remember all five of the "lies", but there were certainly a few points that stuck out for me.

Success

To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!
     - Emerson

One Last Lesson in 2011

I've always pushed myself academically, physically, psychologically, intellectually, and professionally; not because I've felt pressure from others to do so, but simply because I know that I am capable of doing more and doing better.  It's only right, I feel.  My thinking is that if I've been given the ability to do something, then I should give it my best effort. Giving it anything less would be ungrateful.

Operating under such a theory can get you pretty far, but there comes a point when you realize you're just doing too much - or at least too much to be effective in any one pursuit.  And toward the end of 2011, this is the point I reached. My schedule had me spread too thin to do much of anything very well, and I was no longer able to put as much effort as I wanted into any one task because there was always a list of thirty more behind it, all needing to be completed by sundown.  The self-inflicted pressure has started to wear on me, to say the least, and I've realized during the past few weeks that I need to stop feeling guilty about taking a little time to relax.  In fact, I've found that some time off during the past few days has rejuvenated me and boosted my motivation and productivity during work time.

One evening in mid-December it hit me that I only have about a month to get my grad school applications together, and that's on top of starting my last semester and finishing my thesis, as well as preparing for job interviews (in case I don't get into either graduate program).

Welcome to the New, Flat World

Thomas Friedman, political journalist--turned 21st century philosopher, brings us his thought-provoking thesis on globalization in this video from MIT. 
I've read several chapters of his revolutionary book, The World is Flat, as well as most of another, The Lexus and the Olive Tree.

 

In an Information Systems for Business course I took last semester, I was challenged to think about the following questions while listening to Friedman's lecture. These are themes I'd been periodically mulling over for a while, so I welcomed this opportunity to draw a few conclusions and support them with anecdotes from my own experience.

What does a flattened world mean for you as a student looking for employment in the near future? 
A flattened world puts each of us as individuals in direct competition with the rest of the world for jobs. As Thomas Friedman mentioned, everything can be (and is being) outsourced.