Women-owned firms made up only 19.9% of all firms that employed people in the United States in 2018 but their numbers are growing. There were 6,861 more women-owned firms in 2018 than in 2017, up 0.6% to 1.1 million, according to the Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (ABS).

Our guest is Darlene Ziebell. As her LinkedIn profile states,

Darlene is a veteran entrepreneur, Board Director, CEO, and Management Consultant. Her unique methodology brings the entrepreneurs fire and passion and successfully proven business techniques that give business owners a greater chance of success. She uses her enterprise-wide level of experience as a Fortune 100 management consultant and her entrepreneurship to provide a unique blend of business talent.

Women and men can successfully own businesses. Darlene covers the top elements needed for successful business ownership.

Often individuals are encouraged to create a business as a spinoff of a hobby or specialized skill. First, they need to understand how/if that hobby can actually become a saleable item. But at what point does an entrepreneur need to shift their focus from a fun hobby and create a “real” business plan, with financing, structure, and possibly even leading to the hiring of employees?

There are so many challenges working against women to be business owners. Darlene discusses what led her to business ownership and how did she beat those challenges. How can women be successful as business owners?

Darlene has a very unique story about networking, and how she considers it to be most important to grow a business. And we get more information about the “Center for Women Business Owners” and other organizations that support female entrepreneurs.

85% of all startups fail before year five – a statistic that hasn’t changed in over two decades. Business owners need to stay on top of information that will support their organization.

In her book, “A Dozen Avalanches”, Darlene discusses “building a foundation” for a company – a team of experienced individuals to support your company. For example, experts in strategic planning, an executive coach, HR consultants, marketing experts, accounting, banking, legal, even a private investigator.

That is a huge number of consultants, equaling a lot of money!

Darlene answers the question of why a small business needs all of this support, how do they finance it, and most importantly what could happen if they don’t build this team.

Money is the top issue for every business. When Darlene built her companies over the years, she talks about the need for evening the playing field for access to funds, and who was willing to finance a small start-up.

“A current employee today can become tomorrow’s competitor.” Employers need skilled employees – even more so in today’s workplace. An employer can't do every task, or the company will never grow. But bringing on other individuals into a business can be messy. What's the solution?

There are pros and cons in utilizing social media and online communications in a business. Darlene talks about what she has found to work well. And what she sees for the future for businesses’ online presence like online workshops, Zoom Meetings, YouTube videos, even podcasts.

Be sure to make it through to the end to hear some final “words of wisdom."

Learn more about Darlene here.

Why would you want Darlene working with you? The answer is here!

We mentioned numerous resources to help your business grow.

We would love to hear from you.

Email us at hello@lookingforwardourway.com.

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And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.