Rise in female-owned businesses

No one would disagree that recent statistics about growth in female-owned businesses are encouraging. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, “nationally, women-owned firms continue to grow at twice the rate of all firms. Between 1997 and 2006, the number of majority women-owned firms grew 42% to 7.7 million from 5.4 million, compared to all firms, which grew 23%.” The best part of it all is that 2007 predictions indicate that this trend shows no signs of slowing.

I worked for public relations firms in the heart of Manhattan for a long time amongst all of the hungry corporate executives who inhabit the island. It was when I moved to Pittsburgh that I made the decision to start my own company, Pascale Communications, a healthcare public relations firm. This was the boldest and riskiest move I have made in my professional career.

It was in Manhattan when I first learnt that the industry was so cutthroat where keen businessmen and women constantly battle to get to the top. I loved that about the industry, but I, as I’m sure many women feel in any city across the nation, definitely felt an added challenge in my workplace to rise to the top over male professionals. Most of this pressure, like many other women, I am sure I put on myself. However, I found that some clients (male and female) would gravitate to the male employees to ask questions and give the credit.

It always pleased me to see such a high population of women walking the streets of Manhattan in their tailored suits and on their blackberries. It is empowering as a female that throughout these added challenges, there is still this constant rise in the number of women reaching management positions, like Indra K. Nooyi who was recently named CEO of Pepsi, Co.

Challenges Starting Out

I went into my endeavor realistically knowing that I would still be working long, if not longer, hours to get the business up and running; knowing the struggle it would take to be successful as a female business owner; and quite frankly knowing that the business could fail.

Starting out was challenging for me, which is no surprise to anyone who has started their own company. I was extremely determined and hungry for business, which meant that nothing would stand in my way; especially being a female. Like all business owners first staring out, I worked harder than ever, which required countless “all nighters” to put together outstanding proposals for prospective clients. My hard work and determination garnered me enough accounts to put Pascale Communications in business.

I learnt many first hand struggles that I realize many women in my same position must face. While I had an unbelievable amount of support, there were still people (both men and women) who would comment on my endeavor saying things such as “that is a cute idea” or “try not to get eaten alive”. To me, comments such as those are insinuations that I was going to fail. In fact, I have even turned down business from a potential client who scrutinized me as a female business owner and said they would hire me as a ”favor” thinking I desperately needed the help. I was strong enough to say that I did not need their business that bad and had other clients that hired me because of my professional capabilities. I believe that was my biggest struggle starting off (and sometimes still come across), but have been overcoming these insinuations with my success.

One of the biggest situations in running my business where I find myself getting “stuck” continually as a small business owner is the process of hiring, training and managing employees. Like almost every other small business owner, I am very protective of my company and want employees who feel as passionate about the work and company as I do. This is one of the ways to attain employees who will want to create a long career with us and stay interested in Pascale Communications. I never want the ‘perfect’ employee; I have become realistic to the fact that there is no such thing and that people are ultimately going to do whatever they want no matter what benefits/perks that are provided to them. In addition, I have also learned that the imperfections in employees (and me for that matter) can be some of the best qualities to help keep my company moving in a positive direction and keep me on my toes. As a result, I am continually reinventing the managing and training processes and am also always open to taking resumes to have on hand because of the realistic fact that employees can come and go with no warning or reason. My biggest advice to those in my same position is to keep realistic expectations and to never stop thinking of ways to reinvent and improve the hiring, training and managing process.

Creative ways for business development

When deciding how I would run my company, I thought about what made me happy at work so I could strategize ways to parlay that into how I would run my business. I also wanted to think of a way to minimize costs, maximize outreach to accommodate clients and stand out from competing PR firms. As a result, I could not think of any other way except starting a completely virtual company. Luckily for me, my staff, and the industry I am in, this vision works extremely well.

As a female business owner, I also wanted to create an environment that was conducive to working mothers. Working from home offers flexibility in working hours and spending less money on suits! Finally, I loved the idea that my employees would also save time and money by not having to commute. With rising gas prices and the extra time it takes to sit in rush hour traffic, I hoped this would help avoid added stress and increase productivity in my employees. All in all, I felt this met my main goal of setting my firm apart from most others. I think it is invaluable for the client to know that their PR firm is nimble and accessible, and being virtual achieves those traits.

I believe the way I run my company is equivalent to any other company run by a male or female. Knowing the rising number in female-run businesses makes me feel not only empowered as a woman, but gives me stronger drive to work hard to succeed and continue growing my company. There is room for everyone to do this; male and female. In fact, I am sure men face certain challenges that I do not.

Pascale Communications is now over two years old with quadruple the client base, and quadruple in size. My success has been attributed to my determination and the people I surround myself with. It’s as easy as that.