—Amelia Earhart, the first woman to cross the Atlantic by plane and the first female pilot to make solo transatlantic and transpacific flights¹

—Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop²

I want to start this chapter with a story that relates to businesswomen in the world marketplace. Forty years ago, Harvard Professor Theodore Levitt was conducting a case discussion in his marketing class about a person’s rise in the workplace. The fact that the person in this particular case was a woman was disguised to the students, who were predominantly men. After a long brainstorming discussion, Professor Levitt finally told the class that the protagonist in the case was a woman: “Boys, you’d better wake up now, because there are going to be more and more women in management, and they’re going to have an edge. You fellows are going to be so competitive with each other that the thought of collaboration [with women] is never going to cross your minds. Women will come in willing and able and ready, and you’re going to lose.”³

Let’s face it: “Women . . . really and truly do rule!” as put by my colleagues Tom Peters and Marti Barletta.⁴ If you pretend they are invisible, look again. They are dynamic, cutting-edge players in the current age of entrepreneurship, beating the odds and epitomizing bootstrap success. They need to be recognized for who they are, what they do, and how significantly they impact the global economy. To maximize their complete business potential, women need help in expanding internationally. This notion is not just that it’s good for business but that it’s good for the global economy—and citizens of the world are finally waking up to it. “[Big businesses are] fundamentally seeing that entrepreneurs, women especially, are really the key to our global and sustainable future,” says entrepreneur, investor, and media personality Ingrid Vanderveldt.⁵ Make no mistake, these globe-trotting women are not leaning in, as Sheryl Sandberg says in her book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead ⁶; they are leaping in by choice. As Babson Professor Candida Brush says, “It is impossible to be an entrepreneur by leaning—you have to commit, take risks and take action.”⁷ Surely, and I speak from experience, leaping in is a vital prerequisite to entering the export marketplace.

According to the National Women’s Business Council, there are more than 8.6 million women-owned businesses in the United States alone, generating $3 trillion annually in receipts.⁸ It is no secret as to why there are more and more women starting businesses in America. In early 2003, I wrote an ­article called “Escape from Corporate America” for Across the Board, the ­magazine of the Conference Board.⁹ In it, I talked about the reasons why women were abandoning corporate America to strike out on their own. Many of the inspiring women business owners mentioned in the article—Sara Blakely, who opened the body-shaper company Spanx (http://www.spanx.com) and Maxine Clark, who began Build-a-Bear Workshop (http://www.buildabear.com/), for example—have successfully expanded their businesses internationally. How? By having what is required to take on the world. It’s not just good collaboration skills that have brought them this far. It’s a slew of other great characteristics that women possess, such as being more risk averse (i.e., less likely to throw the dice on making a decision); being more sensitive to losses; being less prone to toot their own horn (putting the other person first); being more prone to emphasis; and having a tendency to take a long-term view on business matters.

In this chapter, one that is dear to my heart, I’ll address the state of women business owners, their impact on the world economy, and the issues that confront women business owners who are actively exporting or planning to engage in global trade. I’ll also address the special characteristics women bring to the international business table, how those characteristics can be used as a competitive tool in export business, and how women can succeed in exporting.

Women Take On the World

The timing has never been better for businesswomen to get out of their own backyards and transition from local, regional, or niche-market players into global players. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s: 2012 Women’s Report,¹⁰ in which entrepreneurial activity in sixty-seven economies around the world is monitored, there are more than 126 million women entrepreneurs worldwide. An estimated 98 million women are running established businesses—which are ripe for growth through exporting. In nearly 10 percent of the countries surveyed for the report—Panama, Thailand, Ghana, Ecuador, Nigeria, and Uganda—women have higher levels of entrepreneurship than men. The GEM report also predicts that women will account for employment growth: it claims that in the next five years, 7 million female entrepreneurs and 5 million female established business owners will grow their businesses by at least six employees.

Between one-quarter and one-third of the world’s businesses are now owned by women. Despite the fact that the global market presents a huge opportunity for women to advance their careers and impact the world of business, “in 2007, only 20,000 of the nearly eight million women-owned firms exported. But the women-owned businesses that did export had a lot to be proud of: selling more than $15 billion in products and reporting an average $767,000 in exported goods or services that translates to 5 percent of all receipts,” says my colleague Barbara Kasoff, president and CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). ¹¹

The data doesn’t stop there. Here’s more from the latest US Census Bureau’s Ownership Characteristics of Classifiable U.S. Exporting Firms: Survey of Business Owners Special Report on the impact exporting has on women-owned firms:

• Women-owned, nonexporting firms’ average receipts were $117,036 compared to $14.5 million for women-owned exporting firms.
• Women-owned, nonexporting firms employ on average 8 employees; the comparable number for women-owned exporting employer firms was 42.
• Women-owned, nonexporter’s average productivity (i.e., receipts per employee) was $107,288; the comparable calculation for women-owned employer exporters was $389,757.¹²

It is evident that through export activities, women-owned firms grow more rapidly, hire more people, create more jobs, and are more productive.

The tentative release schedule of the US Census Bureau’s 2012 Survey of Business Owners is June 2015, so be on the lookout for it.

Women-owned businesses offer a promising opportunity to increase American export activity. Yet, women owners of export-oriented small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) face unique challenges and opportunities, many of which begin at the start-up stage of a business. To help eliminate those challenges, government policy makers have tailored initiatives and programs in their respective countries to best serve women entrepreneurs. The Gem report outlines two of these programs—one that targets initiatives that provide women entrepreneurs with equal access to opportunities, as suppliers of goods and services worldwide, and the other program, designing educational and training programs for women entrepreneurs that go beyond the start-up stage and focus on growth (through exporting, for example).

Issues Confronting Women Business Owners Who Currently Export or Plan to Export

In early 2012, the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs asked me to write an article called “Women Entrepreneurs Energize Economies.” In it, I talk about my experience in starting and running a global business. The key point I make not only applies to starting a business but also to exporting: “To gain self-confidence and overcome inhibiting social attitudes, women need to network continuously, support each other, look for role models, update their knowledge and skills as well as have a clear vision of what they wish to accomplish.”¹³ My esteemed colleague Dr. Marsha Firestone, founder and president of the Women Presidents’ Organization, adds to that, saying: “Social conventions often discourage women from pursuing entrepreneurial activities. Additionally, the lack of outside investments women-owned and led businesses receive puts them at an immediate revenue disadvantage compared to their male counterparts. Barriers aside, however, there has never been a better time to be a woman entrepreneur on a global scale.”¹⁴

Based on my experience running a successful global business and serving as a consultant to countless global women business owners, my observations indicate that women entrepreneurs must condition themselves to be risk oriented, innovative, and proactive (RIP)in order to achieve any reasonable level of success in the export marketplace. Like everyone else, they must also achieve five things before venturing out beyond borders (much of which has already been covered in previous chapters): becoming ready mentally, particularly emotionally; being ready operationally; having run a successful local business; knowing how to use the latest technology; and having a business with export potential.

Also, in my view, a perceived lack of credibility is the number one barrier for women doing business globally. This perceived deficiency lack makes it difficult for women to access markets, market information, and establish relationships. If you don’t already have an influential person in your life who can tout your capabilities, find one and cultivate the relationship.

Lack of access to capital is also a serious problem for women business owners in the global marketplace, which causes an inability to scale their operations and garner greater market share. While male and female business owners alike face barriers to obtaining sufficient and affordable capital to start or acquire a venture, lack of access to credit and the ability to make use of it remains the number one obstacle to US women entrepreneurs starting and expanding their businesses. The Small Business Administration says, “According to the Urban Institute, SBA loans are 3 to 5 times more likely to go to women and minority owned businesses than conventional loans. And since President Obama took office, SBA has supported more than $12 billion in lending through more than 35,000 SBA loans to women-owned businesses.”¹⁵

In spite of that, many women still finance their start-ups or businesses using credit cards, personal savings, second mortgages, or with the help of family and friends. That means that without special financing programs for women’s ventures, only women who have savings or friends with savings can become entrepreneurs, let alone export. Much work has to be done in this area to resolve the problem so women entrepreneurs can be on equal footing with men.

Training is another obstacle for women business owners who aspire to grow, especially into international markets. How does a woman get the appropriate training to trade outside her own local area? This book is a start. In addition, online resources such as the “Office of Women’s Business Ownership” page on the SBA Web site (http://www.sba.gov/about-offices-content/1/2895); US Export Assistance Centers (http://www.sba.gov/content/us-exports-assistance-centers); the Women’s Business Development Center (https://www.wbdc.org/); the “Export NOW” page on the Women Impacting Public Policy site (http://www.wipp.org/?page=ExportNOW); and a page listing scholarships and certifications on the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) site (http://www.wbenc.org/Opportunities/Global-Business-Initiatives/) offer research, webinars, podcasts, and videos on growing a business through exports. Women need to consult with their export dream team—their professional banker, logistics expert, international accountant, and lawyer—for advice on minimizing the challenges that come with exporting into new and unfamiliar markets.

Before the Internet, women had a difficult time getting access to markets and networking or finding like-minded individuals with whom they could end their isolation, share challenges, and gain access to strategic information. Now, however, there are hundreds of women-centric online community forums readily available and designed specifically for women business owners who desire to connect with women the world over, acquire knowledge, develop enriching relationships, and keep learning and growing. Dell has the Women Powering Business Network (http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/04/women-powering-business); IBM has the Women-Owned Businesses SME Toolkit (http://us.smetoolkit.org/us/en/category/3201/Women-owned-Businesses); and PNC has the Women Entrepreneurs and Executives Who Achieve (https://www.pnc.com/webapp/unsec/ProductsAndService.do?siteArea=/PNC/Home/Small+Business/Women+in+Business/Achievers/Women+Who+Achieve).

Special Characteristics Women Bring to the International Business Arena

With women starting and growing businesses at a record rate, they are or will become a major force in the export marketplace. Even though the business world demands that we leave a lot of unworkable behaviors and attitudes behind, the emotional sensitivity and the capacity for human connectedness usually attributed to women can be very useful in overseas business negotiations. To win their colleagues’ confidence and respect, the key element for women is to stick to a complex business agenda and never deviate. Based on my experience and observations, let’s have a look at the interpersonal habits that women have traditionally been encouraged to cultivate and how absolutely indispensable they are in international business. Note: These are general impressions, not absolutes, and many characteristics will also apply to men.

• We tend to be more attentive and supportive toward others. We are socialized to give care and support to the people close to us, and we often extend this caretaking impulse to people outside our family circle. This trait can serve you well in an export business, too. You wouldn’t want to upset or offend a foreign associate, and it’s not possible to tell what will offend anyway. All you can do is be gentle, gracious, and respectful, and let your colleagues guide you. When they see that you are committed to their comfort and happiness, they’re likely to forgive any minor blunders and keep negotiations moving forward.
• We study people, “read” their behavior, and make ­judgments. We’re concerned about why people do and say what they do. We do this because we want to act effectively in the interpersonal world. We’ve developed an instinct for ­taking accurate readings in a hurry and acting accordingly. Trust that instinct. Where language and cultural barriers hinder communications, it might be all you have. Don’t let anyone disparage your impressions because you can’t ­produce empirical proof. They’re based on a lifetime’s experience, and that’s all the proof you need.
• We typically have patience and a capacity for forgiveness. The international business arena belongs to people who can give others the benefit of the doubt and let misunderstandings slide. Frustration, discomfort, and embarrassing social gaffes are the rule rather than the exception when you’re conducting a complex transaction in a strange environment. Women who export stand fast through good and bad times and ultimately can bring out the best in their foreign colleagues.
• We have been conditioned to follow etiquette and appropriate social behavior. Understanding foreign cultures, customs, and protocol is absolutely essential for anyone who wants to succeed overseas. You can’t afford not to learn the local system. If you don’t make yourself acceptable, you won’t do business. When you’re traveling the globe, you might find yourself beating drums, eating with your hands, even bathing with your associates! The next day you and those same people are in on a grueling round of negotiations and you realize that you’re working together better than you dreamed possible. When you respect foreign ways, it’s noticed—and appreciated.
• We generally have an intuitive knowledge of how to converse with interesting and thoughtful questions, and when we have in-person meetings, we pay close attention to a person’s facial expressions and body language. We also know when to give the floor to someone else if we’ve been talking too much.
• We are raised to be charming and pleasant to be around. Our sincerity and willingness to offer a conciliatory smile can save the day when things get awkward or even outright nasty. Foreign associates appreciate charm, so smile graciously—but stay on track. And don’t indulge in humor. You never know if foreign associates get the joke, or how they’ll take it. Just because they’re laughing doesn’t mean they’re amused. It means they’re watching what you do and going along with it to keep from rocking the boat. Spare your associates the discomfort—everybody’s more comfortable when you stick to business. You can still entertain by storytelling. I do this quite often. It’s one of the oldest, purest ways to communicate and always puts people at ease.
• We take a collaborative approach in our relationships and know how to build them to get business done. Women are ready, willing, and able to connect with people to develop win-win situations.

The lucrative and wide-open world of export business is the businesswoman’s natural habitat. Our gentler qualities are powerful assets that can transform the way the world does business. “Nonsense!” you might say. “Foreign businessmen don’t take women seriously!” It’s certainly intimidating to head over to a country where, in some instances, women are forced to walk ten paces behind their husbands, but take heart. Many savvy international businesswomen have been pleasantly surprised by their reception in the business arena and have discovered the following perceptions about them to be significant reasons for their welcome:

1. They’re still a novelty. Because businesswomen are unusual in some countries, they are highly visible. Think about it—there’s something unremarkable about men doing business, domestically or overseas. So when a woman enters the business world, it automatically stands out. She gets attention—and deservedly so—for her confidence and professionalism as well as her gender. Use your status as a relative novelty to your advantage. Be confident, act confidently, and know your stuff. Then do what you came for.
2. They’re educated. Even in countries where women are indisputably second-class citizens, educated women command respect.
3. North American women are known for seeking top ­management positions and aspiring to break through what is commonly referred to as the “glass ceiling.” This perception gives them a particular advantage in international business. The thinking is that in struggling against the invisible barriers to advancement, these women have had to become superbly competent, creative, and resourceful—all of which adds up to an exceptionally fine businessperson.

America continues to stand for equality and for a strong work ethic. People expect Americans, men and women, to be smart, gutsy, and aggressive, and to mean business. An American businesswoman overseas tends to be viewed first as an American, then as a representative of her own or someone else’s company, and lastly as a woman. So, an American global businesswoman can hope in most places to be understood and respected on her own terms—and the more women who export and make the global arena their own, the better the chance of shattering that glass ceiling for good!

My fellow women readers, if you still find yourself feeling intimidated, call on the old-fashioned “masculine” qualities of single-mindedness, confidence, and determination. First of all, remember that you must have a product they want or you wouldn’t be there. Second, put your knowledge on the table. Look your associates in the eye and tell them what you know. No need to be an arrogant know-it-all; just state your case and stand your ground. Natural confidence commands respect. Finally, if you stay focused on doing the job you flew halfway around the world to do, nobody else can stop you.

A woman business owner who exports is a whole human being. She calls on both masculine and feminine traits and can be both gentle and ­powerful at the same time. She knows how to adapt her interpersonal instincts to fit smoothly into the professional environment and how to show authority and inspire confidence without intimidating and alienating others. A woman business owner who exports adds value to any business, whether it’s her own or that of her home corporation—pushing limits, shaking things up, competing vigorously in the world marketplace, and making the world a better place in which to live.

Building a Global Empire via the Internet

When it comes to developing social or e-commerce platforms, women might have the edge. Why? Women use a universal language that everyone can understand—the language of conducting business with high integrity and honesty—and they are apt to carry a stronger emotional quotient than men, which can be invaluable for striving to make things perfect and accessible to the everyday Jane or Joe. According to the blog posting “Are Women Leaders Better than Men?” on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network: “Specifically, at all levels, women are rated higher [than men] in fully 12 of the 16 competencies that go into outstanding leadership.”¹⁷ That entails everything from taking initiative, to displaying high integrity and honesty, to solving problems and analyzing issues. A women’s attitude is: If my mom or grandma can figure this e-commerce platform out and like it, the whole world will too. And in most instances, they are likely to be right.

Here’s one example of a woman taking advantage of social media to start her own multimillion-dollar business and reach customers: At a mere twenty-nine years of age, the contrarian thinker, capitalist, and CEO of Nasty Gal (http://www.nastygal.com) Sophia Amoruso built her fashion retail empire in just seven years from zero to $240 million by starting an eBay vintage store and then developing it into her own e-commerce site. She named the company after jazz legend Miles Davis’s second wife, the funk and R&B singer Betty Davis, who produced an album of the same title.¹⁸ Her company sells edgy, retro-inspired stylish clothes, shoes, and accessories at reasonable prices to a loyal customer base of young women worldwide.¹⁹

What are her secrets to success? First and foremost, she went with her gut instincts on her business decisions. She has a good business model: She buys hip clothing dirt cheap and resells it on her site at a sizable profit margin (for example, she resold a Channel leather jack she found for $8 at a Salvation Army on her site for $1,000). She uses approachable clothing models that everyone can relate to and applies her own styling to the photos of them. She has developed an intense social media presence (via Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, for example) among her audience to keep them actively engaged. Her clothes allow her user base of independent young women to dream yet also make their dreams a reality through their purchases. She puts every penny of profit she makes right back into the business, carrying zero debt. And when asked by the Wall Street Journalwhat she thinks has set her apart from others, Amoruso’s simple response was, “Nasty Gal really emerged from a conversation. I’ve probably spent more time than any other brand reading every last comment. To listen to people the way you’re able to online is very powerful. I think other companies are just starting to figure that out.”²⁰

Summary

The current rise of woman-owned businesses in our country has the potential to have a significant impact on American competitiveness. Women the world over should celebrate the unique qualities that make them born leaders in the global marketplace.

As my friend and esteemed colleague Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), says: “Women who become successful entrepreneurs need to be celebrated and held up as role models for other women. This is a powerful tool in helping to reshape the mindset of women in terms of visualizing what is possible.”²¹ Regardless of race, age, gender, religion, education, locale, or income status, everyone must have equal opportunity to participate in the export marketplace.

My final message to fellow women business owners: Yes, there will be challenges and, yes, you will work hard because you are put to a different test than men. Enjoy and cultivate yourself, love what you do, and plot your own export course. Only good things will follow.

¹ Women Who Changed the World: Fifty Inspirational Women Who Shaped History (London: Smith-Davies, 2006), 110.

² Anita Roddick, “It’s All Our Business,” in The Book of Management Wisdom: Classic Writings by Legendary Managers, ed. Peter Krass (New York: Wiley, 2000), 251.

³ “Ted Levitt Changed My Life,” Harvard Business School: Working Knowledge; the Thinking that Leads, December 7, 2008, http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6054.html.

⁴ Martha Barletta and Tom Peters, Trends: Recognize, Analyze, Capitalize (London: DK Publishing, 2005), 12.

⁵ Miles Kohrman, “Can Women Entrepreneurs Make Bureaucracy a Word of the Past?,” Fast Company, accessed June 21, 2013, http://www.fastcompany.com/3012900/creative-conversations/can-women-entrepreneurs-make-bureaucracy-a-word-of-the-past.

⁶ Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (New York: Knopf, 2013).

⁷ Candida Brush, “‘Leaning In’ Is Not Enough: Women Entrepreneurs Need to ‘Leap In,’” Forbes, accessed April 13, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/babson/2013/04/13/leaning-in-is-not-enough-women-entrepreneurs-need-to-leap-in/.

⁸ Rose Wang, “A Momentous Step to Shrink the Contracting Gender Gap,” National Women’s Business Council, accessed November 7, 2013, http://www.nwbc.gov/content/momentous-step-shrink-contracting-gender-gap.

⁹ Laurel Delaney, “Escape from Corporate America,” Across the Board: The Conference Board Magazine of Ideas and Opinion, March/April 2003, 39–43.

¹⁰ Donna J. Kelley, Candida G. Brush, Patricia G. Greene, Yana Litovsky, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2012 Women’s Report, 2013, http://www.gemconsortium.org/docs/2825/gem-2012-womens-report.

¹¹ Barbara Kasoff, “Women in the Market: Going Global—Fast and NOW!,” Enterprising Women, http://online.enterprisingwomen.com/Vizion5/viewer.aspx?shareKey=bxJbwY.

¹² US Census Bureau, Ownership Characteristics of Classifiable U.S. Exporting Firms: Survey of Business Owners Special Report, June 2012, http://www2.census.gov/econ/sbo/07/sbo_export_report.pdf.

¹³ Laurel Delaney, “Women Entrepreneurs Energize Economies,” IIP Digital, March 1, 2012, http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2012/03/20120301135847jezrdna0.1726757.html#axzz2jyxqxZDU.

¹⁴ “How to Conquer the Global Economy,” Marsha Firestone, PhD, Enterprising Women Magazine, 2013, 24–25.

¹⁵ Karen Mills, “Women’s History Month: A Bright Future For Women-Owned Small Businesses,” SBA.gov, accessed March 11, 2013, http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/women%E2%80%99s-history-month-bright-future-women-owned-small-businesses.

¹⁶ Geri Stengel, “Why Crowdfunding Is a Game-Change for Women Entrepreneurs,” Forbes, accessed January 30, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/geristengel/2013/01/30/why-crowdfunding-is-a-game-change-for-women-entrepreneurs/.

¹⁷ “Are Women Better Leaders than Men?,” blog entry by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, Harvard Business Review: HBR Blog Network, last modified March 15, 2012, http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/03/a-study-in-leadership-women-do/.

¹⁸ “Betty Davis: A ‘Nasty Gal’ ahead of Her Time,” Meredith Ochs, October 26, 2009, NPR Music, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114171958.

¹⁹ “Shop by Currency,” Nasty Gal, accessed November 7, 2013, http://www.nastygal.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/localization.home.

²⁰ John Ortved, “Sophia Amoruso Expands Nasty Gal,” Wall Street Journal, last modified August 22, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324354704578637870086589666.html.

²¹ “International Women’s Day Q&A with CIPE Board Chair Karen Kerrigan,” blog entry by Karen Kerrigan, CIPE Development Blog, accessed March 8, 2013, http://www.cipe.org/blog/2013/03/08/international-womens-day-qa-with-karen-kerrigan/.