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A 12-slide show summarizing research among women business owners in the US looking at the relationship between desire for work-life balance and business growth
Citation preview
A Connotation for Control: Women Business Owners
Seeking Balance AND Growth
2008 ISBE Conference Belfast, Northern Ireland
Julie R. WeeksPresident & CEO
Womenable
A Closer Look at a Unique Population
▲Women business owners seeking to grow their firms to the million-dollar level
▲“M3” initiative launched in 2006; size of community has grown from 15,000 to 60,000 in just the past year
▲Two online surveys: August 2007, April 2008
Three Key Questions (I)
Are women who seek to grow their enterprises to the million-dollar level concerned at all with the issue of work-life balance?
Three Key Questions (II)
How do balance-seekers differ from others in terms of personal/business characteristics and level of focus on growth?
Three Key Questions (III)
Do women business owners who are seeking or who have achieved greater work-life balance grow their firms at a different pace, or do their accomplishments lag those of others?
Greater Balance Most Prevalent Reason for Starting Firm
Less So, But Still #1 Even Among Larger Firms
Those Seeking Balance More Likely to be Married, Have Children at Home
* Pre-school, primary, secondary school aged
Balance-Seeking Not a Corporate Refuge Nor an On-Ramping Strategy
Seeking Greater Work-Life Balance Does Not Lessen Focus on Growth
Balance-Seekers Equal Achievements of Others
Achieving Greater Balance Does Not Dampen Business Growth
Level of Balance Achievement
Conclusions
▲Even women seeking to grow their enterprises desire greater balance in their lives
▲Quest for greater work-life balance IS related to life-stage
▲Neither desire for nor achievement of greater work-life balance negatively impacts business accomplishments
Implications▲Is ‘balance’ a connotation for ‘control’?
▲Has the growth of women-owned firms been dampened by a misunderstanding of terminology, incorrect assumptions about desire, capacity for growth?
▲Support for women business owners should examine ways to be supportive of growth goals in ways that are complementary to issues of ‘work-life balance’
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