1. Access to external sources of inspiration and knowledge
2. Self-respect and self-confidence

You can sit around and wait for someone to empower you, or you can take the bull by the horns and take action to empower yourself. I will always vote for the latter of the two because it gives you more control over your entrepreneurial destiny.

Although women own nearly 30 percent of U.S. small businesses (according to the Status of Women in the United States website), I find that many of us still struggle with accepting it’s OK to seek empowerment on our own. We often think of it as something that is handed to us. That doesn’t seem very empowering to me!

So, what can women entrepreneurs (and men, too) do to boost our level of empowerment and reach our personal and professional potential?

1. Recognize what knowledge and skills you lack, and find tools and resources to increase your proficiency.

This requires a commitment to honestly assessing your strengths and weaknesses. After you’ve done that, actively seek blogs, books, webinars, podcasts, conferences, mentors, and other resources that will help you get up to speed.

2. Align yourself with positive people (professionally and personally).

I cannot emphasize enough how much this affects morale and motivation. Chronically negative people drain your energy and enthusiasm. When they direct their skepticism and sarcasm at you and your endeavors, they deplete your self-confidence and leave you feeling defeated. As much as possible, minimize your exposure to them so you can fill your life with people who truly care about you and who will encourage rather than discourage you.

3. When you meet people who exude empowerment, ask them if they’ll share their insight about attaining that level of confidence.

I’ve found most people who have an empowered aura about them are immensely gracious and open to sharing about how they’ve helped themselves. I encourage you to reach out to them for inspiration. Even though their approach may not work with precision for you, you will no doubt take away some valuable ideas to apply in your own quest for empowerment.

4. Start the day on a note of gratitude.

I make it a point to devote a few minutes every day to consciously thinking about everything I have to be thankful for. What better way to get a positive start? It immediately puts me in the right frame of mind for dealing with whatever work and life will bring my way. This is so simple to do. I dare you to find an excuse as to why you can’t try this!

5. Acknowledge that mistakes and setbacks happen.

Because they will. The good news is they won’t make you a failure unless you dwell on them. Get beyond goofs and misfortunes by treating them as lessons learned and by remaining agile so you can shift gears and move in a new positive and productive direction.

6.  Don’t be afraid to say “no” or voice your position. 

If people ask too much of you, learn to say “no.” Overextending yourself will create excess stress and pull you away from what really matters. Also, don’t be afraid to voice your opinion when you disagree adamantly about something. Although initially, you might meet criticism, in the long run, you’ll gain more respect. Most importantly, you’ll respect yourself—and that is mission critical for feeling empowered.

Empowerment Begins With Embracing Its Power

Whether you’re a female or male entrepreneur and regardless of whether you’re just starting a business or have been running your company for years, empowerment wields great power. I urge you to embrace its potential to help you mold your vision and achieve your goals and dreams.

Providing legal document filing services at affordable rates, CorpNet.com helps business owners save time and money. Empower yourself by knowing your business registration and compliance filings are in capable hands. Contact us today!

The post Five Steps To Becoming An Empowered Woman (Or Man) Business Owner appeared first on CorpNet.

The fact that 28.8% of small businesses are owned by women might seem small, but that’s risen from 26% in 1997. That might not seem like much, but women-owned businesses grew 1.5 times faster over this period than the national average. And of that group, one in three women-owned businesses are run by women of color.

Where are the Women At?

While more than 1,200 businesses are opened by women each day in the United States, the concentration is stronger in North Dakota, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Wyoming, Virginia, Maryland, Texas, and Utah. I’m curious why these states have more female-run small businesses.

Plentiful…But Still Small

While the growth is impressive for women-owned businesses, the majority of those are small: they employ just 6% of the country’s workforce and contribute just under 4% of business revenues. Only 2% of these businesses earn over $1 million in revenues. Countless female entrepreneurs are solopreneurs or hire only a handful of employees.

But the Future Looks Bright

As women in business becomes more of a hot topic, we’re seeing some great strides toward encouraging more females to join the ranks of those who have started a business before them. Late last year, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that allows women-owned small businesses to get more government contract deals and gives them the same access to the federal contracting marketplace as other disadvantaged groups.

Resources like the InnovateHER: 2015 Innovating for Women Business Challenge are providing women entrepreneurs access to tools and connections that can help grow their businesses.

InnovateHER allows female business owners to showcase their products or services that have a measurable impact on the lives of women and families, have the potential to be commercialized, and fill a need in the marketplace.

Support Your Local Women-Run Businesses!

If you know a business that is run by a woman, why not support her? Shopping local is a great practice regardless, but by spending money with businesses run by females, you show your support and encourage others to start their own women-run business!

Nellie Akalp knows what it’s like to be a woman in business. She started CorpNet with her husband, Phil, to help others start their own ventures. If you’re serious about starting a business, see how CorpNet can help you make your new business dreams into a reality!

The post The State of Small Business for Women appeared first on CorpNet.

When you run a business, whether you’re the only staff or you manage a team of ten, it is essential that you make time for yourself. Otherwise, you’re a stressed out ball of tension that puts your business —and your health — in jeopardy.

We’re all in the same boat here, so I thought I’d share how I decompress.

1. Exercise

I live for exercise! It’s what helps me drain away the stress of the day and keep my body in shape. I work out 4-5 times a week — sometimes even 6! I enjoy barre classes, running, and cross-training with my personal trainer a few times a week with weights.

But I’m not the only one seeing benefits from exercise in my business. In a study of entrepreneurs who ran, it was proven that they excelled at sales and achieving personal goals. So lace up those running shoes, folks!

2. Spend Time with My Family

My family is my sanctuary away from work. Sure, I love work too, but my family wins out every time. We love going to the beach, park, or museums together. And we’re not above a good singalong in the car!

When you’re stressed, it can be difficult to remember that you’ve got a support system around you, right in your own home. Reach out and find ways to connect. Even something as simple as a hug from your youngest can lighten your load and make your day easier.

3. Pamper Time

My motto is: if I don’t take care of myself, I can’t take care of others. That goes for my home family and my work family. That’s why I build me time in each week. I love my massages and manicures as much as the next girl, but sometimes I don’t have time for something that big. So a nice, hot bath or walk by myself also fits the bill.

I know too many entrepreneurs — especially women — who give and give and then have nothing left for themselves. It’s not healthy. Believe me: I’ve been there. Even if it feels selfish sometimes, put yourself first and replenish the well so you can be there for others.

The post How I Make Time for Myself After the Stress of Tax Day appeared first on CorpNet.

After suffering a few panic attacks, I realized this mask that I wore was cracking. While I tried to pretend that everything was hunky dory to the outside world, inside I was falling apart. At CorpNet, we’d reached a critical point where the right decision had to be made in order to move forward. I thought I could help us get there simply by working more and more. My body, on the other hand, had other ideas on the subject.

So now I’ve found ways to deal with my internal stress, and believe it or not, I find that removing that stiff mask that I wore makes it easier for me to stay grounded. If you can relate to this idea of hiding behind the truth, let me share some advice so that you make 2015 the year you take that mask off.

1. First, Be Honest with Yourself

Before you can be open with others, you have to be honest with yourself about your business. If you’re not making enough money to pay your bills next month, burying your head in the sand is not going to amend the situation.

I find it useful to take a reality check each week to ensure both I and CorpNet are on track with our objectives. If not, i ask myself what, if anything, I can do to change that.

2. Next, Take Care of Yourself

When you’re stressed and overworked, you don’t do your company any good. Now, I build in exercise, hot baths, long walks, and time to talk about my concerns with those I’m close with into my schedule so I don’t risk having another panic attack. I find that when I’m calm, I’m a better CEO.

3. Be Honest, But Don’t Overshare

Being honest with those around you doesn’t mean you have to share every detail of what’s going on. If your business is in crisis mode, there’s certainly no reason you have to alarm your customers. If someone asks, you can simply say, “We’re working on improving a few areas of the business.”

Panic tends to breed, so if you let on that you feel out of control, others will feel the same.

4. Ask for Help

Even if you’re a solopreneur, you’re not in this alone. Ask for help, whether it’s asking your spouse to watch the kids at night so you can spend more time on your business, asking your staff to push for improvement, or asking the bank for a line of credit to free up your cash flow.

We entrepreneurs tend to think we can take everything on by ourselves, but that’s not a healthy attitude. We’re good at what we do, but we need others to make our businesses complete. And when we’re in trouble, there’s no shame in letting people know so they can come to our aid.

I’d love it if we could all take off our masks. I think the world could do with more openness and honesty.

The post Let’s Make This Year The One We’re Honest With Ourselves as Entrepreneurs appeared first on CorpNet.

Despite the fact that my four kids haven’t yet had much experience running a business, they have managed to teach me a thing (or five) about running my own company.

1. It’s Okay to Color Outside the Lines

My littlest one loves to color, and she’s rarely concerned about staying in the lines. When I think about how we often feel that there’s a right way and a wrong way to run a business, I realize that’s simply not true. Sure, there are blueprints that can aid in success, but no one way of running a business is a guarantee of that. And so I allow myself to color outside the lines a bit, and run my company the way I see fit, even if it’s not always conventional.

2. It’s Not All About the Money

If you know anything about me, you know that family comes first. Sure, I love my company and want it to thrive, but if it was taken away from me tomorrow, I’d still be okay. Because quality time with my husband and kids is why I became an entrepreneur in the first place. It’s important for me to keep that at the forefront of all I do.

3. Complaining Won’t Get You Anywhere

If you’ve ever heard twin teens whine about their chores, you know where I’m coming from. They never seem to learn that complaining about the task at hand never makes that task go away! Same for me. Some days it’s just hard to get anything done, and I’d rather get back in bed than tackle what’s ahead of me at work. But I go anyway. And I get it done. And it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.

4. If You Can’t Say Something Nice…

Being a business owner means you have to make decisions about how you want others to perceive you. I know many entrepreneurs — in my own industry and others — who are quick to criticize competitors publicly. Look, if I tell my kids to keep their rude comments to themselves, I certainly can’t spout them out myself. And it only makes people look bad, when their best plan of attack is just that: a verbal attack on the competition.

5. Happiness is a Priority

If you look at kids, you see that most of the time, they’re pretty happy (except when they’re doing those chores). I firmly believe as an entrepreneur that happiness is my right. After all, I started CorpNet with Phil to do something we both loved and believed in. And so we should be happy. Whenever I’m less than 100% happy, I do a quick check to figure out why. Sometimes the fix is as easy as taking a walk to get out of the office, or maybe taking a family vacation to reconnect to what matters.

There are countless other lessons I’ve learned about being an entrepreneur from my kids. What about you? Where do you find inspiration and lessons learned?

The post 5 Entrepreneurial Lessons My Kids Have Taught Me appeared first on CorpNet.

Linda appreciates that CorpNet is there for her business, to assist her when clients need to incorporate a business or form a new LLC. She says that CorpNet always has solid customer service (something we pride ourselves on), and charges significantly less than what others charge.

We learn so much from our CorpNet reviews, and are happy to hear that Linda loves our Compliance Portal tool! She says that it helps organize everything for a client so they never miss a single tax or filing deadline.

Final Words

We love Linda’s advice for entrepreneurs:

“Even if you’re Afraid – go for it and take the risk!!”

Well said, Linda.

The post Dawson and Associates Has a “Great Marriage” with CorpNet appeared first on CorpNet.