Are You FearLESS or FearFULL?

Are you FearLESS or FearFULL? A successful FRANCHISE system behind you may take the fear out of business ownership.

by Susan Scotts

Do you truly see yourself as a fun, fabulous, fearless and fierce female on the inside, but you find yourself coming across to others as fearful and meek? Do you find yourself trying to be liked because you’re feeling less than your male counterparts? Or less valued by your male counterparts? If you chose the latter options, you are not alone. How do you push through the fearFULL feelings and embrace being FEARLESS?

Female Franchise Ownership by the Numbers

Franchise Women

First, let’s look at women in corporate America. Currently, and for centuries throughout history, biases against women (either by their male counterparts or their own thoughts) have allowed for only 4.9% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 2% of S&P 500 CEOS to be women, and those numbers are in a decline. This tendency, whether conscious or unconscious, has played a significant role in hiring and promotion decisions.

Female-Owned Franchises

2017 27% 2007 20%

Women in a Franchise Partnership with Men

2017 17%

But the strength of women’s attributes do not align with these lower numbers. In fact, you might be interested to know that others around you view you as a strong and successful individual. In a recent article titled, “Research: Women Score Higher Than Men in Most Leadership Skills,” the Harvard Business Review (HBR) shared their findings from their analysis of 360-degree reviews that women in leadership positions were perceived as being every bit as effective as men. “In fact, while the differences were not huge, women scored at a statistically significantly higher level than men on the vast majority of leadership competencies we measured.”

Women in Franchise by Industry

Women are dominating in these business sectors Education Slimming Salons Accessory and Arts Beauty Salons and Nail Bars

Yet when women were asked to do a self-assessment, they were not as generous in their ratings. When confidence ratings for men and women were compared, there was a big variation in self-belief. In the HBR research article, “A man and woman with identical credentials, who both lack experience for a higher-level position, come to different conclusions about being prepared for the promotion.” The man says “I’m close enough” while the woman is less willing to step up.

So what is the missing link? How do we become more able to embrace our strengths as business owners? One step that helped me learn to be more confident and assertive was learning to keep a positive internal dialogue in my head. When someone once said to me that “confidence is sexy,” I didn’t realize how profound that statement really was. I liked the idea and put a little Post-It with those words on my computer screen. As I read them every day, I consciously began selecting strong words and using more inflection to make this shift. The difference in my business was staggering. I went from, “well I think I can help you” to “I’m confident that I can help you” with complete certainty in my voice. Now, my clients can’t wait to hear the possibilities I have for them! The difference between fear and faith can be as simple as keeping a positive focus.

Age also may play a part. Women tend to be less confident at a younger age. It is important to encourage our younger females to be confident and fearless from an early age. Frankly, I was not so confident in my early years. While I aspired to be a leader, I didn’t feel I had enough knowledge or confidence to get there. I was full of fear that I would fail. With age and experience, that feeling of needing to be liked became less important to me. And, thankfully, I always had determination and persistence.

The tenacity I had led me to a Senior Vice President level, but I knew that while working in corporate America, I’d never have the freedom, control or flexibility I truly desired. After all, being Senior VP would never mean owning the company that I helped to become successful. I wanted to create that same success for myself and build wealth and equity for my future instead of someone else’s.

I knew I lacked at least part of the skillset to start from scratch by myself, but a thought occurred to me as I aspired to have my own business. “Why not promote yourself by becoming a franchise owner? A franchise business may help you better translate your fearless traits

more readily for several reasons. First, a franchise, simply translated, means a proven system of business with the tools, technology, training, marketing and support behind you. Second, many franchises cost less than the price of a new car – there are many that are more affordable than you might think!

It is also important to note that even if you do not have to have knowledge or experience in an industry, the franchise is going to train you and support you. It could be time to learn something new! There has also never been a better time to explore franchising, as there are diverse funding options that can allow you to leverage the government’s

“Women scored at a statistically significantly higher level than men on the vast majority of leadership competencies we measured.”

money to fund the business, provide a salary as you ramp up the business and provide working capital as well.

I’m happy to report that the number of women in business is on the rise: women own more than 25% of franchises and that number is growing! From 2007 to 2018, women-owned businesses grew 58 percent. According to an American Express report, women-owned businesses are growing 2.5 times faster than the national average. Forty percent of businesses are now owned by women and together generate $3.1 trillion (that’s with a “t!”) in revenue! There are 9 million people employed by women-owned businesses today.

Whether you have always wanted to be the boss, own a business, become an entrepreneur or just take control of your own future, if you’re fierce, fun, fabulous, smart, driven, successful, engaging, like to give back or pay it forward (or all of these things!), empower yourself by looking into franchise ownership. If not you, who? If not now, when?

Firms owned by women - 11.6 million

Sales generated by women-owned businesses - 1.7 trillion

People employed by women-owned businesses - 9 million

Women-owned businesses with $1 million in revenue - 487,200

Susan Scotts is a multiple-award winning career transition coach with The Entrepreneur’s Source ® and possesses over three decades of experience in helping empower individuals to become entrepreneurs through franchise business ownership. For a complimentary consultation, she can be reached at 561-859-9110 or SScotts@EsourceCoach.com.