The joy of being a business mentor

 I recently had the privilege of being invited to speak on a panel hosted by Women's Economic Ventures, a Southern California based non-profit organization which I've been involved with in various capacities for the past couple of years and whom I'm very proud to support. The audience was comprised of women who are in "pre-entrepreneurship" mode, meaning they're currently assessing their business ideas, skills, and resources in order to determine whether entrepreneurship is the right path for them to pursue as a next step in life.

During the course of the evening my co-panelists and I pulled from direct real-world examples from our respective entrepreneurial journeys and shared these insights with the audience members based on our individual area of expertise. After the direct Q&A from the panel moderator, the floor was opened up to general Q&A from the audience. Not surprisingly, the audience members were extremely astute and it was really a pleasure to respond to their very well thought out questions.

The evening ended and I, along with the other panelists, said our good-byes and left. Given that these types of events are highly enjoyable for me, I drove home feeling very fulfilled by virtue of the opportunity to be of service to future entrepreneurs in such a meaningful way.

The good feelings didn't end there...in the past week since I participated in the panel discussion several of the audience members have sent me emails thanking me for my time and sharing their impressions regarding some of my insights/tips/ideas, etc. which have resonated with them. Then the other day at my office as I was going through my mail, I received a thank you note which was signed by several of the audience members along with personal notes expressing their gratitude under their signatures. Of course, this note was the best piece of snail mail which I had received all month and it totally made my day!

So why am I writing about this and why should you care? Well, there are actually many reasons, but here are the top three in my opinion:

1. If you're an established entrepreneur or business owner, you might want to explore the possibility of carving out some time in your busy schedule to mentor other existing or would-be entrepreneurs. There are well-publicized statistics indicating the tremendous increase in entrepreneurship in the US in the past 2+ years since the recession. There are ample opportunities for established and seasoned business owners to share their expertise with those who are just starting to go down that path. Your advice and insights will be highly valued and it will be one of, if not the most rewarding experience of your life - I highly recommend it.
2. On the flip side, if you're a budding (female) entrepreneur, I wholeheartedly encourage you to seek out mentors for your business. Ideally they would be in the same industry as you're seeking to establish yourself but they don't necessarily have to be. Get out there and don't be afraid to ask for help. You never know until you try but make it a point of your business strategy to surround yourself with strong advisers and mentors who can either be of direct assistance to you or who may have someone in their network who can. Give it a try - be kind and respectful but go for it.
3. As the numbers of entrepreneurs increase in our society, we need to have more organizations such as Women's Economic Ventures. The work that they to do educate, inspire and in many cases, help  (women) entrepreneurs seek funding is priceless, both for the entrepreneurs as well as for those of us who benefit from the goods and services produced by those entrepreneurs. They are the vital link between the new entrepreneur just starting out and the experienced and seasoned entrepreneur who has a wealth of wisdom, experience and advice to share.

My own personal experience with mentorship of other entrepreneurs/business owners has been an incredibly positive and fulfilling one. We each face challenges in our daily lives and once you commit to becoming an entrepreneur, you essentially sign up for embracing challenge on a daily, if not hourly basis. If you've been down that road and have been lucky enough to make it, then there is nothing more rewarding than to know that you're making a difference in the life of another person by extending a helping hand to continue that chain of positive influence past yourself. 

After all, none of us got to be where we are without the help of others and so in my humble opinion, it is a duty and a privilege to do the same for others.

In the Spotlight: 10x10, The Girls Education Project

The premise is simple: Educate girls, Change the World. This is a rallying cry that is repeated often by numerous non-profit organizations, NGO's, and is supported by research studies which have measured the global economic and social impact resulting from the education of women & girls.

Everyone can make a difference and everyone benefits from the outcome. Watch this video and become inspired!

To learn more about 10x10 visit their website.

Get involved or make a donation to this worthwhile cause so that they can continue to promote their important message!

10x10 Messaging Video from The Documentary Group on Vimeo.

TOP 5 PERSONAL FINANCE TIPS EVERY BUSY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…

This week I participated in a local area holiday trade show where I exhibited a table for my bookkeeping business, Empowered Bookkeeping. The event was held on the campus of a local school, designed mainly to attract the busy moms with children enrolled in the pre-school as well as a daycare program.

Amongst the various offerings and holiday goodies available at my table, I had prepared a handout for those ladies who stopped to chat, providing them with a list of the top 5 personal finance tips that I believe every busy woman ought to know. I pulled the list from a great website which I found to be a great resource for women in search of helpful information in the realm of personal finance. Feel free to check it out for yourself. The top 5 list is included for your convenience below:

1. Know that Credit Scores Affect More Than Interest Rates. If your score is less than 620, not only will you pay significantly more money for mortgages and other types of loans, but also more for your insurances. Your car, life and auto policy premiums will all reflect your credit. An adverse score may also keep you from leasing an apartment, or getting your dream job.

2. Don’t Skimp on Healthcare. Of all the ways to save money on monthly expenses, cutting your healthcare is the worst idea. Saving a few hundred dollars a year is hardly worth having to pay $50,000 in medical bills a few years down the road.

3. There’s a Big Difference between Saving and Investing. While saving money is something that should be done regardless (rainy day savings, retirement, etc.), investing should be done when you are relatively debt-free, especially when it comes to credit card debt. The average 18% annual interest paid by you on credit card balances will be hardly made up for in any investment opportunity.

4. Buy Life Insurance with the Hopes of Never Using it Life insurance should be purchased to help care for your dependants in the unfortunate event of your untimely passing- and that’s all. This way, mortgage payments, grocery expenditures and college fund contributions can continue without interruption.

5. Always Try to Pay More than the Minimum Mortgage Payment. By paying one additional principle and interest payment (mortgage payment minus any escrow payments) onto your mortgage balance each year, you will knock 7 years off the life of your note. It all adds up- to a lot!

Announcing Our New Blog Feature: Empowered Women in the Spotlight

I'm extremely excited to announce the addition of a new feature of the Empowered Bookkeeping blog, "Empowered Women in the Spotlight", which officially kicks off today.

The purpose of this feature is to give everyday women a moment to shine and to be recognized for their efforts and achievements which uniquely define empowerment. Whether they are wives, moms, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, small business owners, C-level officers, venture capitalists, professionals, artists, etc., or a combination of any of these roles, each woman has a story that makes her both exceptionally interesting and relevant. We'll bring these stories to you regularly via sit-down interviews with each extraordinary lady and we have assembled quite an amazing line-up of interviewees so please check back often!

Empowered Bookkeeping (the business) was founded upon a vision to help uplift and empower women financially as well as to promote the notion of the community of women supporting one another. By launching this blog feature, we have a very exciting and profound opportunity to highlight the achievements of women, not only to the public at large, but especially amongst other women, and in particular the young generation of women. Our goal is to inspire, encourage, promote and support women, no matter if they are our clients, our interviewees, or our readers, so as to be a force of change and help women recognize that there are no limitations as far as what they can achieve - with the right amount of encouragement and support, literally anything is possible.

We hope you enjoy this feature and of course, a big "Thank You" to our generous interviewees for setting aside time in their busy lives to enable us to bring you each story of empowerment.

Micro-Loans + Guidance/Direction = Fulfillment of Women's Entrepreneurial Dreams

Earlier today I came across an excellent article discussing the practices of a successful Israeli organization which provides microloans to women who wish to start their own entrepreneurial ventures IN ADDITION to providing these same women with needed business skills, knowledge and know-how.

I found this to be such a powerful and uplifting concept since one without the other simply is not enough - the two elements together, capital and mentorship/guidance are what so many women entrepreneurs need regardless of the specific part of the world in which they wish to launch their dreams. In the article, the CEO of the organization (Lena Gurary, CEO of Supportive Community) points out: A loan is worthless if a person is not given any direction and being given direction is worthless if you don't have the capital to start a serious small business," Lena says. "So first we prepare women and give them all the tools necessary to start or expand a business. Then we give them a small loan and see how it goes."

The program appears to be a success: according to the article, in six years of operation, the organization has grown exponentially, having been able to provide services to over 3,000 women with a full-time staff consisting of only seven members. Not only is the organization successful from a social perspective, financially it has proven to be extremely competitive with a default rate of only 3.4% of the total money loaned by the program.

So far as I'm aware a program of this specific kind doesn't exist in the United States. Yes, there are numerous women's business organizations, professional and social, et cetera, in addition to microfinance organizations and numerous non-profits dedicated to the cause of making a difference as it pertains to the status of women in poverty throughout the world. That said, the powerful one-two punch provided by Supportive Community seems to be a unique concept and is one that really should be applauded and should certainly be replicated. Women need not be in poverty to reap the benefits of such an amazing organization since the need for mentorship and the need for capital are key to any individual who seeks to pursue an entrepreneurial undertaking. Becoming an entrepreneur is difficult enough especially in today's business climate however efforts such as the kind being put forth by wonderful organizations such as Supportive Community help to reduce doubt and anxiety while increasing hope and confidence in the heart of the entrepreneur and that right there is more than half of the battle.

Below are some noteworthy organizations in need of our support, which provide some aspect of the microfinance, social awareness or mentorship efforts, each of which is a key element related to the struggle faced by small business owners regardless of where on this Earth they may choose to call home:

• KIVA (http://www.kiva.org/) - World's first person-to-person microlending site

• SCORE (www.score.org/) - Leveraging the knowledge and experience of retired business leaders to provide mentorship, counseling and training to new business owners/entrepreneurs

• Women for Women International (http://www.womenforwomen.org/) - Help women in war-torn regions of the world by providing financial and emotional support, job skills training, rights awareness, and small business assistance

• Supportive Community - English translation of website (http://www.svivatomehet.org.il)
  

We all stand to gain from the achievement of gender equality

August 26th 2009 marked 89 years since women were first granted the constitutional right to vote in the United States (19th amendment was certified on Aug 26th 1920). Some 72 years prior, the first women's rights convention was held in the United States in Seneca Falls, New York (July 19-20, 1848).

For those of us who are lucky enough to call the United States our home, it seems hard to believe that just 161 years ago the rights of women were so limited in this great nation. Since the first women's rights convention took place, a great deal of progress has been made but there is still much work to be done until true economic and social parity is achieved between the sexes. Often times important issues which affect human beings end up being politicized and in so doing the true meaning and significance of the issue can be diminished because people get in the way and corrupt the process. It's important to realize that the issue of women's rights is not just an American issue, nor is it merely a political issue, rather it is an issue of fundamental human rights which transcends all borders, races, nationalities, etc.

The matter of women's rights is not just important to women, but it is also important to men as evidenced by economic research reports which have been published by industry giants such as Goldman Sachs, Ernst and Young, and McKinsey & Company. The dialogue which must take place in our modern industrialized societies needs to be one that is inclusive so that men are made to recognize the important and vital role that they play in the process since they also stand to gain from the outcome. All across the board, from the individual to the family unit to the community and to the national level, everyone has to be informed about the benefits that await a world that believes in and works to promote the equality between the sexes.

Below is a collection of links to resources which, in my opinion, highlight the importance of the issue of women's rights specifically in an economic context and which help to illustrate why both sexes in every nation of the world should be vigilant in the effort to attain true gender equality.

• Presidential Proclamation by President Barack Obama - Women's Equality Day 2009
  

• Goldman Sachs Global Economics Paper: Women Hold Up Half the Sky

• Ernst & Young: Groundbreakers - Using the strength of women to rebuild the world economy

• McKinsey & Company - Women Matter: Gender diversity, a corporate performance driver

• NY Times Magazine - Saving the World's Women:How changing the lives of women and girls in the developing world can change everything

• Declaration of Sentiments (Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Lucretia Mott, Seneca Falls Convention 1848)

Women's Financial Literacy Survey Results

I recently asked a diverse group of 65 women to participate in a survey conducted by my business, Empowered Bookkeeping LLC, which was designed to understand the attitudes, desires and behaviors of women with respect to the topic of financial literacy.

I'm excited to share the results of the survey with you in the hopes that the data will prove useful to you regardless of whether you are an individual woman or a woman business owner, etc.

As a thank-you to the survey participants, my business, Empowered Bookkeeping LLC, will be making a donation to a carefully selected charitable organization, Women Thrive Worldwide, in recognition of the important work that they are doing to help to shape US policies to enable women worldwide to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The donation is being made as we commemorate 161 years since the first women's rights convention was held in the United States in Seneca Falls, New York on July 19-20 1848.

I hope that you will find the survey results interesting and if you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to contact me directly via email: empoweredbookkeeping@gmail.com

Empowered Bookkeeping LLC

View more presentations from Dani Morgan.

Girls Can Excel at Math at the Genius Level if Shown Encouragement & Opportunity

I'm bursting with excitement to share the news that recently published research findings show that girls can excel at math, in particular at the genius level, if they are encouraged to do so and if they are given the opportunity to do so.

This is particularly exciting for me because it is something I wholeheartedly believe is true and this concept is effectively related to a message I seek to promote with my clients (individual women and woman-owned small businesses). I encounter numerous women who are strong, smart, dynamic multi-tasking superstars in every aspect of their lives yet when it comes to matters having to do with money, math, finance, etc., they have resigned themselves to the notion that somehow these concepts are simply out of their reach, unattainable, for someone else but not for them....and so they opt out of the learning process altogether.

What is so exciting about important research such as the kind that Janet Hyde and Janet Mertz have published is that girls (who later go on to become women) can perform at above-average as well as genius level math. If there is any difference in the statistics between male and female scores or the perception thereof, it is "largely an artifact of changeable sociocultural factors, not immutable, innate biological differences between the sexes".

We have the power to impact the rate and quantity of girls excelling at math by creating a social and cultural atmosphere that cultivates this kind of performance - this is an incredibly powerful and empowering statement.

It boils down to this: if you are a girl, or a woman, for that matter, you just need to believe in yourself and you can do it. Sometimes it's hard to just dig down and find that belief in yourself so that is when a helping hand and encouragement come into the fold. The combination of encouragement, a helping hand, belief in one's abilities, opportunity and learning can result in above-average as well as genius level performance - you just need to give yourself an opportunity to get started.

The ramifications of an increased number of members of the female population going on to pursue and excel in math/science and quantitative fields/pursuits translates into a much richer societal fabric, not to mention a more innovative economic climate that has far-reaching consequences for not just this nation, but for the entire world.

As a small-business owner who focuses on working with women, I am even more excited and motivated by this news than I was before and I hope that you will be too!

For more details about the findings please refer to: Article published on Yahoo!

Passionate Pursuit of the Empowerment of Women

I am the President and CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer) of a new business, Empowered Bookkeeping LLC. http://www.empoweredbookkeeping.com/

I was inspired to start this business based on a strong personal desire to make a difference in the world by helping others given my skills and abilities in the financial realm. The focus of my business is to work with individual women and/or woman-owned small businesses to provide the tools, resources, and skills that are necessary for my clients to gain mastery of their finances so that they can go on to lead empowered lives.

The financial empowerment of women is a concept very near and dear to my heart and something which I will work tirelessly and passionately to promote.

The concept of empowerment of women will serve as the focal point of this blog. Through this powerful medium I hope to inspire, inform, elevate and educate all readers about the importance and far-reaching impact of a society filled with financially empowered women.

I invite you to help me make this vision into a reality...