Imagine that you owned a business and
just knew that it was on the verge of breaking through
and becoming a major success—only to learn that
getting someone to lend you the expansion capital
wasn’t as easy as you’d believed. If you
take a look at the figures of women in business today,
you’ll realize that that’s exactly what’s
happening to many women entrepreneurs. In fact, women
entrepreneurs in the United States account for 10.6
million businesses, but only a measly 3 percent of
those businesses earn $1 million and more. Why is
that?
According to some outspoken women business owners,
they simply can’t get anyone to lend them the
expansion capital they so desperately need. Lexi Reese,
the director for Advocacy Marketing, OPEN from American
Express says that almost four in ten female business
owners in the Los Angeles area say that they have
difficulty finding that all important expansion capital.
But American Express’ OPEN, along with Women’s
Leadership Exchange (WLE), Count-Me-In for Women’s
Economic Independence and Make Mind A $Million Business
national award program forever erased those obstacles
for six lucky California business women at this month’s
WLE conference.
The winners, Desalene Jones of Sacramento, Ca, Bonnie
Plotkin of Huntington Beach, Ca, Gena Nonini of Fresno,
Ca, Lenie Ramos of Manhattan Beach, Ca, Julie Tucker
of San Francisco, Ca and Sharon Shaheed of Sherman
Oaks, CA are all recipients of the award. Just what
does it include? For starters, each winner will receive
$45,000 to go toward the expansion capital that they
need to grow their business. And to insure that the
money is well spent and the plans succeed, each woman
will get to work closely with a ‘dream team”
of business advisors who will help them design and
implement a “million dollar plan” for
their business.
The winners were selected by a panel of judges who
heard presentations from business women throughout
California.
If you’re a female entrepreneur and would like
to apply to the program, you still have a chance to
be chosen this year. WLE will host a conference on
September 21 in Atlanta and in New York later this
year. (Date to be announced.) Find out more by visiting
the official web site at www.count-me-in.org.
