Small Biz Watch: Women CEOs motivated by personal achievement, people
Why do women start small businesses? One commonly cited reason is their inability to crack the so-called glass ceiling. So in response, women go out and start their own businesses. But a new study by Babson College and the Commonwealth Institute of 215 women-owned businesses in Massachusetts sheds some new light on that and other assumptions. Among the findings:
- Debunking the stereotype that women start businesses solely out of economic necessity, more than 54 percent stated that economic necessity was barely a motivator or none at all. And while nearly 32 percent cited the glass ceiling as a motivator, 48 percent said it was minimally a motivator or none at all. Women CEOs say they are motivated by personal achievement (85 percent) and a desire for challenge (80 percent).
- The women CEOs cited customer satisfaction as the leading factor in doing business (97 percent), followed by employee satisfaction (92 percent), company culture (81 percent) and work/life balance (67 percent). These areas were ranked higher as daily business priorities than rapid sales growth, high profitability, personal financial reward and high market share.
Women CEOs try to balance work and family as 78 percent of those surveyed are currently married or with partners and 87 percent have children. "I think the interesting thing to me is that these CEOs were focusing on people, whereas the traditional business wisdom is to focus on the bottom line first," says Nan Langowitz, director of the Center for Women's Leadership at Babson College and an associate professor of management, in a chat with U.S.News & World Report. "This is really the Peter Drucker school, where what counts first are customers and employees."