Women are beginning to find their own way to emerge into leadership and independence in the world – through entrepreneurship. According to the Los Angeles Times, women are actually starting more businesses than men today. The problem is that they tend to start with only about half the funds of male entrepreneurs. In the United States, women’s startups are only granted about 5 percent of all federal contracts, 5 percent of all loans and only about 7 percent of venture capital funding. It is still an uphill battle for female entrepreneurs.
Because female entrepreneurs still experience discrimination, especially in receiving vital startup funding, they really need to visit California at least once in order to help their startup have the best opportunity of blooming and growing.
We spoke to Chrissy Weems, a successful female entrepreneur from Arizona with an international jewelry business, and asked her why every female entrepreneur should at least visit California once in their efforts to establish their startup. Weems began her successful business in response to her daughter asking for a new car when she turned 16. Weems replied to her daughter that she would need to start a business and earn the money.
The Weems family began a jewelry business focused upon social sales that allow the customer to design their own individualized piece of jewelry, based upon their hopes, dreams, ideas and personal history. This business concept has grown exponentially by word of mouth, with independent designers working with clients internationally.
Size –
According to CBS News, California is the world’s fifth-largest economy. If you want exposure to a large market of consumers, California is definitely not somewhere to ignore. That being said, one must realize that the majority of consumers in California are found on the coasts – especially in the larger Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco Bay areas – and in the Central Valley and Inland Empire areas.
Best Metropolitan Areas for Female Entrepreneurs –
According to a study that Nerdwallet conducted, California and Colorado are the best states for female entrepreneurs. Nerdwallet used Small Business Administration and U.S. Census Bureau data in order to look for the best metropolitan areas in the country for small businesses owned by women to take root. California had the most metropolitan areas favorable to female-led businesses – Santa Rosa, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Cruz. Each of these four metropolitan areas has more female-led businesses per 100 residents than similar areas in the nation. Also, each of these cities tops the national average in higher incomes for women.
By the way, San Luis Obispo and its surrounding area is a sleepy little Central Coast area set in a college town. If you hate cities, you will love San Luis Obispo.
More Resources for Female Entrepreneurs –
According to Small Business Majority, a group that supports and nurtures entrepreneurs, female-led businesses increased nationally by 45 percent. Their group and others in the state are creating programs to help women entrepreneurs find lenders, business resources and mentorships. They state that they decided to target their efforts in California first before beginning a national campaign to support women business owners because California, at 37 percent, has the highest percentage of small businesses owned by women than the national average.
Diversity –
It’s not just diversity in terms of people. Also, the state has the most diverse geography. You can go from the sea to the Great Valley, to the mountains, and to the deserts. All of this diversity pays off in diversity of ideas as well. California has long been known to lead the nation in the implementation of new ideas. If California tries something new, it is not long before that same idea will be implemented in the rest of the country. This is great for small business owners because it allows for targeting of the best possible customers, rather than scattershot marketing efforts. If you have a really unique potential customer base, you will likely find some of that type in California, and many other types of customers as well.
Tougher Laws Against Predatory Commercial Lending –
Business owners that are not financially savvy can be caught in predatory commercial lending because the federal laws protecting against predatory lending only deal with consumer loans. California has led the way in proposing the toughest laws in the nation to protect small business owners from predatory lending. The laws specify that business owners must be clearly informed of the interest rates and payments of any loans in such a manner that they can make an easy comparison with offerings of other lenders.
Even though Chrissy Weems grew her Origami Owl jewelry business in Arizona, she realizes that ignoring her larger neighboring state, with its huge economy, favorable regulatory climate and a larger number of women entrepreneurs would be antithetical to the growth and flowering of her enterprise
