The contagious enthusiasm of our women entrepreneurs

Topics for this post:
Women Entrepreneurs
Online Business Plans
Women in Business
Minority Business Loans

There's a new report published by the Center for Women's Leadership at Babson College: Women and Entrepreneurship. It's an interesting read.

Key findings include:
* Women start businesses to capture some of the financial opportunities not available elsewhere;
* Many women starting up businesses keep their "day job" until the new business is up and running;
* Women who have successful women in their environment are more likely to start businesses, and to succeed, than women who don't.

It's an interesting report. The one thing that truly struck me was that there just are no statistics or studies that demonstrate the unadulterated enthusiasm that most women feel for their businesses. This is a kind of sheer joy that I don't use in describing many men -- mostly it's women entrepreneurs who exude that exhilaration. It's like generations of repression are being released, and we're all here to carry along everyone we can. It's an amazing feeling.

In looking at those who have brought that entrepreneurial joy into my life recently, three names absolutely stood out -- and none of them even knows she did it.

First is a young lady named Nori, whose website on Anguilla has sparked hundreds of entrepreneurs to believe in themselves. This young woman has captured the joy of youth and communicated happiness and success to all of us who have read about her. Thank you, Nori.

Second is a woman who gives of her time and knowledge so generously that it defies reason. Debs, the web mistress of Debt Steps, helps all who post -- young and old, saavy or not. Her patience and insights inspire daily "thank yous", but those of us who benefit know that we cannot thank her enough.

The third is a woman who defies the logic that says the web is a young man's game. This lady routinely leads us into the great unknown, most recently into the mysteries of RSS feeds. Thank you, Honor. Her web site is dedicated to unraveling the web for us.

Each of these women positively exude enthusiasm. Their joy and dedication are truly contagious.

I came to know all three of these women through Site Build It!, a most amazing service. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of entrepreneurs at SBI! who band together so that everyone can be successful. It's really quite amazing.

Thank you to all of the women of SBI. May we each be able to assist others as they do.