There are many many things men and women differently including how we operate our businesses. The past couple of years, most of my business endeavors and partnerships have been forged with men. I fondly refer to my manly crew “the billionare boys club”. I have to say that I’ve learned a great deal of things from them in terms of how I do business. Much of it to my great benefit. Don’t get it twisted, I love, love, love being a woman, but there are some pretty nifty habits I’ve picked up from men. Here are 6 of them.
1. We aren’t friends, we just work together.
I think as women sometimes we get too personally connected with clients and colleagues and that can easily blur boundaries when it comes to setting pricing and over extending ourselves. The boys club taught me to put a pin the relationship and do the business first. If the personal relationship is solid, it will survive.
2. Do you want to be famous or do you want to get paid?
I’ve been lucky enough to have had a boat load of media coverage over the years. So it’s safe to say that in many circles I’m considered high profile. But you can’t EAT popularity. While being highly visible can go a long way towards building credibility its important to have a strategy for staying connected with your audience and capitalize on your fame by increasing your fortune.
3. I see your vision, but what is your plan?
I’m a very, very, creative visionary. So I have tons of ideas. Sometimes I can get so caught up in the vision that I forget to create a strategy of execution. The boys club has been extremely instrumental in helping me focus on moving fluidly from idea to execution without all the fluff.
4. Is that an excuse or a reason?
Like many women, I’m an extremely busy trying to balance my business, my personal life and ME! And sometimes life happens in 3D. My inner chick can easily bogged down with my life’s drama and the next thing you know I’m severely side tracked and 6 months behind. I’ve learned to take a break and recover then get right back on track. As a woman, I take as much time as I need to recover. But as a business owner, when I get back on track, I make up for lost time. Life will always give you reasons to get off course, but it’s up to YOU as to whether or not you allow that as an excuse.
5. Don’t make me kick your ass!
Personally the men and women in my life are equally loyal and want the best for me. But the fellas show up very differently in the way they support me. While my gal pals offer advice, counseling and motivation (which I need a great deal of), the boys club often responds with “are you going to get this done or am I going to have to kick your ass?!” My girls will text me with “how are you feeling” messages while the guys text “how many seats did you sell today”. There is nothing like REAL expectation to keep me moving. Shux, if these guys believe in me this much, who am I to let them down.
6. Your rates are too low!
Over the past two years, at the urging of the boys club, I have doubled my rates. When I first presented them with my pricing, they literally seemed horrified. Then when I proceeded to tell them I felt bad about raising my fees, they looked even more bewildered. Yep, that’s strictly a girl thing! Many of us feel bad about charging for something that comes easily to us, or we don’t have the confidence to ask for a higher fee. In my case I knew that my clients couldn’t afford the higher rates. Wanna know that the fellas said? “Find new clients!” Well damn!!! It was that simple! So that’s what I’ve done.
I find a great deal of benefit to working with men AND women in business. I don’t think I will ever chose one over the other, not when I can have the best of both worlds!
Let me take a minute to give a shout out to the members of my ALL male mastermind group (Charles, Matthew, Lamar, James and Anthony) — I love being the only chick) and to my 2 business mentors (Jack & JB). By the way, I do have a FEMALE business strategist, but I SWEAR she does strategy like a dude *giggles*.
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