Women business owners have less access to outside capital than their male counterparts.
When they want to expand or improve their companies, they're more likely to use personal assets rather than seek larger outside funding.
Insufficient funds can translate into these women entrepreneurs never fully realizing the growth potential of their businesses. It doesn't have to be that way though. A conference taking place in Kansas City next week will emphasize how women can access the necessary capital to move their firms forward and overcome the psychology of thinking small.
On Thursday's Up to Date, guest host Brian Ellison talks with three women working to support their peers in business. Together they'll examine where to find funding and how to access it, and how female owners get stuck on the "small" in small business. Plus, a look at what can be done working with federal legislators in shaping policy, regulations and law that impact women-owned companies and which, by extension, benefit all business owners.
Hear in KC: "Women Accessing Capital: Overcoming the Psychology of Small" takes place Oct. 16, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. at the Kauffman Foundation. Visit the WIPP website for more information and to register for this event.
Amy Millman co-founded Springboard Enterprises in 2000, a non-profit venture catalyst which sources, coaches, showcases and supports women-led companies seeking equity capital for product development and expansion. During her career in Washington, DC, Amy served as a representative for several industry groups and was appointed as Executive Director of the National Women’s Business Council during the Clinton Administration. Millman served on the boards of many organizations including her current service with JumpStart Inc. and Enterprising Women Magazine. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and holds a Masters degree from The George Washington University. Barbara Kasoff is the President & CEO and Co-founder of Women Impacting Public Policy, Inc., a non-profit, nonpartisan public policy advocacy organization with over half a million members including 59 business organization, educating and advocating on economic issues for women in business. Kasoff has owned and managed Voice-Tel of Michigan, Voice-Tel of Central Michigan, and Voice Response Corporation, a telemarketing and database marketing company. Barbara also opened and developed Voice-Tel of Australia. Barbara previously served as Vice President of Customer Service and Senior Vice President of Research and Software Development for World Computer Corporation in Michigan. Barbara recently completed a term as an appointee to the National Women’s Business Council and has been appointed to Key Bank’s Key4Women National Advisory Board and AT&T’s Women Entrepreneurs’ Forum. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the National Global Trade and Technology Board of Directors, and is also a media resource for the White House Project. Kasoff speaks nationally and internationally on issues concerning leadership and advocacy for business women. She has served as a Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business, was an invited delegate to President Clinton’s Midwest Regional Economic Summit and was the recipient of the State of Michigan Women in Business Advocate of the Year in 1995. Dorothy Browning is the Program Director for the Women’s Business Center based in Lenexa. Prior to this position, she worked in the microenterprise arena from 2003 until 2010 as part of the First Step Fund, which served as Kansas City’s primary microenterprise support program for over a decade. Her roles included client services coordinator and national curriculum manager for the First Step Fasttrac curriculum. She graduated from University of Kansas with a Master in Speech-Language Pathology, working in the acute and long-term care arenas as a clinician, consultant, and manager for many years prior to her transition to the business support community.
