Woman-Owned Business

This is a blog on woman-owned businesses. I would love to hear from other woman business owners or people inspiring to become woman business owners. Let me introduce myself. I am Nancy Phares Brown, President of Computer Room Design Corporation aka CRD Corp. This is a 32 year old company that my husband Tracy Brown founded. In December, 2010 he asked me to take over the company. The revenue was down and he felt if we became a woman-owned company, it would open the door to more opportunities.

In the beginning, I was like a lot of mothers trying to balance home life with a career. Once my children were a little older, I started college. My husband asked if I was going to stop after junior college (4 years) and I said “no, I’m going to keep going.” I went on to upper level school for 2 more years, graduating with a BS in Management of Technology. Ten years later, I went for my MBA.

Greater Challenges

Why are some of us so driven in the business world? When I was young, girls were encouraged to finish high school, work a couple of years, get married and have babies. There is nothing wrong with this, but for some of us, it is not enough. We want to be able to stand on our own and be an equal partner with our significant other. We want to contribute to the problem-solving that is so necessary in today’s world. The phrase “two heads are better than one” is so true. One person can come up with a good idea, but two people can “hit it out of the park” with a great solution.

When I worked for the government, I encountered resistance here and there such as  “You’re taking a job away from a man, you should be at home.” I remember being 6 months pregnant and trying to work just a few months while my husband was in Thailand/Viet Nam. I was told I needed to be at home and not at work. Then, later when my husband was finally making good money, the criticism was that I was taking a job away from a younger person that needed the work. Much of this type of criticism has left society, but it is still here.  We women have to develop a thicker skin and let it roll off our back. Criticism will always come from those who are never satisfied, even with themselves. We must learn to be the bigger person and move on. I’m not talking about constructive criticism which is good, but meaningless chatter that should be left by the wayside. We are women, we are strong, we want to contribute! We are resourceful and do not like to waste time.

What Are The Qualifications

Moving on – what are the qualifications of a woman-owned business? The business must be 51 percent owned, controlled, operated, and managed by a woman or women. This is according to the well-known Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). I prefer certification as a woman-owned business because it shows that your business has gone through a rigorous examination. Your life becomes an open book to the Council, but it is worth it. You can go to the WBENC website and the process is explained in detail there.  So I leave you with this great quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

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