Tweet

Masterminding: Benefits and Considerations for Three Types of Businesswomen

Guest post by: Michele DeKinder-Smith

Article Overview: Participating in a mastermind group is an excellent way for female entrepreneurs to offer and receive support as they work together toward a common, specific goal. This article outlines the definition of a mastermind group, as well as the benefits three types of female business owners should expect – and considerations they should make – when participating in a mastermind group.

Masterminding: Benefits and Considerations for Three Types of Businesswomen

Participating in a mastermind group is an excellent way for female entrepreneurs to offer and receive support as they work together toward a common, specific goal. Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, first defined the mastermind as a “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.” Continuing research delves into the intricacies of business collaboration – and reveals important steps to follow. Professional market research of more than 3,500 women in business, has shown that each of five unique types of business owners has a unique approach to running a business and to handling the other details of her life – and therefore each one has a unique combination of needs. This article outlines three of those types, and details the benefits they should expect – and considerations they should make – when participating in a mastermind group. Jane Dough is an entrepreneur who enjoys running her business and generally, she makes a nice living. She is comfortable and determined in buying and selling, which may be why she's five times more likely than the average female business owner to hit the million dollar mark. Jane Dough is clear in her priorities and may be intentionally and actively growing an asset-based or legacy business. It is estimated that 18% of women entrepreneurs fall in the category of Jane Dough. For Jane Dough, masterminding is really about creating connections with her peers. Because Jane Dough business owners are likeminded in terms of how they do business – typically, they are strategic and growth-focused – when they work together, they learn quickly from each other. They share ideas, make connections and develop joint venture relationships. Therefore, it is crucial that Jane Dough business owners mastermind together, rather than with other entrepreneurial types. Other entrepreneurial types will often want to learn valuable "how to" information and explore individual topics in greater depth. Jane Dough, however, usually wants a quick "what to do in this situation" (strategy) discussion and then she will want to move on to discussing other issues, trusting she and her team can figure out the "how". Jane Dough's style makes for a faster-paced and more directive mastermind than other Janes might enjoy, while Jane Dough, in her turn, might become impatient if the group is very focused on sharing detailed 'how to'. Go Jane Go is passionate about her work and provides excellent service, so she has plenty of clients – so much so, she's struggling to keep up with demand. At 14% of women in business, she may be a classic overachiever, taking on volunteer opportunities as well, because she's eager to make an impact on the world and she often struggles to say no. Because she wants to say yes to so many people, she may even be in denial about how many hours she actually works during the course of a week. As a result, she may be running herself ragged and feeling guilty about neglecting herself and others who are important to her. Go Jane Go has great potential to elevate a mastermind group – to create a nurturing and fostering environment for its members. For this type of entrepreneur, who is so committed to serving other people, a mastermind group may present a draining situation if she falls into supporting the group, rather than getting the support she needs and deserves. If and when a Go Jane Go business owner decides to participate in a mastermind group, then, she must get clear on her own business objectives, and remain true to those throughout the mastermind process. Accidental Jane is a successful, confident business owner who never actually set out to start a business. Instead, she may have decided to start a business due to frustration with her job or a layoff and then she decided to use her business and personal contacts to strike out on her own. Or, she may have started making something that served her own unmet needs and found other customers with the same need, giving birth to a business. Although Accidental Jane may sometimes struggle with prioritizing what she needs to do next in her business, she enjoys what she does and is making good money. About 18% of all women business owners fit the Accidental Jane profile. Accidental Jane business owners typically are solopreneurs building their businesses through word of mouth. Therefore, Accidental Jane business owners would benefit greatly from a mastermind group committed to sharing referrals and recommendations. Accidental Jane is typically confident, and would benefit from masterminding with similarly confident business owners who feel comfortable passing on and receiving referrals and recommendations. While masterminding can prove a powerful, effective means of reaching business goals – whether it’s business growth or personal development – that power and effectiveness is multiplied when the mastermind group fits with each business owner’s needs, desires and habits as defined by her entrepreneurial type.

Related Articles
  Best of the Janes: Getting the Most Out of Masterminding
  How To Apply Leverage In Your Business!
  Things Leaders Do Part 4
  Making a Logical Bid or No-Bid Decision
  Masterminding and Strategic Partnership Can Increase Sales for Business Coaches
  Business Coach, You Can Increase Sales through Strategic Partnerships and Masterminding
  Masterminding: Two Types of Female Entrepreneurs Reap the Rewards
  Pay It Forward
  Increase Revenue Ideas,Increasing Revenue
  Steps on How to Start a Business from Home
  The Idiot Proof Way to Make Money in Network Marketing
  Starting Your Own Franchise
  Women Are Embracing Franchising
  4 Essential Daily Rituals to Becoming a Top Network Marketing Leader
  Mean Girls Don’t Always Finish First
  Two Types of Businesswomen Network for Business Growth
  Is an Automotive Franchise for You?
  Customer benefits are the key to success
  How to Accelerate Your Success with a Mastermind Group
  Receiving Support: Expert Advice for Two Types of Female Entrepreneurs

Article Tags: Business Goals, Female Entrepreneurs, Mastermind Group, Masterminding, Women Business Owners
Referred by: http://www.MichelePW.com



Related Forum Posts
Online Brainstorming - If any of you have read Jack Canfield's Success Principles or Robert Allen & Mark Victor Hansen, Enlightened Millionaires, you will understand how these great concepts come about. Go back to the original text on Masterminding which is Napolean Hill in Think & Grow Rich. While their are many Mastermind groups out there right now, they arent really true to the original philosophy. In its purest form a mastermind group, or inner circle is a group dedicated to one goal, one cause and they all utilize their personal connections and resources to accomplish it. I think if you really wanted to creat a 'next best thing' you need to find people to join your inner circle. STaff, friends, suppliers, mentors anyone that can dedicate some time to working on it, launching it and reaping the benefits. I think doing one online would be great..who else would be interested?
Re: Do Articles For Businesswomen need to be written differently - In general, there's no difference in writing a business article for women than there is for men. Businesswomen reading business articles want the same thing men do - information to help them start or grow their business. If you are writing for an all-female audience, the only thing that might make much difference would be using appropriate examples (ie, say a beauty shop rather than an auto-body /collision repair shop). A welcome extra touch, too, is being sure at least some of the experts cited are female. Appropriate anecdotes - stories that demonstrate the reason a point is important, or give proof to a concept have their place in article written for men and women both. And on the flip side, fluff is fluff no matter what gender your audience is. Anecdotes that don't make a relevant point don't belong in articles or books. Frankly, too, for most articles, you don't want to target any one gender. Doing so accomplishes little more than cutting the audience for your article in half.
Books for Women Entrepreneurs - There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here. It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new. In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment! 1. The Old Girl's Network 2. Mother's Work 3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women 4. Pitch Like A Girl 5. Workplace Warrior 6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer 7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery 8. She Wins, You Win 9. Napoleon On Project Management 10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do 11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years 12. The One Minute Millionaire 13. Talking From 9 to 5 14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions 15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success 16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded 17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful 18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End 19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide 20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen 21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business 22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker 23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business 24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises 25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy 26. The Promotable Woman 27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it 28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home 29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Top Ten Feeble Follow-up Attempts to Fathom

Selling On Ebay The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Sales is a Flawed Model

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.