Women entrepreneurs start small businesses at twice the rate of men and they continue to be less concerned with growth.
Why? Because women often start businesses for completely different reasons then men. First, and foremost, women start a business in order to balance a lifestyle. Often that business is a sole proprietorship launched to sell a product or service that the entrepreneur herself can provide. Many sole proprietorships can build revenues to a million or more by outsourcing tasks that don't require full time employees.
There is no shame in choosing to build a small business!
As a business coach, I hear every day from entrepreneurs about what keeps them up at night. The two most pressing issues are: people (employees) and sales.
Many of the sole proprietors I coach resist hiring for exactly this reason. An employee may offer a solution to increasing productivity and volume, but (s)he will also bring the requirement of needing to be managed.
Entrepreneurs who do not want to manage employees can still build a profitable business as long as they understand that regardless of how hard they work they have no control over a 24/7 work week. Once that time is exhausted, if the business is not making money it is not a viable business. You can't create more time so you will need to raise your prices. But be aware that every service and/or product has a price point and once reached cannot be increased.
Pricing is especially important for small businesses. You might be able to get away with a bad first impression, but you will never get away with too low a price!
In the case of sales, many entrepreneurs rely on their own abilities or seek out training to become better at qualifying and closing sales opportunities. If this is not successful enough, generally, the first thought is to outsource sales to an independent contractor (commissioned salesperson). In this economy, there are some individuals with strong credentials that makes outsourcing sales a positive experience. The entrepreneur, however, will pay a premium (as (s)he should) if this arrangement works well as (s)he has no need to manage this individual or add to the overhead of the business.
In essence, the business can remain small and revenues can increase.
As a business coach and serial entrepreneur (and a woman), I recognize the attraction women entrepreneurs have for building a small business. Giving birth to a business is no easy task, particularly if you also have elder care, child care, husband care, community care and home care obligations as well. Choosing to be in control of your worklife, as much as possible, is a sensible decision.
So don't apologize for choosing to be a small business - solo practitioner - you go girl!
You can be as big as you believe yourself to be by incorporating the virtual world of assistance -- outsourced contractors who like you want to be small, but earn BIG $$$$
