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What is NAWBO ABOUT? PASSION, PROFITS AND POWER…
By Cristi Cristich
As a past president of a NAWBO (National Association of Women
Business Owners) chapter and now past President of NAWBO-California,
my mission is to inspire women business owners to recognize
and embrace three things that are critical to our success
as women business owners……..Passion, Profits and
Power.
Passion. An unabashed and sometime naive passion for
our business, our relationships and our lives is what often
sets women apart from other segments of business owners. As
women business owners and role models we must capitalize on
those passions. Come to a NAWBO meeting and one can feel the
passion electrifying the room. Focused passion propels women
to new heights as individuals and business owners!
I am often asked what has been the key to my success in business
and what would be the single most essential skill for anyone
starting a business to have. I have had no formal training
or college education whatsoever, yet was able to build a 90-employee
company in a high tech industry. I have met countless successful
business owners who have similar stories. The common thread
is that they had a vision for what they wanted to achieve
and a single-minded passion for making it happen.
Successful and passionate entrepreneurs do not see failure
as an option. They are able to overcome obstacles that most
would rightfully consider impossible. Passion
for their vision enables them to see their way through the
challenges and to experience success.
Profits. If passion is coupled with solid business
training, guidance and skills, the resulting profits (monetary
and otherwise) are truly awesome. Profit has often been a
dirty word, or at the very least, a secondary goal for many
Women Business Owners. But profit is the most essential part
of all business.
Many women begin their businesses for reasons not revolving
around money. In fact many women take a large pay cut when
they begin in business in order to improve the quality of
their lives. These are great reasons to start a business,
but over time, if we don't focus on the bottom line, the values
and the environments we sought to create when we began can
be taken from us when we least expect it.
"Profit - phobia" can be fatal to any business!
I learned several years ago that if my business didn't prosper
with PROFITS I would loose the ability and privilege to run
my business to fulfill my humanitarian objectives. I would
also be unable to continue to promote the value system and
working environment I cherish.
Power. Here is a word with even more negative connotations
for women than profit. Power is a word I rarely hear women
use when they describe their motivations. Money often increases
one's power, but there are other types of power as well....the
personal power we feel when we have all the skills and resources
needed to succeed and the political power we can exercise
as a large and important block of the economic community.
- Personal Power is the most important type
of power. As entrepreneurs, much of what we achieve is dependent
upon the sheer force of our personal power. Many of us started
with no capital, no support network and just a mere idea.
Through our personal power we have built successful businesses.
Personal power is a close cousin to passion. If you had
the guts to start a business you have what it takes, so
what is holding you back from taking center stage? Owning
and asserting your personal power will make a positive impact
on your life and your business, regardless of what your
dreams are.
- Economic Power and women's relative hesitation
to focus on it and use it should bring back some of the
thoughts on my "profit-phobia". The bottom line
is that our culture respects money; it is the yardstick
by which we measure success and assign credibility. In almost
all circumstances you must have (or be able to create) economic
power in order to have a large impact on your world. Even
if you don't want to change the world, it sure is convenient
to have the options available to you that are created by
a solid financial position.
- Political Power is not for everyone but
as soon as you have more than two people in a room, you
have "politics," so political power is in fact
applicable to everyone. If political office isn't your dream,
I encourage you to identify those good leaders who are in
alignment with your views and share some of your personal
and economic power with them. Another way you can participate
is to involve yourself and help to shape the public policy
agenda for small businesses. NAWBO, for example, is very
influential in Washington D.C. and is working to forward
an agenda that supports small, women and disadvantaged businesses.
Women pride themselves on being in business for higher motives,
such as employee job creation, service to customers, personal
growth or contributions to the community. But without profits
and liquidity, women business owners risk losing the ability
and privilege to run businesses that fulfill humanitarian
objectives or promote the value system and working environments
they cherish. Women entrepreneurs can use the three P's, passion,
profits and power, to create businesses and succeed.
While we don't all have to be like Cuba Gooding's character
in Jerry McGuire shouting "Show me Da Money!", take
some time to decide whether you are running a business or
enjoying a hobby disguised as a business!
Cristi Cristich, Past President of the
statewide California Chapter of the National Association of
Women Business Owners, and founder of Cristek Interconnects,
Inc., an electronics manufacturing firm in Anaheim, CA, Had
her own personal struggles with "profit-phobia"
and power. Even without an electronics background, she founded
her own company and came to be one of the few women CEO's
among several hundred firms in the electronics industry.
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