By Erin Daniels, The KNOW Women
Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, according to Forbes, 2.2 million women left the workforce. This drastic change was due to the combination of many variables; business closures, increased need for at-home child-care, reduction in demand for certain goods and services, along with many others. The pandemic also laid off many from their jobs leaving them searching for new streams of income. At the beginning of 2021, the number of applications for new businesses in the United States went up 73% from the previous year, many of which are women-owned.
Despite the setback, many of these businesses have exploded and grown immensely. They have scaled with intention, persistence, and connection. This is true for Sunshine Foss, co-founder of Happy Cork, a wine and spirits store that opened in Brooklyn, NY right before the pandemic. Since opening, Foss has grown her business to have a successful e-commerce website along with her physical store all while supporting many other women and minority-owned businesses. She has been featured in the New York Times, BBC World News, and many others. In order to grow, she adjusted to the pandemic demands by hosting virtual wine tastings. This adjustment led growth and allowed to her feature celebrities such as John Legend and Mary J. Blige on some of her episodes. As many of our KNOW women mention below, she saw a need and created a solution resulting in major growth in her business.
In order to scale successfully, you need to evaluate your current offerings and the needs of your customers. How can your business become the answer to a problem?
At KNOW, we understand the importance of knowing when and how to scale your business! We asked our dynamic KNOW their advice on knowing when to scale, what tools to use, and what personally led them to grow their own businesses. Follow along to start scaling smart!
What are the top factors that have led you to expand your business?
The top factors that have led me to expand my business are: (1) collaborating with other women in the same industry who have different specialties; (2) being intentional with my time and resources; (3) the ability to take a step back and see the big picture; and (4) trusting my intuition on how much work we have and help we need.
-Juliet Burgess, The Burgess Law Group
The biggest factor would be my ambition. I thrive on creativity and leadership, so when those opportunities arise, I HAVE to say yes and figure out the HOW on the way off the cliff. In my business, that has meant that as I level up in my craft, I must empower others to take on previous roles I have carried and the rewards of that empowerment are exponential. Impacting others’ lives, so they can step into who they are meant to be has got to be the greatest gift of all. Expansion then becomes the obvious choice.
-Cat Ford-Coates, Atelier UnforgettableI wanted to grow my team and provide an atmosphere of diversity and a culture of acceptance. I have an inner need to support fellow business owners, so they are successful in their endeavors. Of course, generating more income was a huge factor. Oh, and I am stubborn.
-Myra Ray, Print and Web Designer
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1. Balance 2. Income – For me, I knew I wanted to have a more balanced life with time. More time away from work to live my desired happy life. In order to balance more personal time, I knew I needed to grow and expand my business with employees. With all of us sharing our time, we all earn more income. I knew it was time when I wanted to work less and earn more.
-Krystal Keck, The KORE Team
First, I realized I just could not do it all on my own. Then, I calculated how much time it takes to do specific tasks. Then, I hired people to do the things that took up the biggest bulks of my time.
– Megan Coghlan, Backcourt Marketing
