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The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) hosted a Twitter chat Wednesday afternoon to commemorate Women’s History Month while participants across the nation provided tips to women entrepreneurs interested in starting and growing a business. The hashtag for the chat, #SBAchat, trended throughout the day.
According to the SBA, the chat had an approximate reach of 2.4 million with exposure to 8.6 million. To add perspective, the U.S. has 7.8 million women-owned businesses. In addition to NAWRB, other participants included Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), SCORE, the U.S. Department of Commerce, UPS, and NAWBO.
Although it was NAWRB’s first time participating in a Twitter chat, it was a great success! Despite almost two weeks left in the month of March , NAWRB was able to already match its Twitter engagement with the previous month by participating in the SBA’s Twitter chat. Tweets with the SBA’s hashtag were sent in rapid succession from everyone involved.
Overall, the SBA hosted an excellent Twitter chat that garnered widespread attention. At NAWRB, we believed every contributor had excellent advice, but some tweets especially resonated with us.
When asked what challenges women entrepreneurs face, UPS Store responded with the following: Be confident. Don’t see yourself as a stereotype! Show people you’re an #entrepreneur. Period. #SBAchat
The SBA asked for tips for women entrepreneurs starting a business. NAWBO responded with “Don’t be afraid to hear ‘No.’ Let it strengthen you. Each NO brings you closer to YES. #NAWBO #SBAchat
NAWBO brings up a good point. Women entrepreneurs should not let the fear of rejection dictate the process of starting a business. According to an NWBC report titled Access to Capital by High-Growth Women-Owned Businesses, “From the standpoint of risk aversion, a number of studies have similarly identified the fear of failure as a major impediment to the launch and growth of women-owned firms.”
However, rejection and failure are a natural part of life. If everyone stopped at the first sight of rejection/failure, there would be no more innovation or progress. Instead, it should empower women to push forward.
For more helpful tips and inspiration, NAWRB encourages everyone to visit sba.gov or view the responses of the SBA’s Twitter chat via the hashtag #SBAchat.