Women Entrepreneurs across the globe have made an enormous impact on global business statistics. As of 2021, 41 female CEOs’ are employed at Fortune 500 companies. Moreover, women are reported to own 31% of small businesses in the United States (Guidant Financial), while 36.1% of immigrant business owners in Canada are women (WEKH).
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made… It shouldn’t be that women are the exception”.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Successful Women Entrepreneurs not only support their families but also help communities grow. Women in business also drive innovation, social and economic growth, and create employment opportunities for other women.
However, these very women are portrayed to be risk-averse and fearing failure. In entrepreneurship, it comes as part of the package. No matter how successful a business you have established, it might happen that once in a while you lack the drive to keep going. There is a purpose but there is just no motivation to move forward any further.
In such cases, women entrepreneurs need to surround themselves with other women who stick to their ambitions in an obdurate manner. And no matter what comes their way, they fight away with the rigor and drive that was there on the very first day of the business.
Thus, if you are a woman, and an entrepreneur, here are 5 books by women entrepreneurs to help you keep going. These are the women entrepreneurs who prove to be examples of resilience and consistency. They are inspiring because they see failures not as the end of it, but as stepping stones. As Oprah Winfrey says, “think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness”.
Read on to find out the inspiring accounts of some successful women entrepreneurs.
Book One: Girl Boss By Sophia Amoruso
This book is an incredible account of a woman entrepreneur’s life story. The book Girl Boss, written by the founder of Nasty Gal and the CEO of Girlboss, reflects that your current situation is just a matter of your mindset. Success is a step away, the only condition here is that you are willing to take that step.
“Amoruso teaches the innovative and entrepreneurial among us to play to our strengths, learn from our mistakes, and know when to break a few of the traditional rules.” —Vanity Fair
If you have any reservations about your life, or that idea you have been dwelling but cannot build up the courage to work on it, well, here’s an account of Sophia’s life;
- She was a school dropout, broke, and with barely a job
- She founded Nasty Gal at the age of 22
- She was named one of the richest self-made women in the world by Forbes by the age of 32, in 2016
Let’s leave it at that.
Book Two: What You Can Do, I Can Too by Helen Vallaeys
Although an animated one, the picture book by Hellen Vallaeys is an amazing book for little girls and grown women alike. Where the book provides a view into the professional world, the illustrations by Dani Ward are quite a on point. It is colorful, engaging, and realistic.
Vallaeys has emphasized the strengths that women hold, and the broad horizons that they can meet. The main aspect of the book is that it encourages women to shoot for the moon. In a world where many professional careers are segregated according to gender difference, 'What You Can Do, I Cam Do Too' allows not only women but also everyone to rise above prejudice and work towards personal development.
“When someone says you won’t do this because you are a girl, I can’t rest until I do that”.
Aidit Chaurasia
Book Three: The Glitter Plan: How We Started Juicy Couture for $200 and Turned It Into a Global Brand by Pamela Skaitst-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor
The Glitter Plan showcases how two women, unable to find the perfect T-shirt, delved into the clothing business. This book is a depiction of how two women entrepreneurs, with just a simple idea, willpower, and $200, built an empire from the ground.
This book not only serves as a source of motivation for the women entrepreneurs who have all these amazing ideas but also helps gain an insight into overcoming obstacles. It gives great lessons on learning from scratch to handling competition, and building staff, and coping with growth that may go both ways.
Moreover, the summary of the tips at the end of each chapter in the book is a great help too. Thus if you aim at getting down to business, when you do it with resilience and consistency, you become unstoppable.
"A true entrepreneur understands the single-mindedness that borders on being obsessive-compulsive. And that the work of an entrepreneur doesn't end with any single business. It's on to the next."
Related: 10 Best Entrepreneur Books for Starting a Business
Book Four: Shark Tales: How I Turned $1000 Into a Billion Dollar Business by Barbara Corcoran
Almost everyone who is doing something faces failure. Women entrepreneurs, in almost all societies, face many obstacles that stunt their growth.
Not once, not twice, but times enough to make one let go of the dream and sit back. However, the author of Shark Tales, Barbara Corcoran decided to fight back with twice the energy after having more than her share of encounters with failure.
22 failed jobs were Barbara's motivation to get going and delve into the world of business. From a borrowed amount of $1000, Barbara built her business into a $6 billion one.
Here are some key takeaways from Shark Tales;
- Stand out with advertising, and offer uniqueness
- Get rid of things that waste your time
"Sometimes very successful people appear to be winging it because they look so comfortable on their feet. But don't be fooled; there ain't no such thing. They just came across that way because they practiced so many times." _ Barbara Corcoran
Book Five: Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO and one of the Most Powerful Women in Business (Fortune Magazine), expresses her take on business, work, and ambition in this book.
Here is one of the quotes from Sandberg's Lean In that emphasizes the perception of women, especially that of working women, in many societies and professional arenas;
“Professional ambition is expected of men but is optional—or worse, sometimes even a negative—for women. “She is very ambitious” is not a compliment in our culture. Aggressive and hard-charging women violate unwritten rules about acceptable social conduct. Men are continually applauded for being ambitious and powerful and successful, but women who display these same traits often pay a social penalty. Female accomplishments come at a cost.”
And she is not wrong in saying so.
These books are a must-read for all women entrepreneurs and all the women who want to be entrepreneurs.
