When it comes to professional degrees, women don’t pursue MBAs. According to the article on Women’s eNews, “Women clearly view business school as a more challenging and less welcoming atmosphere, however.”They more often go into law or medicine. NYU and other business schools are trying to change that by offering cooking classes and  private parties at Dylan’s Candy Bar.

Women-owned businesses are growing, so the rise of women pursuing MBAs should follow. However, it doesn’t to seem the case.  A lot of women who have started businesses in the past couple of years have done so out of necessity or passion. It is often a second career. The idea of being an entrepreneur may have not been in their career goals when they were in college.  Hopefully more women will pursue MBAs and build great businesses first.

From Small Biz Daily, there’s a nice article about women entrepreneurs bringing more jobs for the economy.  Here’s a snippet.

Writing on ForbesWoman.com, she notes, data from the Center for Women’s Business Ownership show that the 8 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. account for more than 23 million jobs—16 percent of all U.S. employment. But only one in five women-owned firms has revenues over $1 million. “If women entrepreneurs in the U.S. started with the same capital as men entrepreneurs, for instance, they would add a whopping 6 million jobs to the economy within five years–2 million of those in the first year alone, according to Babson College research,” Pinelli writes.

Pinelli believes the key to helping women business owners create jobs is helping them in three key areas: access to capital, business networks to help them scale their businesses, and global supply networks.

Brokelyn interviews the founder of LearnVest Alexa Von Tobel. I am a fan of LearnVest which is a personal finance site for women. Alexa talks about how she raised a million dollars for her startup. Congrats! BTW, I am also a fan of Brokelyn blog whose founder, Faye Penn, will be joining me on my SXSWi panel, The Broke Diaries.

I just found out that October is Women’s Small Business Month.  A new study shows that small businesses run by women are growing the economy.

The benchmark study, The Economic Impact of Women-Owned Businesses in the United States, showed that women-owned companies generate some $3 trillion in revenue and employ 23 million Americans–nearly double the number of people employed by the 50 biggest U.S. companies.

“Women-owned firms employ or generate a total of 16 percent of the jobs in our nation’s economy,” said Gwen Martin, executive director and director of research for the Center for Women’s Business Research.

Women-owned businesses were defined as privately held companies with at least 50 percent ownership held by women.

Read more about the study on Small Biz Daily.

Thinking of joining forces?  Nina Kaufman, of “Ask the Business Lawyer,” has developed a workshop on business partnerships and is holding a preview teleseminar tomorrow, Tuesday, October 6th at 800 PM.Visit Entrepreneurial Prenup for information and registration.

So lately I’ve been working at home, which gives me lots of time….at home.  Here’s some of my favorite things about working at home (in no particular order):

1. Lunch! $10 Midtown deli sandwich and chips replaced by 3 bowls of generic Cocoa Puffs and a banana.
2. The (more than occasional) TLC break.  Wow, there’s lots of shows about babies.
3. Housework motivation.  Can’t finish that research?  Vacuuming suddenly looks like a swell activity.
4. Tracking the number of telemarketing, bill collecting and political calls makes a neat Powerpoint graph.
5. Save money on personal grooming.  Who needs to wash their hair every day?  Dry clean only suits - out.  Dusty black Tshirts, mismatched socks and gym pants - in.

Hang up those beach towels and let’s get back to work!

•  The BOC Women’s Business Center is holding its fifth annual “21st Century Business Woman” conference on September 10th in Staten Island.  For more information, click here.
• The American Business Woman’s Association is holding a number of events in September.  On September 15th, there’s a neat-looking conference about building your business - “Building a Business You can Sell.”  Click here for the complete calendar of events.
• On September 16th,  NYC Small Business Services  is holding a workshop targeted to Latina-run businesses, about selling your services/products to the government.  Click here for more information.

Have a productive Fall!

Are you looking for a change from your 9-5? Are you debating about following your passion? Thinking about taking that leap into entrepreneurship? Last week I came across a very interesting video on this topic. The video was created by Caren Magill, the Founder & Chief Media Strategist of Digital Pink Media. Digital Pink is a website portal and consultancy dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs build brands and promote their small business online using affordable, repeatable strategies.

Here is what I learned: when starting out here are 4 tips you should keep in mind.

1. Consider what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy being in the kitchen cooking, then becoming a top chef might not be the right fit for you. Figure out another way to work your passion.

2. Brainstorm without restrictions. Don’t eliminate any ideas in the beginning. Your best ideas will stick while the other will fall to the side.

3. Explore your ideas exhaustively. Research! Research! Research! Talk to people already in that profession. Find out as much as you can: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

4. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Network both OFFLINE and ONLINE.

So don’t forget to learn about entrepreneurship. You can view the video here on the Digital Pink Media website.

Looks interesting.  Wonder if there’s a future podcast or something on-line?Social Media Workshop for Women

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Tanzania has launched a bank aimed specifically at women in what officials say will be an empowering move.

The bank says women need only an ID card or passport to open an account, unlike other banks which require title deeds or other proofs of wealth.

And applicants need only 3,000 Tanzanian shillings ($2) in savings - much less than other banks.

Although the bank, which is based in Dar es Salaam, targets women with its services, men can also open accounts.