Women in eCommerce: What They Do Differently?

Some would argue that entrepreneurs are born and not made. At least, this was an opinion expressed by psychologist Alan Jacobwitz after he conducted a study among 500 entrepreneurs. Both male and female entrepreneurs certainly share common natural traits like striving for independence, risk-taking, decisiveness, and self-discipline. However, when women entrepreneurs are trying to do business in a way that is not native to them, meaning like men, having a masculine perspective focused on:

• Closing sales vs. building relationship
• Profits before people
• Efficiency before compassion
• A mindset based on “bigger faster stronger”

they see little success. Alternatively, women entrepreneurs thrive when they do business from the place of:

• Empowerment rather than power over
• Generosity rather than scarcity and urgency
• Collaboration rather than competition.

How do female entrepreneurs come up with business ideas?

Spreading values

Biologically, women have more sensitivity about others’ well being. Therefore, apart from focusing on the economic reasons for business ownership, women in the entrepreneurial world seek to make some kind of social contribution and address important issues. Businesses they create are aligned with their own personal ethics and values, for example, promoting safety awareness and sustainable living.

Let’s take a look at online stores founded by successful female entrepreneurs:

#1 The Safety Award Store has been helping companies raise safety awareness among their workers. The companies can order to place safety messages/reminders on the products that have a meaningful, everyday application including flashlights, pins, first-aid and, drinkware, safety snacks, survival kits, hats, t-shirts, tools and more. Safety Award Store products guarantee the “wow” factor by combining their strongest motivation to be safe with products that improve employee’s lives and protect their families.

#2 Bump Boxes deliver boxes with safe products hand-picked for each month of pregnancy. Christine Deehring, the Founder, left the corporate world 4 years ago to start her own company.

“My daughter was my inspiration,” says Christine. “I wanted to protect her and keep her healthy and safe from the very beginning which started the vetting of safe pregnancy products. I also wanted to prove to her that she can choose her own path, and she can create the life she wants. She can bootstrap a company in the midwest and be successful, and I wanted to be that example for her.”

Bump Boxes is now the world’s largest pregnancy subscription company. They now ship over 300,000 boxes annually to subscribers all over the world. The company successfully expanded into offering subscription boxes as perks for employee wellness, with over 200 current corporate clients.

#3 Sleekform helps people create the office of their dreams! It is a direct-to-consumer line of ergonomic furniture that specializes in kneeling chairs. Their mission is to provide an alternative seating option that is accessible for the average person.

Sleekform team really believes that correct posture and healthy sitting habits have a massive effect on our overall health and the best way to achieve this is to constantly be switching up our posture. “The best posture is the next posture” is our motto and we’d love to make it your motto too.”

Elizabeth Mercer, the Founder of Sleekform and one of the successful women entrepreneurs, shares with SimtechDev how she looks for new ideas on ergonomics and cool interesting products, “I sell online and I use a variety of online tools that help me identify holes in the market and places I could create products that are being searched for. For example, I am currently using one called Jungle Scout for use on the Amazon marketplace for ideas. Then I take the ideas and see how we can improve them to fit our brand and needs. From there I search for suppliers and contact overseas manufacturers who could create this product.”

Overcoming needs

#4 Today, SleepPhones are the world’s most comfortable headphones for sleeping, founded by Dr. Wei-Shin Lai. But back in 2007, when Wei-Shin Lai was a family doctor, she needed a way to get back to sleep after taking patient calls in the middle of the night.

Her husband suggested listening to soothing music to fall back asleep, but headphones were bulky and earbuds were extremely uncomfortable. So she would take some fleece and some speakers and put it all together. It felt so comfortable. It was then when she decided she stumbled upon a great product.

#5 NoMo Bands—the first and only natural way to stop nausea, vomiting, headaches, and sleep problems instantly for adults, kids, and now dogs too.

Dr. Jacqueline Darna, CEO & Medical Inventor shares her story with SimtechDev, “I was an anesthesia provider in my 20s making a great living about to have baby #2. Since the first one was a piece of cake, what could possibly go wrong? I was rushed to the operating room to have an emergency c-section, I didn’t even make it out of the OR without starting to vomiting. It lasted for 3 days and they tried every medication until finally, I reverted back to Eastern medicine of acupressure at the P6 point, located 3 finger distance in between the first 2 tendons, and peppermint leaves that I was brought. It helped so much but I never had the peppermint when I needed it so I taped the two together ” went home. I scored the internet desperately to buy the product ” no one had ever combined the two. Everyone I told my idea to include my husband thought I was crazy and said don’t waste your money. With plastic in hand and within less than 6 months, I filed my patent, produced the product through a medical manufacturer, and brought to the No Mo Nausea Band to market. Torn between my job ” my passion, I did what every mom would do. Work my 7-5 at the hospital and my 5-7 in the company ” keeping it a true bootstrapping company. Within 48 months we are now distributed in hospitals in 12 countries of the world.”

How do women in eCommerce succeed?

Networking is not just a buzzword

Surprisingly, but also maybe not surprisingly, I keep getting the same answer to my “What is the secret behind your success?” question. And it is… “Relationships, Relationships, Relationships!” (Right, pretty much like “Location, Location, Location” for real estate). Female entrepreneurs of today know that effective communication is at the heart of any business success.

And while men in entrepreneurship have to put tremendous effort into mastering their social skills to establish strategic social connections, for women the ability to build meaningful relationships comes naturally: whether it is customer relationship, communication between team members or business networking events, they easily outperform their male counterparts. If we were to offer one inspirational advice to women who are at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey, it would be to make the most of this natural ability:

• Put yourself out there—join women’s business associations available in your area, collaborate with them, attend social events;
• Find yourself a role model and learn as much as you can;
• Don’t hesitate to ask for help.

The stories about successful women entrepreneurs we have featured today had gifts they were not afraid of showing to the world. And they all decided somewhere along the way that they will succeed.

If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough…

If you are inspired to make the world a better place and do business that is aligned with your innate values, our eCommerce experts will help you with turning your ideas into a reality!

Katerina Kopylova is a Content Marketer at Simtech Development. She writes research-driven articles on eCommerce business solutions. Educated in Business Studies, bitten with a literature bug. Katerina is also a photography enthusiast. When she is not writing eCommerce articles, she is outside, equipped with her favorite 50mm lens, seeking photo opportunities.

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