Rogers event focuses on women entrepreneurs and celebrates Women’s History Month

ROGERS – Small business owners, women entrepreneurs and aspiring small business owners gathered Friday to network and gain insight from industry professionals.

Score Northwest Arkansas, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, hosted the EmpowHER business workshop on Friday at Simmons Bank in Rogers to celebrate Women’s History Month.

Two different panels were held during the event. The first concerned the resources available to women entrepreneurs; the second focused on the importance of being both a client and a mentor.

The panel leaders were experts in their own right, Score’s David Bernstein said.

Panelists for the first were: Kimberly Randle of Apex Accelerators, Erica Preston of Simmons Bank, Mary Beth Brooks of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, Chauncey Pettis of the Arkansas Women’s Business Center, and Debra Williams of Communities Unlimited.

The panelists for the second were: Trisha Lemery, Kayla Norris, Katherine Lopez and Sally Schoen. Lemery and Schoen brought the perspective of a Score mentor to the discussion. López and Norris talked about their experience as a client and how to make the most of the relationship.

RESOURCES

There are multiple free services for small business owners that some people don’t know about, Williams said.

Williams is area lending director at Communities Unlimited, where she said she helps small business owners obtain loans for contracts or business agreements they have agreed to with clients. Williams said Communities Unlimited offers contract loans for small business owners. The loan provides business owners with the capital they need to deliver their product or service as set out in the contract or business agreement. The owner can then repay the loan and interest in installments.

“If you’re interested in something, call someone,” Williams said. She said if you have an idea but don’t know where to start, he calls someone and they will be able to help you or direct you to someone who can.

Randle, who supports Arkansas business owners receiving government contracts, said the government is hiring all the time and their goal is to have 5% of their contracts be with women-owned small businesses.

All of the resource panelists agreed that knowing a company’s audience is important and shared that entrepreneurs can find information about the market in multiple ways.

Brooks said that IBISWorld.com It’s a good place to get industry reports. IBISWorld helps organizations by creating analytics that reflect current economic, demographic and market data, according to its website.

Adriene Brown, area director for the Small Business Administration, said the administration always provides free help. In addition to in-person help, the administration’s website has an online learning tool that features free courses that business owners can take at their own pace.

Mentors and clients

Score’s Bernstein said a mentor-to-client relationship is dynamic but can be confused with one-way mentor-to-client communication.

The goal is a balanced relationship between mentor and client, Schoen said. She added that he will come across as a mentor who listens and gives advice to a client but is there for him. Schoen said qualities to avoid in a mentor are: When someone only talks about himself, he dominates the conversation and shares stories that don’t apply to the conversation with his client.

Schoen said a good client knows their needs and drives the agenda of a meeting with the client. She also said it takes a good mentor to teach the client so they know what to ask because “you don’t know what you don’t know.”

A mentor may be good but not relevant to a given client, Lopez said. She said a client has to learn that he will have different mentors at different times in her life, and that a mentor may not be with a client forever.

Both panels mentioned that having interests and a life outside of work is very important. Some of the panelists said they enjoy pickleball and being in nature. Others said business owners need to have other people in the community to talk to about what they go through day to day and that will be encouraging.