Entrepreneurs and Female Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs and Female Entrepreneurs

Some people become entrepreneurs as their creativity just does not fit the corporate world. Some people become entrepreneurs in an effort to eliminate being bound to a regular nine to five job. Some people become entrepreneurs to better carry out an idea. The people who become entrepreneurs to better carry out an idea established a company when a need in seen in a market that he or she believes can be filled. Filling a market need is done through creating a new product or service or successfully targeting a market that is not fully served. The United States ranks in first place for female entrepreneurs (entrepreneur.com). While ranking first place for female entrepreneurs is impressive, there still remains room for improvement. Karen Quintos, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Dell stated, “The success of entrepreneurs and small businesses is critical for a thriving global economy and at Dell we believe women entrepreneurs must play a much more prominent role in business and leadership in the future” (entrepreneur.com). The Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network Summit conducted a study using thirty-one countries and released the results. Opportunities and challenges were evaluated in the areas of relative business environments, access to resources, leadership and rights, pipeline for female entrepreneurship, and potential for high-growth women-owned businesses. The results from Dell’s study concluded that differences in gender hinder growth of women-owned businesses in all countries as the majority of the countries scored below fifty percent (entrepreneur.com). Along with gender differences impacting the growth of women-owned businesses, according to an article by the National Women’s Business Council, female entrepreneurs establish businesses with about fifty percent less capital than businesses established by male entrepreneurs (nwbc.gov). In spite of all the negative factors impacting female entrepreneurs, the woman selected for this research assignment beat the odds to establish a very successful company and is a millionaire today. First, what was done before becoming an entrepreneur and what prompted establishing a business will be explained. Next, the good or service the entrepreneur started along with where and when will be given. Then, reasons for success, what was produced, how it was produced, and who it was produced for will be provided. Finally, the characteristics of the entrepreneur that helped to become successful and the challenges faced will be stated.

Before Becoming an Entrepreneur and the Inspiration for Becoming One

Sara Blakely is the founder and owner of Spanx, a multi-million dollar company. Before creating such a brilliant product and successful company, Sara Blakley resided in Clearwater, Florida. Sarah attended school at Florida State University and graduated with a degree in communications. Unable to pass the Law School Admission Test, Sara then took a job working at Disney World as a guide to customers entering onto an Epcot Center Ride. After working for Disney World for three months, Sara changed jobs and began working for Danka, an office equipment company in Atlanta, Georgia. While working for Danka, Sara was a door to door salesperson of fax machines. Her sales objective was to achieve twenty thousand dollars monthly in fax machine sales. In addition to being a salesperson, Sara was also responsible for fax machine deliveries upon attaining a sale. Although Sara’s position as a salesperson came with challenges such as the stress of meeting monthly sales goals and delivering heavy equipment, she learned valuable business skills from Danka. The important business skills learned from Danka included how to make cold calls, how do handle a customer’s objections, and how to get a foot in the door of a business (forbes.com).

Sara Blakely’s inspiration for creating Spanx came from her own buttocks. Sara wanted to wear white pants and was very displeased with the way her buttocks looked when wearing a pair of them. Sara’s displeasure was due to being unable to figure out the most appropriate underwear to wear. Her initial solution was found through removing the feet out of a pair of control top pantyhose. While the control top panty hose did provide a solution by making her buttocks look smoother, the pantyhose rolled up her legs. Sara then realized that there was a product gap between ladies traditional underwear and girdles. Realizing there was a product gap in the market between ladies traditional underwear and girdles prompted Sara Blakely to start her own business (cnbc.com).

The Good or Service Created When and Where

Sara Blakely was able to bring her dream of producing Spanx to life when she found a hosiery manufacturing mill in Asheboro, North Carolina. Initially the owner of the hosiery manufacturing mill had a disinterest in creating the product. Sara then realized that there was a hosiery manufacturing gap concerning innovations as facilities were owned or lead by men. After discussing the Spanx idea with his two daughters, the owner of the hosiery mill in Asheboro, North Carolina agreed to create Sara’s product. In 2000, the first generation of Spanx was made and Sara marketed the product from where she now lived in Atlanta, Georgia. Sara Blakely was her own sales and marketing person due to limited resources. She continued working for Danka as a fax machine salesperson by day and worked as an entrepreneur during evenings and weekends. Sara’s first major break with Spanx sales came when she acquired a deal with Neiman Marcus. Later that year, Oprah Winfrey named the product as her favorite for the year. Oprah Winfrey praising Spanx on her show was a powerful marketing tool for Sara Blakely. As a result of such powerful marketing, annual sales from the first year of launching Spanx were at four million dollars. In 2015, Sarah Blakely was listed as number ninety-one on Forbes list of Power Women and number seventeen as America’s Self-Made Women. In 2016, she was listed as number one thousand five hundred and seventy-seven on Forbes list of Billionaires (forbes.com).

Reasons for Success, Producing Spanx, and Who Spanks Are Made For

Sara Blakely and her creation of Spanx are successful due to her ability to identify a product gap in the market. Sara’s target market is women. Because she too is a woman, Sara is able to better identify product needs. Sara fully understands what women need in women’s undergarment products. Spanx were originally manufactured in Asheboro, North Carolina by a hosiery manufacturing mill. Today Spanx are designed in the United States but manufactured in other countries from Singapore to Italy.