Customer Reviews

Capitalizing on Being Woman Owned: Expert Advice for Women Who Have or Are Starting Their Own Business Including Marketing Research, Planning, Governm

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I currently work for a Woman Owned business. When I get emails from my boss the signature line includes a reference to the organization that certifies the company as woman owned. I am also a SCORE volunteer counselor who regularly counsels women who want to start their own businesses. Having said this, when I saw the instant book at the bookstore I figured I had to have a copy to learn more about the subject.

I think the concept of the book is great. And I think the book is full of content and well worth the price it sells for. Unfortunately its organization and writing style did not satisfy me. Normally I can read a book from cover to cover in a couple of hours and have a good idea what the main thrust of the book is all about. This book was a bit of a struggle for me to read. I was confused as to whether this book was about marketing advantages shared by businesses owned by women, marketing advantages shared by businesses owned by minorities, how to be a business that relies on government contracting, or being a woman owned business and getting recognized as such. There just were too many messages being sent. Even now, I am not sure if the title fairly represents the contents of the book on the whole.

The book has an introduction and 11 chapters as follows:

0. Introduction
1. Advantages
2. Approach
3. Government Contracts: Federal
4. Government Contracts: State
5. Government Contracts: Local
6. State Universities
7. Private Universities
8. Local Public Schools: K-12
9. Business to Business (B2B)
10. Certification Basics
11. Marketing Strategy

I found chapters 3 through 6 and 8 to be incredibly repetitive. They all had to do with how a contractor, subcontractor, or vendor to government entities or agencies find jobs or sell to the government. I would have appreciated having been told how to do the research once and then move on to something new. I recommend the book be rewritten in its second edition as follows:

0. Introduction
1. Approach
2. Advantages to being Woman Owned (or Minority Owned)
3. Marketing Strategy
4. Certification Basics
5. Government Contracting Overview (NEW CHAPTER)
6. Government Contracts: Federal (MUCH SHORTER CHAPTER)
7. Government Contracts: State (MUCH SHORTER CHAPTER)
8. Government Contracts: Local (MUCH SHORTER CHAPTER)
9. State Universities (MUCH SHORTER CHAPTER)
10. Local Public Schools: K-12 (MUCH SHORTER CHAPTER)
11. Private Schools
12. Private Sector Business

I would have very much enjoyed a chapter about SBA's 8(a) Program similar to Chapter 8 in The Complete Startup Guide for the Black Entrepreneur (ISBN: 156414724X) by Bill Boudreaux.

And I think the title should be changed to "If You are a Woman or a Minority and Own a Business, Then Exploit this In Order to Get Government Contracts."

This book is one of the best reference books a Women Owned Business could own. I keep mine on the shelf next to the Dictionary and Thesaurus. Easy to read and apply to your particular business. If you are serious about Women Owned Business and how to maximize yourself, this book is a must read

So many "helpful" books are only helpful if you read them cover-to-cover. This book is so well designed as a RESOURCE, which is what I loved. It was easy to find the areas pertaining to my situation, which allowed me to skip the parts I didn't need.
I'd recommend this book to everyone from those who are curious as to whether they could benefit from being woman-owned to those who just want to fully capitalize on this status.

"Capitalizing on Being Woman Owned" is a useful reference book especially for majority-women owned businesses whose customers could include federal, state, and local governments and/or schools. The general gist of Christy's advice is to identify who your potential customers are first and then find out what sort of certifications they might require in order to qualify you as a "diverse vendor" with whom they have special incentives to do business. The book is long on information about selling to government and public organizations and offers less specific information about selling to businesses, so the extent of the usefulness of the book will depend on your industry and type of product or service. For example, if you are a construction company, you can imagine all kinds of government contracts to build and renovate buildings. If you are instead selling food or grocery items your customers will be private companies/distributors, and Christy spends less time on the certifications you'll need (WBENC and/or NWBOC) and how to take advantage of them to sell to such customers. I think that the book could use some colorful examples, actually, of real women and real businesses that have benefited from being certified as women or minority owned.

Overall, this is a straightforward, to-the-point book that offers good solid advice. Along that line, a couple of my favorite sentences are the following: (p. 8-9)"This book is not a guide to grants or free money for starting and running a business. If it were, it would be a guide to nowhere...It is very important to realize that most of the resources available are tools, not money, to help you establish and run your businesses. The money that is available is almost always in the form of loans." Also, p. 17: "Sometimes being woman owned is an advantage, sometimes it is an obstacle, and sometimes it is immaterial. You need to understand how to determine when to use the built-in angle and when another angle would be more effective."

I recommend both Christy's book as well as Mary Cantando's "The Woman's Advantage" to women who are interested in advantageous use of women and minority-owned business designations.

[...]

Getting contracts as a woman or minority owned business is a confusing subject. There are many articles/websites/information resources out there, but when one starts to research the topic it can quickly become overwhelming. Janet Christy has sorted through all that to provide a concise guide in Capitalizing on Being Woman Owned. (The title could also read Capitalizing on Being A Woman or Minority Owned Business.)

What I find most helpful about this book are the charts that walk the business owner through various options. For example, Chapter 11 talks about the Types and Benefits of Certification. It describes the various certification programs available to woman business owners. It includes a chart that describes where to get certified (or research the current certification requirements) if you want to sell your products or services to various agencies such as muncipalites and counties, to school districts, or to state supported educational institutions etc.

It is true that there is a ton of information packed into this book. It is the first book I have read on this subject, however, and I found it very straightforward and practical. I am sure I will be put to very good use!

I bought this book because I wanted to know about specific tax breaks available to woman owned businesses. I also wanted to know if corporations earned tax breaks for using woman owned businesses. Despite the fact that the book's cover specifically mentions "tax breaks", there is only one paragraph in the entire book (on page nine) that deals with this subject!

Janet W. Christy has written an excellent resource book for a woman owned business. It is very concise and provides easy to find reference points for all types of businesses. If you are serious about expanding your company and capitalizing on being a woman owned business, this is truly a must read book. I personally have grown and increased my earning potential from reading this book and my company is in the process of being certified as a minority owned business due to some of the items in this book. Use it as an investment tool for your business!

Capitalizing on Being Woman Owned: Expert Advice for Women Who Have or Are Starting Their Own Business Including Marketing Research, Planning, Government Support, And Tax Breaks. The title says it all. This book is a step-by-step guide for women who own businesses and are looking to further them.