There it was. Right on the side of the road, right by a bus stop.

A big yellow sign from Lamar Advertising with a checkered flag that said, “Gentleman, start your business.” 

Gentleman, start your business?? 

I know this is from the “Gentlemen, start your engines” days when race car drivers were all men.  But where has Lamar advertising been?

Looking at the most recent facts from 2009:

  • Female-owned businesses have grown at a higher rate than male-owned businesses for the last ten years
  • 30% of US businesses – that would be 10.1 million – are owned by women
  • Women-owned businesses employ 13 million workers
  • 20% of firms with revenue over $1 million are owned by women
  • Women are responsible for over 80% of US spending

I’ll bet if they tried, Lamar Advertising could have come up with an equally creative slogan that didn’t overlook the group of business owners that is responsible for $1.9 trillion of revenue in the US annually.

This advertisement may be a perfect example of the Good Old Boy‘s mentality that women in business come up against frequently, which goes hand-in-hand with being taken seriously, cited in a recent survey as the second greatest challenge women face in the workplace that men do not.  (The greatest challenge?  Work-life balance.)

Women’s reality is that we’ll never be able to get past some of that “Gentleman, start your business” mind-set, which is certainly not to say all men are like that.  (And, for the record, my best mentors and best bosses have been men.)  The men who do not share that way of thinking should believe us when we say that there really are still some chauvinists out there. 

Women in business who have experienced the GOB‘s should understand that in spite of how limiting their viewpoint is, the only limits we really have on our personal success are the ones we place on ourselves.   (And that, of course, is true for women or men.)  Whether our boss takes us seriously or not we’re the ones responsible for our careers. 

Because of the unique challenges women face in the workforce synergize! is developing some new programs for women in business. 

  1. Starting in the fall we will offer two women’s accountability groups – one for women who are new to the workforce and one for business owners.  We hope to expand this to other groups in the spring.
  2. synergize! will partner with the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce to provide the Kee to Your Future mentor program for women over the age of 30.  This will be introduced at the Professional Women’s Forum in October.

Women face unique challenges in the workforce.  Not worse than those that men face, just different.  Women have a long way to go when it comes to pay equity or a voice in upper management.  There is more pressure on women to maintain the home front as well as the office.  Perhaps those are reasons why so many women are starting businesses today?  As a business owner my only ceiling is self-imposed and I set my own schedule.

So, go ahead, women … start your businesses. 

And Contact us to learn more about the upcoming women’s programs at synergize!