Christiane [00:00:00]:
What makes some entrepreneurs thrive and some others fail? That is really a driving factor in today's episode of the Happy, Healthy Hustle. I'm Christiane and I'm your podcast host. Today I'm going to share some really cool insights for you of how you can reach your goals. And I'm here to look at some of the facts between thriving businesses and businesses that really struggle. Most businesses actually fail, and it's really a sad truth. And I'm going to read out some facts to you of why this particularly applies to female entrepreneurs. So the number one reason why female entrepreneurs fail is funding. According to Crunchbase, in 2019, startups with all female founders received just 2.7% of the total capital invested in venture backed startups.

Christiane [00:00:54]:
Just 2.7%. So think about that. That is a huge funding gap that limits, really the ability of all female funded businesses to scale, innovate and survive in the marketplace. The number two reason is network and mentorship shortage. A study in 2018 by the Boston consulting group found that women are less likely than men to have access to mentors and advisors. There is such a complexity with regard to entrepreneurship that if you don't have people that tell you, let me help you, let me challenge you, let me give you some feedback about this, you're really going to put yourself out there by yourself and you're going to struggle. Growth really only happens if you have a strong network, and if you don't have a strong network right there, it really inhibits your business growth. The third reason is the work life balance, and that is truly challenging for women.

Christiane [00:01:53]:
So according to a Bank of America survey, 60% of women entrepreneurs say that they face greater challenges than their male peers in balancing business and family life. And this challenge, of course, increases their stress, influences their decision then to step back from the business endeavors, and impacts the longevity and success of their business. So this really contributes to a higher failure rate among female entrepreneurs. And that means there were significant barriers for them to even enter the marketplace and have a sustainable business. These three reasons, the lack of funding, the lack of network and mentorship ability, and the work life balance challenges is something that has been driving in what I do. So I'm a business strategist, but I also teach innovation entrepreneurship at the university level. And at that particular level, what I see in the classrooms are females. That could be the next thing in women entrepreneurship.

Christiane [00:02:56]:
I also see, though, different ideas that could become great business ventures because they are trendy, they're cutting edge, or they're maybe just something that there is a want and a need, or a market and a profit right there. When I interact with other peers that are female entrepreneurs, I frequently then see them maybe after they graduate from college. So, like, you know, maybe 510, 1520 years later. And what I see is there's a very big difference between the passion that there was maybe when they were in college and to where they are today. And it comes back to these three different factors. It comes back to the lack of funding, it comes back to the lack of mentorship, of networking skills, and it comes back to this work life balance in my personal life. Then I started thinking, what can we do to overcome these factors? So I created the mastermind collective. In the mastermind collective, we actually overcome these factors together as a community or as a collective.

Christiane [00:04:03]:
You can hear from my accent right here. I personally actually struggle sometimes figuring out in what differentiates me from a lot of other business strategists or business coaches. And then I started thinking, well, I'm going to use it in my advantage. I am from german heritage. I'm born in Germany. I travel to many parts in Europe. I speak French, I speak Spanish. And with that, I've experienced a lot of different cultures, and I know how to weave some of these heritages into my coaching.

Christiane [00:04:35]:
For instance, this kind of german structured thinking, very much applicable to how maybe the work life balance could be addressed. Because we don't want to add more to our plate. We want to just make our plate maybe a little bit more effective and efficiently so that you can go for your endeavors, you can go for your goals without sacrificing whatever else is going on. So that's the german efficiency aspect right there. So I created systems that will help you reach your goals without feeling you're doing the same thing over and over again. But you're really not getting anywhere where you want to be. Secondly, I create a community, and in that community, we're going to connect and we're going to collaborate. So that addresses that second failure of female entrepreneurs, that we don't really know whom to ask, whether that's for funding, whether that's for exposing ourselves and getting feedback on our ideas.

Christiane [00:05:37]:
And that also means becoming visible. So in my mastermind collective, I hope you become more confident to get out, to become visible and really make your idea being heard by somebody different than just your friends, your families and your neighbors. Because other female entrepreneurs will be part of the mastermind collective, and they're undergoing the exact same challenges. The lack of funding, the lack of mentorship, and of course, the lack of figuring out our work life balance. My goals for this mastermind collective, I always have this in the back of my mind. Our meetings are going to be effective. Our meetings are going to be efficient, and most importantly, our meetings are really going to focus on you, elevate you, empower you, reaching your goals. I'm a very action goal oriented person.

Christiane [00:06:32]:
We don't just look at the goal and we say, all right, let's reach this. We're going to create a plan. And the way that we're going to do this is by my very french inspired work. That's called petite practices. So we're going to break down this goal into small, actionable steps that you can reach. Despite the work life challenge, we're going to actually reach it with small growth opportunities. And every little win will be celebrated along the way in the community of these other female entrepreneurs that are experiencing the same highs and lows as all of us because we're all undergoing the same drive, that we want to reach our opportunities. But they're all individually different, of course.

Christiane [00:07:22]:
So it unites us that we have that same passion, that same desire to make our businesses thrive. And that is really the beauty of a mastermind collective. Secondly, we have the monthly mastermind focus. In this mastermind focus, we're coming together, giving each other feedback, exchanging ideas, and of course, empowering each other. Each month we focus on a new theme, we're tackling the theme, and then we are basically holding each other accountable for reaching those particular themes. That is really where the action goal comes in. We make a plan, we reach that particular result at the end of the month, and we're going to celebrate each other. So what is the celebration like? What's the reward I'm giving you for reaching a goal? Once you join the mastermind, you will get passport stamps every time when you checked up one of those tasks.

Christiane [00:08:17]:
So it is essentially a gamified mastermind collective because as entrepreneurs have a competitive spirit in us, but we also want to have fun. We don't want to just do things, to do things like feeling like it's a chore, but we want to feel like this is actually something I can have fun with, I enjoy, and I'm meeting these other people along the way. So it truly builds a community and a team spirit. With that, we have two more fun facts about this mastermind collective. One of them is based on having been in Paris so many times. It's called Cafe Corner. The cafe corner gives you a coaching opportunity with me where you can directly interact with me but it also allows a collaboration with all the other amazing entrepreneurs that are there so you can create your own little pods of accountability. You can exchange each other.

Christiane [00:09:13]:
If you find that you have some amazing resources, you can share them right there. And of course others will share other resources, too. So it is this thriving pot of resources, of opportunities, and of course, of love and enjoy whenever you celebrate one of those wins. And then lastly, we have little artisan awards. The artisan awards are given out to community members that help each other out. And those awards are there to encourage you to keep networking, to keep interacting, to kind of keep that active buzzing along the way. I give out special little surprises to keep the activity going, but to also keep it fun and to have these surprises as being maybe another driving factor. The mastermind collective is much more than a program.

Christiane [00:10:04]:
It is the number one community for women in business, supporting them to grow, connect, and finally reach their business goals. Don't let that opportunity pass by because I can't wait to help you reach your goal. Bye.