Entrepreneurship

Women & being an entrepeneur!

So my advice for today is: let's treat each other as equal as we are!!

October 18, 2018
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Peter van de Pas

Many of my clients are woman! And I really like them as my clients. I'm a man and have at home a wife and three kids so I have to work hard together with my wife to rease our children. And at my business I meet a lot of single mom's or single women or sometimes women with a husband and children, they are entrepreneurs or becoming an entrepreneur. I like those women. They do business on a different way then men. Most of them are very successfull.

For example one of the Moroccan entrepreneurs is that successfull, she drives a Volvo, small family car, but has a real Chanel handbag. I noticed it and asked her why she drives a Volvo and wears a Chanel handbag. The answer she gave is understandable but shocking at the same time: I drive the Volvo so I don't shock my business partners to much, most men don't see the difference between a Chanel handbag and a Turkish made fake. When I drive with a Range Rover to my clients they all think: "I pay her too much". So I won't get my next assignment.

So my advice for today is: let's treat each other as equal.

An other example of a successfull business woman; she bought years ago her first home, made a good income and paid off that house and bought a second home. The second home is for renting purposes. She met a man, she would like to live with him and get settled. I discussed a lot with her about premarital agreements and make sure you know how his financial situation is, especially if he is an entrepreneur as well. Many relationships ended there, as soon as she start asking about the men's business and his "fortune". She sat many times at my desk where she asked herself should she not talk about it any more? At last she found one man, who married her with the premarital agreement and who had the same idea as her.

Last week again I had many meetings with women who just started or worked very hard the last 5 years to get their business started and all are single, separated or talked out of business, because they are more successfull then their masculine counterparts. I like those successfull women, I tread them equal as any other client of mine. And I'll support them as much as I can. But I noticed that it is not the same for them as it is doing business for me.

I noticed why it is different: I like my children and I try to make as much time available for them as possible. But when my daugther is sick at school, they call first my wife. I find it important that my children will have fun at school and don't rotting out of boredom. So I have often conversations with my wife about those issues at school. When we are at any place to discuss these matters they give a feedback to my wife. A next appointment is made with my wife and if I do appear and not my wife, then they are surprised.

Ten years ago I wrote a same article about the world of men and women around the subject of birth and getting children. The message was and is today: men and women are not equal, but on the parts that they are equal, they are not treated equal. So my advice for today is: let's treat each other as equal as we are.

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