…because women are the backbone of our families and our communities. We make the difference. We are the ones nurturing our children and our families. We are the ones keeping things on track.

Much like men having ‘bro-mances’ women need to ‘wo- mance’ one another. We can only nurture, grow and develop strong and resilient communities if we ourselves are nurtured, that is what women do for one another, and what is vitally important for the development of our society as a whole. Imagine how much better the world would be if we had communities that took time to understand one another, to nurture, to support and to encourage one another!

Women are creative, efficient business owners and generally run fairly profitable businesses. They aren’t scared of hard work, generally don’t have egos – they are persistent and just don’t give up – all things that are vital to being a successful entrepreneur. Women are creative in problem solving and understand there is more than one way to ‘skin a cat’ and will look at problems from all angles and run various scenarios until they figure out what will work. These are skills that come naturally at home, so it’s natural that they translate over in a business sense.

It is important to support women in business because by doing this we are providing, and also increasing, the financial stability of our families and our communities as a whole. Businesswomen are able to create jobs, create wealth for themselves and give back to their communities. While doing that, they are also setting themselves up as examples for their children and others who look up to them, who see the possibility of themselves growing and developing into leaders.

Women are amazing – the fact that we don’t always value ourselves is where the problem lies. As women we have a responsibility to help one another to move forward. It’s a responsibility and a privilege to be able to lift other women up. We must let everyone know how amazing businesswomen are – especially the businesswomen themselves. Too often, women toil in the shadows, receiving very little validation and praise for all the good they do.

Let’s face it – it’s still largely a man’s world. That is why women need to support one another. Women wear many hats and spend our days juggling a myriad of things that need to be done. It takes oomph to get things done and be successful, and if you don’t have support it can be even more difficult to grow and develop. The women, the nurturers of this world, need to support one another to grow and develop personally and in a business sense – that is the one thing that is going to make this world a better place.

Women underestimate themselves – they don’t realise the power and control they have in families and in communities. The business community is beginning to understand the importance of supporting women in business, but we have a long way to go. Women exert a huge influence over how money is spent – both in a business and personal sense. Over 80% of decisions regarding family purchases for instance don’t go ahead without ‘the wife’ giving it her tick!

In Venus we believe it’s incredibly important to support and empower businesswomen because it is that support, encouragement and motivation that is going to see those businesswomen and their businesses grow. If we don’t see the value in supporting one another, why should anyone else?

Carolyn Banks
CEO Venus Network