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Women Entrepreneurs Need Support Systems

By on September 20, 2024

By Theresa Slater

As a young entrepreneur starting my business, it never occurred to me to consider any type of support systems. I was “doing it all” — building my customer base, working 60-80 hours each week, and still managing my home and my family.

It took several years before I hit a wall and realized how desperately I needed help. At the time, my business was in a huge growth period. I’d also just moved into a new condo with all that entails. What’s more, my mother was in the throes of dementia and although I’d moved her into assisted living, she still needed my daily visits and support.

I’d attended a lunch meeting with another business owner and during the meeting, she asked me to “hold up” while she texted her assistant. I sat mesmerized while she dashed off several household tasks to her and then asked this invisible wingman to update her calendar with a meeting we’d just set. I was fascinated.

I researched the idea of a personal assistant and called the employment agency I regularly used for my office staff. They explained that, for them to help me, it would need to be a full-time job and they gave me a range of what the salary would be. I felt confident I could keep her busy at least 20 hours/week, but I thought full-time was a stretch and would be too big of an expense.

Later that week, speaking with a friend who also owned her own business, I was lamenting that I’d had this great idea to have an assistant only to get shot down because no one would take a part-time assistant job. She almost jumped out of her seat exclaiming, “Let’s split an assistant! I need someone to help me as well!” And so we hired our shared assistant.

This assistant did everything — from grocery shopping to picking up necessities and medications for my mother and delivering them to the assistive living center. She shopped for birthday presents and sent them out to relatives. She kept my calendar and predicted the help I’d need. She delivered lunch or dinner to me when I couldn’t break away from my office. She even filled my car with gas and took it in for oil changes.

I’ve now moved to a new city and have started putting in those important new support systems. I first hired a cleaning company to give me back my weekends. I’ve found a dry cleaner that picks up and delivers weekly to my condo. I reached out to other executive women and found a nearby stylist where I could go each season to pick out my business wardrobe and, with her help, keep my closet updated. I also found a nail technician and hair stylist. I found a trainer in my neighborhood to keep me on my workout schedule. I found a concierge physician (they’re not as expensive as you might think!) who I can text or call 24/7 when I need medical advice.

And, because I travel often, I’ve found a driver who picks me up and takes me back and forth to the airport. He charges maybe $20 more than an Uber, but I have someone who comes to my door, and who lifts my luggage in and out of the car and off the baggage carousel at the airport. Take the time to secure TSA precheck and Global Entry. It can save you hours on each trip. Also, take advantage of airport lounges that you may have as a benefit on your credit card.

Does this all sound very boujee and indulgent? Then you still have the mindset that women need to do everything and be everything. Finding others to help us with much of what’s on our to-do lists doesn’t mean we’re weak or somehow lacking in character. Calculate what you make an hour and then compare that to what you’ll pay a support person to cover tasks in that same hour. You’re actually being financially responsible if you make $60 an hour and choose to pay someone else $20 an hour to schlep your dry cleaning or clean your floors.

Work smarter, not harder. Put your time to good use, and when you do have free time, use that time to regenerate — for self-care, for time with friends and family, or for engaging in your favorite hobby. If you don’t, you’ll ultimately burn out. You’ll begin to hate what you do and feel stuck in your business and your personal life.

It’s time women saw past archaic versions of what they should be. Get support.

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Theresa Slater is the President of Empire Interpreting Service, which she founded in 2003. She built her company into a respected, award-winning organization with more than 300 interpreters and an array of customer-centric services. A speaker, author and advisor to new entrepreneurs, Slater’s love for business drives her on her path. Slater’s new book, The Language of Success: An Interpreter’s Entrepreneurial Journey (Business Expert Press, Aug. 30, 2024), is both autobiography and a how-to (or how not-to) guide for entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.empireinterpreting.com.

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