Ladies: Be Your Own Boss!

I (Daria here) recently saw an advertisement in a newspaper that greatly disturbed me. The ad was placed by Allstate Insurance and it said:

The average woman spends 11 years out of the workforce taking care of her family, leaving her without enough retirement money to take care of herself.

The ad went on to say that those lost years of paid productivity cost a woman an average of $659,139 in lifetime earnings.

Wow! Talk about a wake-up call! No wonder so many women have really rotten retirement savings.

Now, I understand that this ad was created to shock women into investing with Allstate, but the facts are the facts. Women generally do earn a considerable amount less than men throughout their working years, and we need to be conscious of that reality. But I can't think of any investments that can guarantee making up that $600,000-plus loss. (If you can, let me know!)

So let's talk about a better way to make up for lost time and money: shattering the glass ceiling and starting your own business!

You're in Better Shape than You Realize

Here's some encouraging information for you: There are more than nine million female-owned businesses in the United States, and 6% of them have annual revenues of $1 million or more! Pretty good, huh? That's proof enough that owning your own business is one of the best ways to achieve financial freedom.

Ken and I want you to be one of those success stories. It's starting the process that is so hard, so let's think about that for a moment: If you've been working for any length of time, you have two very valuable assets: experience and contacts. These could be just what you need to go out on your own.

But think beyond that as well. Maybe you have talents that are never called upon in your current job. For instance, you may have a knack for matching personalities for effective teamwork, but it is not your responsibility to assign the project teams. Maybe that's your new business opportunity.

Through it all, don't forget that, despite that uneasy feeling you may have in the early-going, you probably already have the tools for running your own business.