Women Are Not Just Influencing The Market – They Are The Market

Arif Anis  

Author, speaker and C-Suite consultant, Arif Anis is an international human capital expert who has the privilege of coaching top corporate leaders, heads of states, movie stars and CEOs from Fortune 500 along with a few of the most powerful men and women from 'The Time's and Forbes' list of Most Influential People in The World. Arif has extensive linkages with global leaders, multilateral organisations, institutions of higher learning in the fields of policy-making and opinion formation, peace building, lobbying and impact generation. As director of a UK based think-tank, he contributed to global peace initiatives including peace building between India and Pakistan and participated towards building the Olympic Truce legacy in follow up of London Olympics 2012.

What is your mission and the projects you are running to achieve them?

My mission is living with purpose and while enabling and empowering the people around me to be the best one can be! One’s mission is not always easy to find or pursue. When you find something, anything you’re passionate about, and you make it your life’s mission, you will find great joy and rewards in the work you do. Otherwise, it is not living but merely surviving.

Why and how did you find your passion for empowering women in business?

I consider myself lucky for having opportunities to meet a few of the strongest women in leading roles. Be it Hillary Clinton, Malal Yousaf Zai, Angelina Jolie, Prime Minister Theresa May, or Naomi Campbell – I coudl always see a trajectory when a woman makes it big.

I am of Pakistani origin and I met some incredible women along the way there. Pakistan, in reality, is an amazing place beyond the stereotpical media portrayal. It is a land of strong, independent women who have made a difference for themselves and their families. My mother is a very strong woman and she hugely impacted the family. My wife, who is a professional consultant on a break, is making a huge difference inher own way.

Contrary to males, what  I have observed, is that one successful female can turn around the whole family. Entrepreneurialism does bring freedom, choice, independence, and the power to pursue one’s dreams. For that matter, I want to see more females in business and to succeed. I am particularly impressed with women’s focus as they are not distracted like men. There are so many amazing success strories around us where one focused and determined woman

How do you think that we can get the best out of women in business?

The entrepreneur’s life is celebrated for the grit and fortitude required to navigate it successfully, yet the lifestyle seems a more common choice as people increasingly freelance, run their own businesses, or work as consultants today.Women entrepreneurs see the world through a different lens and, in turn, do things differently. This is reflected in the kinds of businesses they start, whether it’s Coco Chanel, who learned the trade of a seamstress as a child, Estée Lauder, who turned a passion for skincare and make-up into a beauty empire, or Oprah Winfrey, whose media business focuses on helping women to reach their potential.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, there are 126million women operating new businesses and another 98million at the helm of established ones. Yet we face a huge equality gap. In only seven countries – Panama, Thailand, Ghana, Ecuador, Nigeria, Mexico and Uganda, do women take part in business at rates equal to men’s; in some countries, they barely take part at all. Even when women are active business owners, they do not reach their potential: Women own almost three in ten American firms, yet employ only 6% of the country’s workforce and account for barely 4% of business revenues.

To get the best out of women, first comes access to capital. When it comes to finance, women face particular hurdles, from a lack of collateral to discriminatory regulations and ingrained gender bias. Small loans can make a big difference.Secondly, nascent businesses need support to flourish. Mentoring could make a huge difference and most women don’t have that support, which helps explain why around the world they see fewer opportunities for entrepreneurship than men.

Thirdly, women need entrepreneurial education. Winning business concepts are just as likely to be conceived at the kitchen table as in the garage or at business school, but research shows women doubt their capabilities and fear failure more than men. Training can equip women with the confidence to see bold ideas through. Goldman Sachs’s 10,000 Women programme, for example, provides women with business and management education. Eight out of ten of the programme’s graduates have boosted revenues; nine out of ten have paid it forward by mentoring other women.And women entrepreneurial networks – they can make a huge difference for women.

Where is your project with women going to be in the next 5 years?

I am currently working on launching a Soft Skills University for women. Well, men or women the importance of soft-skills cannot be understated. However, for particular reasons, I find women making the most of the soft skills and rising to the top. I think it can inspire and change many lives.

What is happening on a global scale with women in business and what does the future hold for us, you think?

Interestingly, since the dawn of human kind the business landscape was a man’s world. Times are changing! Today, women are wielding more and more power on both sides of the business transaction. First, let’s look at some facts from the consumer side. The latest researches show that in family purchases that involve two adults (a woman and a man) women make:

94% of the purchase decision on home furnishings

92% of the purchase decision on family vacations

91% of the purchase decision on home purchases

80% of the purchase decision on healthcare

60% of the purchase decision on family cars

51% of the purchase decision on consumer electronics

It’s clear that in many cases, women are not just influencing the market; they are the market.

So I see more women CEOs breaking the glass ceiling and taking the current percentage of 11% to 50% or higher; more women presidents and prime ministers and more women in power as the time of Power Puff Girls has come. Even the rise of Trump in the USA can’t slow it down. Future belongs to determined women.

ASK JOHN…GLOBAL WOMAN MAGAZINE,OCTOBER 2017

JOHN LEE  

 “Same-Same But Different…”

How do I move my business to the next level and manage growth?

I have a health and consciousness retreat business that has got through many challenges in the first three years, and I have learned many things along the way. It is now on a six-figure income but how do I go about taking it to the next level with expansion? New retreats in new locations globally? What do I need to know and do about hiring and managing people, and getting the right systems and processes in place? How do I manage the growth and what would you say are realistic expectations to have over the next three years?

In Thailand, there is a well-known expression “Same-same but different…”. This phrase, so applicable to many situations, is the first thing that springs to mind when considering your business question. But before we get into the detail, “Congratulations!” for making it to year four in your start-up. Starting any business is an arduous task that requires sacrifice, commitment, faith and absolute patience. The first question to ask yourself is if you want to be like every other retreat or how you want to stand out with distinctive and relevant USPs – “Same, same but different…”.

Your new business venture is timely, as many of us reconsider how we work, what and how we eat, as well as attitudes towards ethical and sustainable living. To the best of my knowledge, networking has progressed on from the golf course into the spa. Many business deals are now done at high-profile health retreats, where top CEOs, agents, networkers and industry leaders take time out to do some ‘blue sky thinking’, deal-making and healing. So you have a fantastic opportunity!

As you consider growth within your business, you need to think about your WHY and WHERE. Why are you doing this business? Do you want to build and sell? Do you want to create a Social Enterprise and give back? Do you want to organically build the business into a Holistic Educational Programme or do you want to become a zeitgeist centre for forward-thinking?Where are the territories where you have a key opportunity? There is a kibbutz in Israel, that has since created a hotel and beach resort, situated right on the shores of The Dead Sea, that is renowned for being an international expert on irrigation – growing mangoes and grapefruit in a seeming barren space. They often receive telephone calls from all over Africa and other lands where water reserves are sparse.They have become industry experts, unbeknown to them.

You also need to think about the HOW, i.e. if you are considering expansion within other locations, do you want to use a Franchise model? Have you done your due diligence and research into other areas and local feasibility studies? There is the well-shared documented of a responsible high-street food chain selling sandwiches who launched in Tokyo some years ago. They launched without doing their homework and with no PR campaign to educate the Japanese public to the joys of the humble sandwich. The store closed very quickly, within just 18 months, because the Japanese, at the time, didn’t eat sandwiches. They entered the market, forgetting the fundamentals.

The above example clearly demonstrates where ‘glocalised’ business does not work. Regardless of how companies operate online, through faceless banking or email transactions, there are always the human and cultural implications of business growth to consider. How you open a spa in the UAE will certainly not replicate a spa in Arizona. The socio-cultural aspects of Emirates’ living will dictate certain requirements e.g. separate spa areas and times for men and women, dedicated areas for prayer as well as menu options.

The WHO focuses on staffing and people. Some international hotel chains try and replicate a ‘same-same’hotel experiences, regardless of whether you are in Addis Ababa or Budapest. The ethos is that they want to become your preferred and trusted choice of hotel wherever you travel for leisure or work, the world over. And much of that experience, over and above aesthetic pleasure and culinary consistency, is based on staffing and how you are treated. I know someone who recently went to a mid-range resort in Marrakech and stayed in a hotel where the staff were exceptional. When she then went to the supposed ‘best’ hotel in Marrakech, she found the experience disappointing. If you look after your people, they will look after your business. Words that Sir Richard Branson often cites about his Virgin brand.

Find local fixers, who speak the language, who can help you source good people, either through agencies or training schools, who want to work and grow with you as a business. Incentivise people to stay, look after them and they will look after you. It isn’t rocket science but one too many businesses falls by the wayside thinking that staff are just there to do a job. You don’t want every person to be good at the same thing: you need leaders; you need systemisers and fantastic automated processes (with emergency procedure back-up); you want to have people-people, admin people, social media whizzes, as well as great marketeers and a team that is engaged, that you like.

Innocent drinks used to have personalised breakfast bowls for all staff. This encouraged people to come into work just that bit earlier. It gave teams time to engage and interact on a less formal basis. In short, teams wanted to come to work rather that felt obliged to come to work, just to pay bills. A minute detail but as I always say: “The devil is in the detail…”.

In terms of business growth, I would advise you against taking too much risk in the first five years, and enter in to new territories one by one, rather than all at the same time. Don’t spread yourself too thin, let alone allow cash flow, a key factor in business growth, to dry up. If you are working in different countries, make sure you are getting the best transfer deals on FOREX and that you and your team have sought expert advice in each territory to ensure you are complying with local fiscal, HR, legal, Border Control and business compliance procedures. As an example, all too many Brits fall into the trap of thinking that a new life in the Spanish sun is going to be full of Sangria and sunbathing. Unfortunately, many people are buying businesses in Spain (and elsewhere) without understanding the language and falling foul to mis-information, too much trust vs knowledge and business failure.

In terms of realistic expectations for your new business, I refer back to my initial point about your ‘WHY’. If you are clear on why you are building this business and consider that each new site will take 18 months to grow, conservatively, aim for one new site to be launched every 18 months. Unless you find an investor or business angel with considerable expertise who wants to help grow your business in a more dynamic rather than organic way, choose caution and manage your own expectations. Regardless of whether you opt for a ‘same-same’ experience the world over or unique retreat stays in each territory, NOW is your time. The world is ripe for holistic experiences and change. Be the same or be different. But always be true to yourself.