Stones and Glass Houses….

The media whirlwind surrounding the unwholesome revelations of Glenda Stone’s treatment of her employees has raised important issues. It highlights the issues of the way we work today, equality at all levels and the checks and balances we have in place to ensure employee rights are respected.

As a highly successful woman entrepreneur, Glenda Stone was cherry-picked to sit on the Women Enterprise Task Force. A group that, over a period of three years, provided evidence to argue for government support initiatives - to increase the contribution made by women led businesses in the UK. Due to her ambassador work, through Aurora, promoting women entrepreneurs and equality, the recent news has hit home hard.

The ironic twist in this case is one of the main reasons why the story has received such prolific coverage, which is no bad thing, as long as we ensure the reputation of other women entrepreneurs’ is not tarnished and that it doesn’t degenerate into a ‘gender-attack’ on women bosses.

Issues of this nature must be raised; employers, both men and women, have the same responsibility to protect and respect the rights of their employees. It’s so important to have checks and balances in place within a business to avoid unpleasant situations occurring. And if this framework is absent, it is an example of bad leadership and management which is potentially damaging to the individuals involved and to the business as a whole.

However, the most profound issues laid bare in this story are not ones of gender or governmental error (no matter how entertaining they may be!). Instead, they revolve around mitigating against the type of unethical and counterproductive management practices the story highlights, whether it be through education, legislation, or good old fashioned awareness building.

In effect, through her actions, Glenda Stone has hurt herself more than anyone in this case, and her lack of people and management skills have now sadly surpassed the positive work she contributed to women’s entrepreneurism.

Secret Millionaire’s Top Tips for being a successful entrepreneur

Emma Harrison took to the stage at the Enterprising Women Awards in November, and didn’t pretend she wasn’t nervous – she talks her mind, tells it how it is and isn’t afraid to do so. She shared her inspiring life story with over 100 women entrepreneurs, highlighting the fact that there is no ‘normal’ path through life and to becoming an entrepreneur. It was a matter of survival at first, and she never stopped – never lost her passion and vision. During her talk, she gave us some great tips and insights into starting up and running a business. So what is the secret to Secret Millionaire Emma’s success?

1) Always ask – no matter what it is. What have you got to lose? Don’t be intimated or afraid to ask, just go for it. What’s the worst that can happen? They say no! But you might get a surprise – they might say YES!

2) Never lose the passion – no matter what challenges you come up against or how successful your business becomes, don’t lose the passion you had on the very first day!

3) Make sure your passion isn’t just about making money – you need more than that. Emma’s passion is improving people’s lives.

4) Vision – you need a vision. Tell everyone what your vision is. Don’t hide it. If you tell people, they might just help you!

5) Take little steps everyday – don’t try to do it all at once. And remember to tell everyone where you want to go!

6) Leadership qualities – Inspire, encourage and elevate everyone around you. If you behave like a leader, people will follow.

7) Get a mentor – Emma has always had a mentor and she swears by it – someone to talk to for a couple of hours every month.

8) 4 marketing activities each day – get an A4 sheet of paper, divide it into quarters and write down 4 marketing activities which you need to do that day. Be it calling customers, updating your website, placing an advert, designing a leaflet; make sure you do 4 marketing activities each day.

9) Don’t get too busy and forget about getting new business – it’s great to be busy, but remember that you need to keep bringing the business in.

10) Don’t use up energy being afraid – be brave and focus on what you want to achieve.