Hello & welcome back to Sales & Business Growth for BUSY Women. I am your host, Lindsay Fletcher.  I’m a wife of 18 years, mom of 4, multi-business owner, and your resident sales and time management nerd. I’m here to help you sell more, get time back in your day, and grow your business.   Please hit that follow button wherever you are listening to this podcast - it really blesses me big time and I’d love for more people to find this show because I know it can help so many women out there - maybe you could share it with a business friend?  Just a thought and I’d be so thankful if you did!!!   In the last episode of the podcast, I talked a little bit about this study that found that women-run businesses are 11% less productive than male-run businesses. One of the contributing factors to this low number is high household work allocation and other cultural norms that make women less available for business matters than men, and the article I referenced suggested that we as women have to learn more effective ways of time management so that we can start to make-up some of that 11%.     There were 5 categories where women-run businesses performed poorer: Impacted by crime.   Adverse business environments, like power outages. Digital economy is key for women-run businesses. Lack of access to foreign investment.    Firm age.  In this study, women-owned businesses shined in 2 categories and challenges this productivity gap: Smaller size when compared to male-run organizations showed to be an advantage.   Female run businesses had an advantage in the retail sector of business.   So here’s where my head goes - my experience as a woman, while this may not have been your experience, is that I was not taught how to manage money, make it grow, how to build a business, and everything that I teach on this podcast I’ve either figured out myself through trial and error (you win some, you lose and learn on some) or sought out education to better prepare myself for business.  I still have a lot of gaps in business like financial literacy, investing and learning investor driven business, business law, taxes, etc. And I know from talking to many women in business that they have gaps in knowledge too but can't afford to spend thousands of dollars to get the education they feel they need.  If that's you, then join my Women in Business Community because you'll want what I've got planned for 2025. I’ve talked about my online women in business community briefly on the podcast before, and I have big plans for 2025 inside there. I’m bringing on a leadership team of business experts that will be providing weekly training on a variety of topics, and you'll have access to these experts and will be able to ask questions inside our community so that you can grow your business, better manage your finances, do things the right and legal way, sell more, market better, manage your time and energy better.  All of this training will be for free, provided at no charge to you.  I personally know these leaders. We’ve spent time together. They are women that I trust, and I believe that this leadership team will help you take your business to the next level - wherever that is for you!!! So again, if you haven’t already, join my online Women in Business community - you don’t want to miss out on the happenings inside that group.  --------------------- I'm here to support you and help you grow!  So let's connect!  Have a question? >>> Leave me a voice message here: https://speakpipe.com/lindsayfletcher Email >>> [email protected]  Free Resources >>> https://lindsayfletcher.co/free-resources  Need community?  Join Women in Business >>> https://www.facebook.com/groups/367731782244780  Follow me on IG >>> https://instagram.com/lindsayfletcher.co -----------------   I'm praying for you and your business! - Lindsay   Business Growth | Sales Growth | Revenue Growth | Scaling Your Business | Business Strate