The Unconscious Behavior Costing Women Entrepreneurs Billions in Revenue
- Dr. V. Brooks Dunbar
- Mar 8
- 6 min read
This Women’s History Month marks a period in history where women are launching businesses at record rates.
Since the 2020 pandemic, more than 2.5 million women have stepped away from traditional employment with many turning to entrepreneurship—seeking flexibility, autonomy, and financial control.
Today, more than 40% of women are the sole or primary breadwinner in their families. Women owned businesses are growing at an unprecedented pace, with the fastest segment of new business start ups led by Black women entrepreneurs.
Despite this surge in entrepreneurship, many women-owned businesses continue to struggle when it comes to scaling and long-term growth. Although external conditions—from market shifts to systemic barriers—can affect business outcomes, one critical factor remains firmly within an entrepreneur’s control.
After advising women entrepreneurs for more than a decade, I have observed a pattern that rarely receives sufficient attention in startup conversations and business strategy discussions.
The issue is not a lack of skill, experience, or education. In fact, women today are among the most educated, overtrained, and overworked populations globally. They demonstrate remarkable resilience, often managing careers, family obligations, and community commitments simultaneously— and frequently without full recognition or compensation.
Despite their expertise and determination, many women entrepreneurs encounter a growth ceiling. The underlying internal challenge is not capability—it is confidence. The confidence that often determines whether a business simply survives or truly grows.
This is not the abstract idea of confidence, but the practical, actionable confidence required to expand networks, pursue opportunities, and lead business growth. This is confidence in action.
How Confidence Influences Business Growth
Consider the case of a business owner I worked with who had operated a brick and mortar apparel company with an online store for three years. Despite a sellable product and a loyal customer base, she struggled to reach her goal of $10,000 in monthly sales.
A closer look revealed a common pattern: nearly all her customers came from the same network she had at the business’s inception—friends, family, church communities, and familiar social circles. She rarely ventured into new networks, attended unfamiliar events, or initiated conversations outside her comfort zone.
While these familiar environments were supportive, they were not conducive to scaling. Entrepreneurs who limit their interactions to safe, known spaces inevitably encounter growth ceilings. This is a problem of low social confidence.
Even in today’s digital age, where AI and online platforms enable broader reach, confidence remains critical. Many entrepreneurs can complete transactions and sell products online but hesitate when it comes to:
Soliciting customer feedback
Extending the customer relationship beyond a single sale
Building long-term client relationships
Pursuing referrals and testimonials
In other words, technology can facilitate transactions, but it cannot replace the confidence required to build sustainable, scalable business relationships.
“Businesses rarely scale inside the same networks where they were born. Growth begins the moment an entrepreneur is willing to step into new rooms.”
Redefining Confidence
A pervasive myth is that confidence is static—you either have it or you don’t. In reality, confidence is situational, renewable, and actionable.
Every time an entrepreneur enters a new environment—whether it’s a networking event, a client meeting, or a new market—new variables emerge. Confidence must be reset, recalibrated, and applied in each unique context.
In this context, confidence is defined as an action word, a verb that comprises self efficacy, optimism, and resilience. I describe effective confidence through four essential traits, for which I use the acronym, PACD (pronounced as “Packed”):
Poise: Maintaining composure under pressure
Authenticity: Representing oneself truthfully and consistently
Courage: Taking action despite uncertainty
Decisiveness: Making timely, informed decisions without unnecessary hesitation
Confidence is not simply a state of mind—it is demonstrated through deliberate action. Reflection, preparation, and strategy are essential, but they are not substitutes for practical engagement.
“Confidence is not something you acquire once and keep forever. It is something you renew every time you enter a new environment and decide to show up anyway.”
Practical Steps to Strengthen Confidence
Confidence can be developed through intentional practices that gradually expand comfort zones and increase relational competence.
1. Initiate Friendly Conversations
Commit to speaking with at least one new person each day. Whether in person or online, these interactions build relational confidence and create opportunities for new connections.
Action Step: Introduce yourself daily to someone outside your usual professional or personal network. If you’re solely working online today, respond to a post or newsletter that resonates with your authentic interests. Always lead with grace and gratitude.
2. Gain Access to New Environments
Growth often requires exposure to unfamiliar environments. Attending events, workshops, or meetings in new, unfamiliar spaces challenges assumptions and fosters adaptive confidence.
Action Step: Once a week, intentionally engage in a professional or social online environment you have not previously experienced. This can be within a group chat, online community, or email thread where you can add value. Additionally, schedule quarterly in-person activities that offer direct sales and leads. Whatever your approach, take care to manage your time and return on your investment. Your ideal client profile and customer personas must be present or strategically accessible. Go where there is value added to your brand.
3. Increase Visibility
Many entrepreneurs underutilize the power of brand presence in everyday interactions. Being visible reinforces credibility and signals confidence to potential clients, partners, and collaborators.
Action Step: Wear and display your brand (logo, business card, or product) in all online and in-person interactions and be prepared with a concise description of your work. Taglines are always welcome. This has been a challenge for many business owners. Unapologetic self promotion without judgment is necessary to grow and scale.
4. Show Up as Your Own Business Persona
Confidence in business is also expressed through the ability to consistently embody the identity of your brand. Many entrepreneurs think of branding primarily in terms of logos, colors, or marketing materials. In reality, the most powerful brand signal is how the business owner shows up personally. This is not about thought leadership and content creation.
Your customers experience your brand through your behavior, tone, and presence - where confidence shines through. In other words, you are often the first and most influential representation of your brand. You are the sales leader and research shows that confident employees boost a business’ bottom line by as much as 22% and generate 27% more leads.
Showing up as your brand personality means intentionally aligning how you communicate, present yourself, and engage with others with the qualities your customers find relatable and appealing. It is not about performing a role or adopting a false persona. Rather, it is about amplifying the aspects of your personality that best represent your brand’s value and resonate with your audience.
For example:
A wellness entrepreneur may project calm, balance, and thoughtful listening.
A technology founder may emphasize clarity, innovation, and problem-solving.
A creative entrepreneur may communicate energy, imagination, and expressive storytelling.
This approach transforms everyday interactions into opportunities to reinforce your brand identity. Your confidence grows because you are no longer separating yourself from your business—you are operating as the living expression of it.
Action Step: Define three personality traits that represent how you want your brand to be experienced by customers (for example: insightful, welcoming, bold, calm, innovative, or empowering). You may also take an extra step to write personal scripts, mantras, or figures of speech that are uniquely yours. For example, “Work to live, not live to work.”
Then intentionally express those traits in your daily business interactions, including networking conversations, client meetings, social media posts, public speaking opportunities, everyday introductions to new contacts. Give them something to remember that is unique to you.
Over time, people will begin to associate those qualities directly with you and your business. When that alignment occurs, your brand personality becomes a powerful relationship-building and sales asset.
A Call to Action
Your confidence is not theoretical. It is practical, actionable, visible, and within your control.
Women’s History Month is an opportunity to honor past achievements and define future possibilities. For women entrepreneurs, it is a reminder that confidence is the bridge between potential and results.
This month, I encourage you to reflect on the areas where hesitation or discomfort may be limiting your business growth. Identify one actionable step today that challenges your comfort zone. The choice to act—introducing yourself to new networks, entering unfamiliar environments, and presenting your work boldly—can transform both business outcomes and personal growth.
The women who have changed the course of history did not wait for perfect conditions—they acted. Similarly, the women who will shape the next decade of entrepreneurship will be those willing to step forward with courage, authenticity, poise, and decisiveness. They are truly PACD.
A final reminder: Confidence is not acquired once and maintained automatically. It is practiced, renewed, and demonstrated consistently. Like all energy, it needs recharging. By committing to actionable steps, women can overcome self-imposed limitations, expand opportunities, and unlock the full potential of their enterprises.
Resources:
Subscribe to ConfidenceCrush on substack: https://confidencecrush.substack.com/
Download the FREE Self Confidence Workbook at: https://www.drvbrooksdunbar.com/
Don't forget to subscribe to this newsletter, Lost Fortunes-Lasting Lessons, to increase your business acumen and Financial Confidence
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