Center for Women Entrepreneurs E-News || May 2020

May 2020

Lending a Helping Hand in a Time of Need

In March, the CWE announced the AssistHER grant program, which provided $10,000-grants to 100 women-owned small businesses in Texas that were impacted adversely by the coronavirus pandemic. The funds will be used for some operating expenses, technology upgrades, or helping to adapt to a new business model.

The response to this lifeline for women-owned small businesses was overwhelming. We received close to 5,000 applications requesting assistance. Applicants were from all over the state of Texas, from many different industries and sectors and from diverse backgrounds. We will be announcing the recipients very soon. Stay tuned to our website.

These are challenging times, and small businesses are the heart of any community. While we wished we could help all small businesses, we are glad we were able to lend a helping hand to some. Through this challenging season, and as the state of Texas moves forward toward a new normal, the Center for Women Entrepreneurs is here and stands ready to continue to assist women-owned small businesses.

The landscape of doing business has changed drastically for small businesses since COVID-19. And as Texas begins the slow process of opening back up, this could pose additional challenges moving forward.

You don't have to do it alone. The Center for Women Entrepreneurs offers small business advising for women-owned small businesses.

Our professional small business advisor can guide you on how you can pivot your business to help support your and your clients during these challenging times. Virtual and telephone appointments are available.

Keeping In Touch: Using Email to Build Your Business

Who: Jeffrey Radighieri, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing at Texas Woman's University

When: Tuesday, May 12th, 2020, 8:00 AM -9:00 AM

Where: Virtual meeting

Jeffrey Radighieri, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing at Texas Woman's University shares one of the most cost-effective and easy ways to manage marketing tools and email marketing.

What you will learn:

Email marketing (1) no longer has a bad reputation, (2) is a great way to communicate with consumers, and (3) creates significant value for businesses of all sizes.

Women RISE will be done virtually this month through Zoom. Please register. You will be sent a link to join as we get closer to the event.

Update Those Sometimes Overlooked Business Items!

Last week, the Center for Women Entrepreneurs hosted a panel discussion on Pivoting Your Business During COVID-19. During the panel discussion, all three panelists agreed that during this downtime, it is essential to take time to update all of those sometimes overlooked business items.

Here are a few items to consider updating during this downtime.

Website: Think about updating your About Me page, refresh your photos, and add a video introducing yourself to your homepage. All of these are easy to do, and you don't need to worry about hiring someone to do it.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM): When you get busy, you forget to handle those less vital business housekeeping tasks like updating your CRM. Now’s the time to update all of your clients' information.

Email Templates: Maybe you created your email nurture sequence when you first started your business. Now is the perfect time to go through those emails and ensure that everything still applies. Plus, a refresh on the content might be what you need to start engaging more customers.

Content: This is a great time to go back through your copy on all things and give it a refresh.

CWE Team

Shannon Mantaro

Senior Director, Operations & Entrepreneurial Leadership

Tracy Irby

Associate Director

Jody Rodriguez

Manager of Events & Student Programs

Dr. Donalisa Stinyard

Program Coordinator

Samantha Farmer

Senior Secretary

940.898.2895 || twu.edu/cwe || cwe@twu.edu