🎙️ EP34: How We Raised Over 2M€ Non-Dilutive Capital for a Hardware/Femtech… | InvestHer Podcast

Welcome to this week's episode of Investor Podcast. This week you're going to hear from Pauline Rabel, who is in charge of WeConnect International in France, leading the charge there to help more women-owned businesses get certified and get into supply chain to work with big corporates. So you're— in this episode, you're going to learn everything you need to know about WeConnect International, why it's a super important organization in this field. Whether you are a corporate, you need to know about them. Whether you're a woman founder and you have— are not yet certified, you should definitely take a listen to this episode to learn more. And if you're a fund who is investing in women entrepreneurs or thinking about it, definitely take a listen because you're going to learn some incredible stuff on this podcast episode. So I hope you enjoy it. It's going to be a good one.

InvestHer Podcast is for you, the female founder who has a product, a service, or a message that you believe in and need to get funded. Or for you, the investor who wants to learn more about the huge untapped investment opportunity that gives you a higher return— women entrepreneurs. My name is Anne Ravanona. I'm an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and women's advocate, and I'm passionate about helping women entrepreneurs get funded. In each episode, we'll take a behind-the-scenes look into real-world funding tactics and strategies to help you get the funding you need faster. Let's put the fun into funding.

Thanks for spending some time with me today.

Now let's get started.

Welcome everybody to our latest episode of InvestHer Podcast. If this is your first time joining us, welcome, welcome. If you're a lifer, if you love it and you keep coming back, we're so happy to have you back. I'm going to sound very American on that one, but hey, I I do genuinely mean it because a lot of you tell us great feedback that it really brings a lot of in-depth information that you don't get elsewhere, and that is really, really important to us. So today on our podcast, I am so, so happy to introduce you to one of our partners for Investor Summit and just, just a fabulous, all-rounded, fabulous woman, Paulina Rabel. How are you, Paulina, from WeConnect International?

Hello, Anne. Thank you so much for the invitation. I'm very happy to be a part of your podcast and to come talk to your audience about what we do and how we can help women.

That's it. And I think that is the key thing. That's what unites us. A little bit of a backstory. I know Elizabeth Vasquez, your founder and CEO, for many, many years, since about 2012, when I actually interviewed her to showcase her as a woman leader in the Huffington Post. Because I had a series called Trailblazing Women, and she's so awesome. And, you know, it's great to see how WeConnect International has grown so much from there. But we're— well, hang on to your seats, everybody. Paulina is going to tell us more about that in one second. But before we do that, and to get into WeConnect, tell us a little bit about you, Paulina, about who you are, where you're from, and what you do at WeConnect.

Oh, thank you so much, Anne. Well, um, first of all, like you said, I work for WeConnect International. I am the market lead France. That means that I, I get to lead the efforts and represent WeConnect International in France. We started the market for WeConnect in France a year ago, and we've been seeing an exponential growth. We've been seeing new partners, new women-owned businesses who are part of, who are becoming part of our network. So we're very happy and very excited to see this growth. And a little bit about myself. I am originally from Mexico. I've been living in France for 6 years. I've moved around a little bit. I lived in the US, and in my professional background, so I've worked a lot in international relations, international partnership, and doing a lot of work in the public sector. So quite different to what I'm doing currently. So it's quite a jump going from the public sector and just international international relations and, and even diplomacy, because I, I spent a part of my career, early stages of my career, I was working at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. So it, it kind of evolved. And now here I am working for women economic empowerment and very happy to be part of this mission and very happy to be part of a project that's giving the, the tools for women to develop, to grow their businesses, and to really become actors of change in their communities.

Oh, I love it. And I love the passion that oozes out of you, Paulina. It is wonderful to hear. And we are joined in sisterhood on women's economic empowerment. Absolutely. Global InvestHer and WeConnect International. So let's go Let's go more into detail about WeConnect. Tell us about WeConnect International. Who are you and what do you do?

Yes, well, WeConnect International is a global organization. We work in 135 countries, and our main mission is to drive more money into the hands of women. So I'm sure our mission really resonates with you. It's— what we do is we enable them to compete in the global marketplace. And the way we do that is that we connect all these women-owned businesses to our corporate members. So we have about 180 corporate members that are eager to buy products and services from women. And whenever they have a new opportunity, a commercial opportunity, they come to us and we facilitate an introduction with these women. But not only that, we also train the women so that they can be ready, what we call corporate ready. And that they can, can access commercial opportunities so that they're also ready to respond to requests for proposals, and so that they can ultimately gain a business opportunity with one of our corporate members.

Amazing, amazing. Oh my gosh, when you say that our mission is to drive more money into the hands of women and women entrepreneurs, hey, hey, we are all hearted with you on that.

Amazing.

And what incredible What an organization you guys have built. 180 corporate members. That's fantastic. And how many, how many women-owned businesses would you say that you have now as members and in the organization?

In terms of women-owned businesses, we have about 17,000 around the world. So like I said, we are present in 135 countries, and these women can register So you have the free registration where we have these 17,000 women. But in order for you to get some sort of label, or what we call the certification, you can go through a process where you actually submit some documents so that they can be verified, and we can attest that your business is really woman-owned. We're looking for businesses that are 51% owned by one or more women, and we're also looking at own— it's ownership, management, and control. So we're looking at companies that are going to have women in their, in their board of directors, women that are going to have women in positions of management, and really who can make the decisions, financial decisions, Amazing.

Okay, so, and I love that it's, it's, it's a 3-tiered approach. That is, you say it is, does the woman own, like, own at least 50— the woman or women own at least 51% of, of the capital? That's very important. Are there women in the management structure and do they control the business? And that's, that's fantastic. And that's a very good— I think that your definition has gone a bit broader because before it used to be, if I remember, it used to be just 51% owned by women. So it's great that it's also encompassing those things that are important to both corporates for supply chain diversity, where they want their, their women-owned businesses or their suppliers to also have diverse people in their teams and serve diverse customers. So that's very good that you've baked that in. But before we get into the certification process, because I think that's super interesting and important for our listeners to hear about, can you tell us a bit more about the type of corporates that you work with and the type of women-owned businesses. Let's kind of break that down first before we go into more detail.

Wonderful. Yeah. So in terms of the corporate members or what we call our member buyers, we have 180. And it's very interesting because part of our member buyers, we have Fortune 500 companies, but we also have 5 members of the CAC 40 or the CAC 40, which are the largest companies in France. So you're going to see some very large multinational corporations that are— that represent any and every industry. So we have companies in the energy sector, we have companies in the recreative and hotel services, tourism services, we have companies in the food and beverage industry. So we really represent those very, very large companies that We all know. I don't know if I'm allowed to mention names.

You can, of course, of course. Yeah, because we're proud that they're your members, of course.

Well, if I can mention some names, we work a lot, and some of our founding members are Accenture, Johnson& Johnson. We work a lot with Marriott Hotels in France. We have a very strong presence with L'Oréal, Estée Lauder. We are Getting a good. We are getting a lot of momentum also from companies in the tech sector. So we have Capgemini who joined very recently. So you see like there's a good, a very diverse number of sectors, and we represent pretty much if you tell me an industry, we have it. The WeConnect is very well represented. And in terms of the women that become registered or certified, it's the same case. We have women who own businesses in any sector that you can imagine. So actually, since we're a member-led organization, we try to recruit women-owned businesses that respond to the needs of these member buyers, but they buy just any category that you can imagine. So We have a lot of women in the professional services sector. We have a lot of women also who do facilities management, which is a little bit hard to find. But we, we have managed to find them. There's women also who are in the chemical business or a chemical sector. So We have quite a variety. There's very large companies that are owned by women. It's a, it's a very uplifting when you see some very, very large companies in the transportation and logistics sectors. They have a very large revenue, and you see that they're already working with some of our corporate members. They're not just They're not just SMEs. We have very, very large companies as well. So it's very interesting. And SMEs, whenever they join, they can work their way up and they can become what we call Tier 2 suppliers. So they start being the suppliers of other suppliers, and then they work their way up as prime suppliers. But it's a— it's— we have a very, very diverse body of women-owned businesses who are part of WEConnect.

That's so interesting. And I love the way you're— you talk about the different tiers for your women-owned businesses and how that, you know, there— it's a step approach. They can grow. As they grow, their access to the right corporate partners grows as well. I think that's very, very interesting and very, very helpful. And also with regard to your corporate member buyers. It's really— when you were sharing about the names and the type, it was also— and you were talking about how many in your women-owned businesses, you know, there are incredible women leaders. I also want to make a shout out to one of our previous guests who has done— Patricia Lizarraga, and she has created an ETF, which is an exchange-traded fund. exchange-traded fund, basically on the US Stock Exchange, which is called WCEO. So basically, it allows people to buy stocks in the big companies that are your member buyers, where the woman is a CEO. So it's even another layer. That's fantastic. And they have about 126 companies. So if they're not all your member buyers, I'm just, just a little hint to you, Paulina, have a look at WCEO and check out. And you said, well, we should have those ones. Those women should be member buyers. Absolutely. They're I'm sure you have many of them on your list. It sounds like you do. It's very comprehensive. Just in case, a little tip, I always like to make everybody have a win going away from our podcast. So that, that's your win first. That's one of your wins.

So thank you. Brilliant.

So tell us a little bit more about your certification process because you've mentioned there's 2 kind of ways. First, you can get registered and certified. So what's the difference? between them? Let's start there.

Okay, so the difference, it's very basic. So when you register, you can register for free, and it's what we call the self-registration. So it's, let's say, on an honor basis, you can go into our platform, register your business, and let's say we believe that you're really a woman-owned business, but If you want to go a step up, if you want to have a document that attests that you are really a woman-owned business, you can get certified. And in order to do that, you can— you have to first register. And then there's a second part of the process that you have to do where you submit some documents, some fiscal and legal documents that one of our assessors is going to review in order to determine if it's really a woman-owned business and To determine if it's owned, managed, and controlled by women. So we have a list that's very comprehensive, and the assessor is going to take a look at who are the the the partners. If it's women, if it's men, what are the percentages that are that each partner has in in your company? It depends obviously on the structure of your company. So we're going to take a look at that. The assessor is also going to see some documents that really are going to help us prove that you are a woman-owned business, like a bank authorization. We want to see who is signing the authorization for any bank transfers, for any bank operations, So that's kind of— that can tell you if it's really a man or if it's a woman who does like bank transfers and bank decisions or financial decisions. And once this part of the assessment is done, there is an interview. So the assessor sits with the CEO of the company. It's very important that for this interview, we only have the CEO and our assessor. Mm-hmm. No male, no men are allowed in this interview, and they're going to be asked some questions just to verify all the information that they've already assessed. And it's it's a very very interesting exercise because the assessor asks them how did they found the business, how long ago, what is the capital that they brought in, or if there was no capital, what's the expertise, and what is their implication nowadays? Because there's some businesses that were established. Established many years ago, and maybe the female founder is no longer that implicated, or is maybe going to retire. So we want to see what's her implication, and what is the role of women in this company? Are women able, or is this CEO able to fire a general director? Is she able to hire? What are her— what are the decisions that she can make without her board? So we want to see at what point are women implicated in all the processes and in all the aspects of the company. So it's a very, very interesting interview. It's something that's really— it gives you a sense of how is the company managed, and it gives you a sense also of these women, What they brought in, what is the expertise, what's their background? It's fascinating. It's a really, really interesting process. Once the interview is done, our assessor is going to submit a decision. We have a— some of our headquarters are going to review every application, and they're going to submit a certificate if they comply with all the requirements. So in most cases, they already know that they comply and they're gonna get certified. And we have a— it takes about 45 to 90 days because it's like one of my colleagues says, it's happening time. So we have a lot of new inquiries. We have a lot of new certification requests. So we're seeing a surge of demands in the past couple of weeks.

And I bet you after this podcast comes out, there'll be another surge of requests to be certified. That's what we want. You know, that is absolutely what we want. And I think it is phenomenal. I think it's really, really excellent because thank you for describing the whole process, Pauline. It's very robust. And I think for both parties, it's excellent. On the one hand, for the woman founder, it's actually brilliant practice because she's going to be asked those questions by her bank, by potential investors, other potential partners, advisors. So it's a good exercise in any case to do. But beyond it being a good exercise, I think it's just the questions that you ask are of course, you need to do your homework for your member buyers to make sure that, you know, the suppliers that you're putting in front of them really are what they say, because they legally cannot take the risk of, you know, having certain women-owned businesses be part of their supply chain, that to then discover that actually it was all fake, and that it was just, you know, someone was put forward as a front for a male-run and owned business. So I think it's very robust. And, um, an excellent, an excellent process. And so how much does it cost for the women? So it's 40 to 90, 45 to 90 days, and how much does it cost them to be certified?

Uh, so it depends on the revenue. Um, it, if they are, they make between, uh, $0 to $10 million, it costs them, uh, $450. Um, then the second tier, uh, from $10 million, uh, and then, uh, look I'm gonna look up real quick the, the information, but it cost them— give me 2 seconds because it's all the figures get mixed up in my head. But I mean, it's something very— and I'm gonna say very accessible, very affordable, because the most that it's going to cost is $1,400.

Yeah.

So really, it's not a lot. of money that they're going to be investing. And it's also a certification that lasts 3 years.

That was my next question. So you preempted that one. Okay, so that's very good. So it lasts 3 years, your certification. And don't worry about the pricing, because you can send me the link if that's something that's available on your website. We'll add it to the show notes, Paulina. So don't worry about that. It's just useful that there are the different tiers. And it's an investment over the 3 years. So that's, that's very good.

Okay. It is. It's quite accessible. So the, let's say the most accessible is $450 for those who make less than $10 million. And the most, or the upper tier is $1,400. So we'll definitely have a link to the certification cost, but it's a great investment. Imagine You get certified, and with that little investment, you get introduced to large corporations that can become your customers. So absolutely a great, great investment.

It's an incredible return on investment. And, you know, I highly encourage those women-owned businesses who are listening to me to, to take, you know, take advantage of this incredible opportunity that you have. If you didn't know about it, now you do. And now you do. I would really encourage you to go and get certified so that you can be part of not only those corporate supply chain tenders. It will also help you for going for government tenders as well, because you can put on and on your, on your pitch deck if you're going for angel funding or any other source of funding, because that is a guarantee of you've been quality controlled, if you will. It's like a stamp, quality control stamp from WeConnect International to that validates that you are who you say you are. So it's only a good thing. And that's why I like the way even you say that it's, it's an investment. It is, Paulina. I totally agree. So I highly encourage all of those listening to get certified. And if you're not, if you're, if you already are, get certified. If you're not, also, if you are, sorry, if you are certified, share the link with those other women-owned businesses that you know.

Yes.

That was my, that That was where my head was going. I said, I'm saying it backwards. So sorry about that. Anyway, that you get what I'm saying. And this is like, you know, unedited me, unedited you. We are normal people here.

We say natural.

All natural. So, so let's go back to your member buyer partners. So how do you partner with those member buyers, those corporates on supply chain diversity? But how exactly do you interact with them? Because we also have some big corporates listening in here. Or some funds who would be listening and say, that's an interesting process, I need to know more. So yeah, how does it work?

Well, our main points of contact are those people who are in charge of procurement. So in most cases, it's procurement who decides to implement a supplier diversity and inclusion strategy. So they become our main points of contact. But there's also some companies that have people responsible for diversity and inclusion at large. So they want to say, okay, where do we need to implement? Where is it that we make a bigger effort or that we need to strengthen our strategy for diversity and inclusion? They determine that supply chain is one of the axes or one of the priorities, and then they get linked to WeConnect International. They become members, and they can become global members. They can also become members by region or by country. So let's say that you are Company X and you have a strategy that you want to implement only in Europe, that you want to implement only in France or Germany. You can also become a member for this region where you're starting, and then you can grow and go global in the later years. So there's many There's different levels of membership. So it depends obviously on the priorities, on the strategy of the company, and exactly what their aim is. But we have several options that can adapt to each company.

That's wonderful. People are gonna say, God, Anne, you think everything is wonderful. I do. I genuinely think this is wonderful. This is very important, and I care deeply about it because it is part of the work that I you know, do with my colleagues at the W20, the engagement group on public policy recommendations to the G20, to the leaders of the world. And we're saying to them that corporate procurement and public procurement are 2 very important levers for getting more women into the formal economy and also to get them to have more access to funding. Like, becoming a supplier to a big corporate is an incredible source of funding. It is very stable, and your investors will love it. Your bottom line will love it. It's really hard to get in to become a supplier. But once you're in, you're kind of in there for life, not life, but really you are. Once you're in, you're in. And so it's worth that investment in time and energy to get in. Remind us, Paulina, about the statistics about the percentage of corporate procurement that goes to women-owned business in the world, and then in some of the key markets that you work in with your member, your corporate members?

So the main statistic and the main thing that we explain, and which really makes our case very strong, is that globally corporate spend only destined— yeah, it only destines 1% of their global spend to woman-owned businesses. So of everything they buy, products, services in any category, only 1% is destined to woman-owned businesses.

Yeah.

And this is, this is such a shame. We're in 2023. We have amazing companies that are founded by women that sell great products, that give really great services, and they either have not been discovered, let's say, or they haven't had access to these value chains. So we're here to put them on the table and to help them get at least a visibility of the opportunities. That way they can tender and they can become part of the negotiation. They can become part of the process and obviously if they respond to the needs of the corporate, they can, they can be awarded the contract at the end. But we're here to point them in the right direction and say, look at this corporation, look at this opportunity. Let's get you matched with these corporations and you do the rest.

Yeah.

It's your innovation, it's your products, it's obviously what you bring to the table that's going to determine whether you get the contract or not.

Yeah, exactly. And being certified is just an extra thing that's going to help in that process because you have been pre-qualified. Let's just say that really is what WeConnect does. It pre-qualifies for the corporates and then for the founders, gives them that stamp of approval that then facilitates access to those corporate contracts. And as I did say to the national contracts, public contracts as well. And also, that's why I really thank you for sharing that horrific statistic of only 1% of global corporate procurement going to women-owned business. And I believe it's the same statistic for public procurement as well. I think Elizabeth shares that. So, hey, we have to get away from this 1% club. Okay, 1% of global public procurement, 1% of global corporate procurement. And 1.9% of total venture capital to women-owned business. Excuse me, it is not okay. Like you said, this is 2023. This is where I get mad. Okay, I get mad, but with a purpose, because we have to act, right? We have to own it. That's like your name, WEACT. But we do. It's just very timely. The time is now. So that's why if you're listening to this podcast, I bet you're blown away by those figures. I bet you had no idea. And so we want you to to share this podcast, share this podcast with corporates, with, with investors, and with founders so that everybody knows, because this is also part of the reason that we have these podcasts. It is to educate people. Because once you're aware, you cannot be— you can no longer be unaware. You're allowed to be unaware until you know, but when you know, you know. So then it's a question of, do you act on that information or not? And do you care or not? So So that's, that's, uh, that's very important, you know. So how would you say that working with corporate clients is a key access to market strategy for women-owned businesses? So it's one thing to get them as a company, but why is it important for those to help women access new markets?

It's, it's very simple. I think, uh, when you have a capability statement or when you have a website, uh, where you These are our clients. They trust us, and you put those logos that everybody knows. You you're already getting access, and you you're going. It's going to be easier for you to work with other corporates because they're gonna say, okay, she already knows the process. She's already she's been vetted by by our peers. She's already. Gone through the lengthy process to work with a corporate. So that's going to open other markets. That's going to give you the trust of potential customers. So it's very, very important. Once you land that first customer, you just have to be very smart and you have to market it. You have to always have a capability statement that's updated and you have to say, you have to Also, Vance, a little bit. Who are your your clients? I've already done business with X and Y corporations that are that are known worldwide. So you put it on your website, you put it on your capability statement, on your social media, and that's going to open a lot of doors. And obviously, that's going to bring in new opportunities. So I think that's key. Once, like you said a few minutes ago. Once you're in, you're in.

Yes, once you're in, you're in. And you know, the beauty of— I would build on what you just said, Paulina, in that like what your strategy is very important, your strategy and tactic of like once you have one of these corporates as your clients, you need to shout about it. This is so important for women. I mean, even myself, I'm guilty, say, hey, we work with Dell, with AXA, with EY, with others like this. I'm like, do I scream about it? No, I am now. You can hear me now.

You should.

So it's very important to shout about it in the positive way. And then the other way I think it's applicable on the access to markets piece is that those corporates usually are very large and they have regional country-level needs and serving their own customers in those needs. So you could start off very often those big corporates like to do pilot in one region or one or two countries. And then when you're successful working with them there, then they say, okay, brilliant. Now I'm going to introduce you to the next region or the next country to open up again. So it's very important in your global go-to-market strategy and your just market access strategy to think strategically. And you know this already, if you are targeting, if you're B2B in any shape or form, you're targeting companies for that reason. So it's just good to make it explicit here on this, on this conversation that Make it part of your strategy, shout about it. And then also to say, yes, okay, make it part of your own strategy. Say, okay, we've done a pilot in these 2 countries, so where should we be going for next? What's the next stage in our own growth? And, you know, and if it's not with this company, maybe it's with another member company from WeConnect that we could be doing because we've already done it in this country. And, you know, so that's also the thing, isn't it, Paulina? Because once they've worked with one or several of your members, that opens the door too because they can say, hey, Hey, we are WeConnect International certified. And by the way, we work with these members from WeConnect and you're all part of the club.

Yeah.

Exactly. And there's another thing and they talk to each other. So if they have a stellar supplier for any service and they say, okay, this is the first time that we have this amazing supplier, we have calls, we have regular calls with our member buyers. They, they might be, or they might feel like they want to share this because, you know what, I found a great supplier, uh, that came from WeConnect that's doing, uh, fantastic, that's delivering great results for us. I want to share it with my peers. I want to share it with the other members. And, and that's also very important. If you, um, got in the door, uh, you got the opportunity, you just, uh, gotta also make it worth So that they want to share it with their peers and with the other corporations. So that's another opportunity. They talk to each other. So you just, once you're in, make a great, great, or do a great job so that they talk about it. And then word of mouth is going to land you more opportunities.

Yeah, absolutely. That is it. That's so good advice. Very, very good advice here. And so tell me then, Anne, how B2B client revenue, so working with these corporates, how can that be a key source of funding for women-owned businesses, women-owned startups? Because sometimes they may not think of it that way, but how is it a good source of funding that they should be thinking of?

It's a, it's a great question. And I think it's something also that you don't think about it, but it's quite simple. If you start working with these large corporations and you get big contracts. Like, what better source of funding than a paying customer or than a big contract? So I think that's something that startups and companies that are at a very early stage have to think about. How do I knock on the door? How do I get access to these large corporates that they can start buying my products, they can start buying my service, And then, well, that's going to set the stage for growth, and that's going to set the stage for investment, etc. So I think that's a good way to start. If you're ready and you have the capabilities to supply a large corporation, then you adhere to organizations like WE Connect that are going to facilitate those introductions and those connections. Then the rest, the rest will be history.

I love it. The rest will be history. So now I'd love us to get into kind of more of the real practical, tactical advice from you, because you've given us the really good strategic advice as to why they should consider becoming certified and working with these corporates and in particular your corporate members. Let's get now down into the nitty-gritty. So what would you say What would you say are the key dos and don'ts of partnering with corporates? You know them so well. This is a really important piece, Paulina. What should they do and not do when you're working with partners?

Well, before they start working with partners, I think there's dos. The very important dos is, okay, once you're part of WeConnect or organizations like WeConnect, you have to take care of your profile. You have to go into our platform and you have to have a very good profile that's very descriptive, that has all the keywords, because when the corporate members are going to look for a service or a product, they wanna find you easily. They don't wanna have to translate your paragraph that's maybe too long or too short. Like, they really, they have some needs that they have to go look for, for the options, and they wanna have all the information readily available. So have a great profile whenever you sign up for any— if it's WeConnect, if it's any other organization, your profile, take care of that and really work it. If you add new services, you have to update that profile regularly. And then the other thing, and the first thing they're gonna take a look at is your website. Some of the feedback that we can get is, okay, the website is not up to the standards. So they really need to work on it. A great website that has amazing graphics, high-definition graphics that are going to really buy the attention from the people that are doing some research before contacting you. So if you want to get contacted by these corporations, have a great, great website that's very descriptive. Have your capability statement on your website. So that's going to really encourage them to contact you.

Can you just, for people, sorry to interrupt you, but I want to capture what you just said there. Can you describe what you mean by a capability statement? Because that's kind of a technical term. So what does that mean for those listeners who don't know what that means?

Okay, so the capability statement is a one-pager document where you're going to describe your You're going to say, we are XY company. This is what we're specialized in. This is our advantage. If our— what determines and what differentiates us from other companies are these key factors. It's a very, very simple document. You don't have to complicate it and make a very large or like go into too much detail. is bullet points.

Mm-hmm.

A capability statement is bullet points. What are your strengths? Who has been your client? Who have you worked with? If you've won any awards, et cetera. So it, it's just a, a one-pager that we recommend that you have on your website and, and that you update regularly so that potential clients can identify who are you, what you sell, and What differentiates you from your competition.

Thank you for explaining that, Paulina. I think that's really, really helpful for those listeners who were not familiar with the term. And I would make a parallel for those of you listening who are in the funding world or a founder who is looking for funding. It sounds very similar to the executive summary, guys. It's the exact summary that you have to send along with your pitch deck. The only big difference being that you don't add your ask for the funding round, how much you've raised in funding. You cannot, I presume, if you want to go that far with the corporates, but really it's more you don't need to have your funding round ask that kind of information. The people on your board of directors may or may not be relevant to a corporate. However, that's what I'm saying, do the information once. That's why your advice on having a really up-to-date profile is Excellent, Paulina, because, you know, do it once and then you repurpose it many times over in your social media, on your website, in your emails, when you're writing to, to potential customers or sponsors or whomever it is that you've got that core text. Like, I have my blurbs in a little thing. We were just— I needed to share a blurb there a few minutes ago to Paulina before this call started, and I was like, it's there, it is, because I have it pre-written on my phone. It's always there. I can just copy paste. So you're all professionals on this call.

You do this.

It's just a reminder. It's just a reminder, a gentle reminder. But thank you for giving your insights into what it means to have a good capability statement. That's very important. So you were telling us more about the dos and don'ts. So having an up-to-date, excellent up-to-date profile using keywords so you can be found. That's excellent too. And by the way, on the keyword piece, I want to say something on The keywords women entrepreneurs or women entrepreneur, it's not searched a lot on Google or used across the world. I did a course on keyword search with Google Analytics, you know, Google for Startups a few years ago, pre-COVID, maybe in, say, 2017. And when I was there with the course instructor and I was looking up women entrepreneurs, of course, that's the keyword for us at Global InvestHer. And basically nobody was looking up those terms on Google. I was like, wow, it was so low, very badly ranked. So I made it my business ever since then, and ever in every post that we do on social media or in anything we do, we put the words women entrepreneurs. And I've been doing that for years since. But you know what, guess what, we just did another keyword analysis recently and it hasn't gotten any better. And it won't get better unless we use those keywords. So my request to all of us here on this is like, if you care about women entrepreneurs in any shape or form, as suppliers, as partners, as potential companies to invest in, we gotta actually hack the system and we've got to get the keywords into the bloody machines. And it also goes as far as ChatGPT and AI stuff, right? We don't exist. So please, please, please just join me in that little mini mission. Like, we can talk all the time, but it like, let's make sure we do it.

Yeah.

Yes, and, and use all those keywords and those hashtags so that, uh, we can bring up the results and, and put them in front of everyone.

Exactly. Brilliant. So, okay, what else in the dos? What else should they be doing to partner with, with, with, with corporates?

Uh, in the dos. Okay, so whenever you, uh, join a network like WeConnect, show up. It's not just about signing up and getting the certification, but actually, uh, show up. Come to do the events. We do a lot of networking events. We do a lot of matchmaking. And sometimes we see those that actually— and I know it's time-consuming. It's not easy because as a business owner, you don't have that much time. But it pays off whenever you're showing up, you're pitching your business, you're working and talking to a lot of people. So the name of your business, your face is going to stay in, or maybe on the pile of capability statements, on the pile of cards that these corporates are going to get. Yours is going to be up in— whenever you show up, you're really going to have those contacts. You're going to have that direct interaction with our corporate. So actually, when, when you sign up for this, these type of networks, attend the events, and you really are going to see the difference because they are going to notice you, they're going to keep you in mind. And whenever there's a tender, there's an opportunity, they will reach out to you. So it doesn't mean that there's always an opportunity for your product or your particular service. But whenever there is, they're going to keep you in mind. So try to show up as regularly as possible. Once you met someone in a buyer or someone in supply chain, just do a follow-up. Say, hey, we met at this event, this WeConnect event or Global Investor event, and just remind them who you are and maybe do a follow-up. I don't know, 3 weeks, a month later. But the don't is don't follow up every 2 or 3 days because that is going to put them off. So yes, a follow-up is perfect, but don't just— don't do it too regularly because just because they didn't answer right away, it doesn't mean they're not interested. They might just not have an opportunity that corresponds to your category at the moment, but whenever there is, this, they're gonna keep you in mind. So, uh, it's just like, just be careful of not, uh, over-following up. That's a big no-no. That's a big don't.

Mm-hmm.

Just, yes, follow up, but, uh, just be careful of, uh, not doing it too much. Um, and another don't is, uh, whenever you, uh, you've already, uh, gone through the, the process, just make sure that, uh, the product or the service you're going to deliver is, uh, Just the the highest quality, and yet that you're going to have some customer customer service after the the product or the service has been delivered, so that you know what your client thinks of of what you delivered. So so just don't forget this the the the surveys, the some follow up. With your client to see what they thought and what can you improve so that you can get a second contract or get a referral with another corporate. So those are, I think those are the main tips that I can think of. But at first it's just be part of these networks, but actually participate, and then those connections will come and the opportunities will come.

Excellent tips, really excellent tips, Paulina. I, I couldn't have added anything else, honestly. I think you've covered all the key, really, really good tips. Um, so as we wrap now, we're coming up to our wrapping up stage. What would you say are your key tips to women entrepreneurs to encourage them to get certified? You've told them kind of what it is, how to do it, and let's remind them of the why it's important.

Well, it's, it's very important. And because if you want to get connected to these very good opportunities, if you want to get connected to large corporations who are actually looking for you and who want to buy products and services from you, you, you need to get certified. You need to show that your company is really owned, managed, and controlled by one or more women. So if you want to get your foot on the door and you want to get a sense of all the opportunities, and then obviously get the introductions, you have to get certified. You can get registered, of course, and get a sense of what the network is about. But once when it comes to actually buying and when it comes to actually landing those opportunities, the corporates want to work with certified women so that they— so like you said before, So they are reassured so that they can count that spend towards diverse— or yeah, towards diverse spend. So the certification is going to be a determining factor as to whether you get the opportunity or not. So we really encourage you to get this certification. And it's not just about the introductions. It's not just about the networking opportunities, but we also have some training opportunities. There's always new things that come our way. We have an opportunity to train women-owned businesses on how to finance their growing businesses. This is in partnership with Moody's Corporation. It's coming up very soon, and we'll share the details with your audience. But this is another great opportunity that's open to the WeConnect network. And if you want to get some real-world examples and some great training that's going to apply to your business, just sign up in your— in our network, get certified, and you're gonna see some really good opportunities come your way to develop your skills, to strengthen some, some skills, and you're gonna see the value.

I love it. So what's the best way to, to reach out to you, to contact you at WeConnect International, Paulina?

So we're very present on social media. So we're very present on LinkedIn. So if you can just type on your search bar WeConnect International, You can search us by region. So if you're in Europe, you just search WeConnect International Europe, and then you're gonna find us. You can leave us a comment, or if you want a more direct contact, you can email me at france@weconnectinternational.org. And then if you're from another region, I'll be very happy to connect you with my colleagues from From your region, but yes, you can. We're very present and very active on social media. So LinkedIn, Twitter is @WeConnect, and then you just leave us a comment. You see all everything that's going on, all the events on our website. There's many, many resources. So our website is weconnectinternational. You're gonna see all the events that we have around the world. You're gonna see a lot of the data that I've shared with you, the link to registration, certification, etc. Just go to our website, and if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out by mail. I'll be very happy to connect you.

Amazing! And they have a great website, everybody, and I know that you're constantly updating with the latest information. latest resources. So do check it out. We will be sure to put all those links in the show notes to this episode. So if you are watching this online, listening to it, and then you want to catch up, just go and look at the link that we put in the show notes— on the show description, sorry. And then on the show notes, you'll have all the URLs pointing directly to all of the ways to connect with WeConnect that Paulina has just described. And I think as a closing statement, I want to say that we are absolutely thrilled to have WeConnect International as partners to Global InvestHER, and particularly on our very first inaugural summit in Paris, the 29th and 30th of June. And so we're very excited because Jerome Flint, who is in charge of EMEA for, for WeConnect International, works very closely with Paulina. Jerome will be speaking on the panel on access to market. tickets on the first day of the summit, and they're going to be there for both days. And you can come and meet Paulina and Jerome there. So that's also a great opportunity to everybody, you want to have more detailed questions, say, hey, I heard the podcast, because this will be going out well before the summit. So this is a great way for you to already know about WeConnect and then hear from Jerome live on that panel session. And then of course, meet and connect with Jerome and Paulina at the summit. So this is also a shout out to you all, come and join us. If you're listening to this in April, which you will be because it'll be coming out in April, this episode, get your early bird tickets now. There's 20% off now. So this is my little ad. Make sure you get the 20% off now for all the ticket types. In May, it goes up. So the prices go up and it's only 10% off. And then when it hits June, for the whole month up to the summit, then it's a full price. So you Absolutely. You're conscious, price conscious, so make sure that you get your tickets now. Thank you so much, Paulina, for being with us today. It's been an absolute pleasure. You're so knowledgeable and passionate about the topic, and it comes through very well. So thank you for sharing in depth. I think we've learned a lot about WE Connect, about supply chain diversity, about why it's important for women-owned businesses to get certified, to access those opportunities. And you use that word very well and clearly in everything you shared. So This is about access to opportunity. Ladies, gentlemen, if you didn't know about WeConnect, you do now. If you didn't know about the 1%, you do now. So I'm sure you know people who need to hear this episode. So please do share it with corporates, with funds, with women entrepreneurs, with male entrepreneurs who need to know about the fund issue. Like, not, not to worry, they don't need to get certified, but Let's share this episode widely so that everybody knows. Thank you so much for being with us, Paulina. It's been an absolute pleasure and see you at the summit and probably before, but there you go.

Thank you so much. And thank you for the invitation. It was a real pleasure. And thank you so much to your audience.

Thank you for listening to InvestHer Podcast. Don't miss more great funding tips and insights by subscribing to the podcast. On Apple or your favorite podcast host. And while you're there, I'd love you to rate and review the show. We'd love to hear from you. So if you'd like to send in some questions, interact with our guests, or suggest other great people we should feature, join our community on the Flick InvestHer group or send us a message on investherpodcast.com. Want more great resources for female founders about funding? Check out our InvestHer Academy at academy.globalinvesther.com. I'm Anne Ravanona and look forward to having you with us again for our next episode. Let's put the fun into funding and get more women entrepreneurs funded.