A Scope on Scaling Businesses - A Women Leaders’ Perspective

This Fall, HACE launched its first Mujeres de HACE program dedicated to small business owners. The program helps individuals who are currently looking to scale their business by providing them with lessons, coaching, and mentoring in the areas of business planning and business development. We interviewed one of our program leads, Ellie Nieves, a Women’s Leadership Speaker and DEIB Strategist for more insight and tips on scaling your business. 

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As Founder of Leadership Strategies for Women, LLC, and Program Lead for HACE’s Mujeres de HACE Program: 

How does this relationship/partnership with HACE align with your own company?

I have worked with the Mujeres de HACE program for the past 11 years as a speaker and Program Lead. HACE’s commitment to helping emerging women leaders take their careers to the next level aligns with both my mission and passion to help high achieving women show up, speak up and step up in their careers. The Mujeres de HACE Entrepreneur program is an extension of our shared commitment to advancing Latinas.  

If you were to provide other Latinx entrepreneurs with vital tools to equip them for the most success within their businesses, what would it be? 

I would equip Latinx entrepreneurs with solid business planning tools and the confidence to help them succeed despite any obstacles they may face. Being an entrepreneur takes vision, courage, and perseverance. 

You are a DEIB Advocate and Strategist. Tell us how being a Hispanic/Latinx, BIPOC, and/or woman of color creates barriers within the entrepreneurial space and how those barriers can be broken down and turned into a gateway to access better opportunities. 

One of the challenges that many women of color face as entrepreneurs is access to funding to launch and/or scale their businesses. These barriers can be broken down through accessing the right information sources and tapping into networks of other successful and diverse entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. That’s why the program HACE has launched for entrepreneurship is so important. It creates a pathway and launches participants on a guided journey that will allow them to lay a foundation for success.  

In what way is “scaling” important to a business? 

Scaling is everything! We cannot build profitable businesses if we are not able to take on an increased workload in a cost-effective manner. This requires that we develop systems to build the capacity within our businesses. Scaling requires planning and intention.  

Is funding a determining factor for how high you can scale your business? 

Funding is just one factor. As I mentioned earlier, we also must plan effectively to successfully put our funding to good use. We can see this in action on the popular television show Shark Tank. The Sharks often question the entrepreneurs on their business planning and how they put their revenue to work for the business. Ineffective management and use of funding are a sign that a business is not on a path to success.  

How does an entrepreneur know when they are ready to take their business to the next level?

An entrepreneur will know that they are ready to take their business to the next level when they have established a brand and there is demand for what they are offering. Repeat clients who pay you market rate or above is a good sign that it’s time to scale.  

Thank you for your time and effort in sharing your insight on this discussion. Let’s round up by getting to know you better. Tell us something that is NOT on any of your social media handles. 

Something that is not on any of my social media handles is that I love riding my bike – I learned to ride as an adult and it’s something I truly enjoy!