Three lessons I’ve learnt from giving $40,000 in grants to women in business

It’s been nine months, three rounds and $40,000 into the hands of five epic women-led businesses. So I thought it might be time to reflect on some of the things I’ve observed since establishing the SPARK Women in Business Grants.

I run SPARK, a community for women in business, and our quarterly grant program is designed to help our members grow their impact and profit, faster.

Internally there have certainly been logistical changes to listen to applicants’ feedback and help each round run smoother, but that was something I expected. As a business owner for the last 12 years I am acutely aware you never get it right out of the gate; it’s your willingness to adapt and listen to your community that creates longevity.

But that’s not what I want to share. I want to share three observations about the women who have (and haven’t) applied for the grant, in the hope that it shines a light on anyone holding themselves back. You are not alone.

1. They self reject

After hundreds of conversations with women in business, self-rejection was a common thread that I never expected. What do I mean by ‘self-rejection’? I mean inventing obstacles and eligibility criteria that simply don’t exist as a way to opt themselves out without looking further.

Such as:
“Oh I live in Adelaide.”
“Oh I’m not a tech business”
“Oh I’m a NFP”

These are all real statements women founders have said to me before they even looked at the information about our grant program. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely know the SPARK grant program will not be for everyone. But this was a total shock to me and I put it down to one of two potential reasons.

Firstly, they’ve been burnt by other grant programs in the past. Preach, sister! The SPARK Women in Business Grants were born to be the antidote to all of those government grants you weren’t quite eligible for.

Over the last decade of building my first business Scrunch, I’ve been deemed ineligible for grants because I wasn’t living in the right state, I wasn’t innovative enough, and at one point because of my male shareholders, I wasn’t even female enough anymore. I mean seriously, why are we making it so hard to get more money in the hands of women-led businesses? Okay, I’ll stop.

Secondly, a mad case of impostor syndrome.

Impostor syndrome refers to the pervasive feeling of self-doubt and fear of being exposed as a fraud, despite evident success and qualifications. Many women in professional settings struggle with the belief that they are not truly competent and their achievements are due to luck, timing, or deceiving others into thinking they are more capable than they actually are. This psychological phenomenon can lead to stress, reduced confidence, and hindered career progression.

So because they don’t feel worthy, some women self-reject by stating what they believe they are not – without even investigating.

How many opportunities do you think we self-reject from in our businesses because of imposter syndrome?

If this is you. Please know you are not alone.

Sheryl Sandberg, the former COO of Facebook, discussed impostor syndrome in her book Lean In:

“Every time I was called on in class, I was sure that I was about to embarrass myself. Every time I took a test, I was sure that it had gone badly. And every time I didn’t embarrass myself — or even excelled — I believed that I had fooled everyone yet again. One day soon, the jig would be up.”

How much can we accomplish as women in business if we say yes, despite our doubts?

2. The two-minute video is the biggest hurdle

Let’s be real: 50% of business these days is content creation, so applicants not wanting to submit a two-minute-long video about their business surprised me as well.

The most impressive businesswomen, creating the biggest impact in their communities, again passing up an opportunity because they didn’t want to be in front of the camera.

Why would someone pass up any opportunity over a two-minute video?

Sure, overwhelm and impostor syndrome came up, but this time I also heard women say: “I just don’t like the way I look on video” or “I just don’t like the way I sound on video”.

The reason why this bothered me so much is because it’s completely objective. When I watch a woman on a reel or TikTok speak passionately about her business, I don’t even notice her hair, makeup or that pimple she thinks has taken over her face! The excitement in her eyes and conviction in her voice blind the audience to any imperfection she might perceive.

When we push outside our comfort zone by achieving small milestones like creating a video, it increases our confidence to jump on the next opportunity that comes our way. We think, if I can conquer that, what else can I do?

Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, has previously shared insights that reflect the relationship between action and confidence. She said:
“I think failure is nothing more than life’s way of nudging you that you are off course. My advice to young women is that you have to start, and you have to fail, because failure is the only way to build a successful business, or a successful anything.”

3. They worry about asking their community to vote

As business owners, there are so many times when we are asked to be vulnerable and call on our community for support – whether it’s through voting for a grant or competition, engaging with our social media posts, or even buying our products and services. And this stops some of the most talented business owners in their tracks.

But I want to challenge anyone reading this article one last time.

Because something else unexpected happened over the past three rounds of our grant program.

When applicants pushed themselves outside their comfort zones and started sharing their stories and why they wanted their communities to vote, they started landing more sales. You heard me, more sales!

Having their business visible to the SPARK community and beyond, and showing up to tell more people about what they do has had the awesome side effect of increased sales and business growth.

Barbara Corcoran, a successful real estate entrepreneur and a star on the US TV show Shark Tank, put it simply: “If you don’t tell people about your success, they probably won’t know about it”.

My hope today is that by sharing the experience of past applicants, anyone who has held themselves back based on these same thoughts might see that they are not alone. And you can succeed in spite of these feelings. You just need to take action.

Danielle Lewis is the founder of influencer platform Scrunch and women in business community SPARK.

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