Any business owners in here?

[Finder]

If so, do you take advantage of having a "women owned business" status or not?

Do you get a lot of correspondence addressed to--"Dear Sir"?

If so, how do you respond?

[efhmc]

1. Don't have that problem.

Seem like those random mail outs are pretty genenric.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

2. My, my, my

Go back thirty years, if you can.

I'm a new lawyer, on my own, trying to get a practice started. So, I have an office loaned to me by a local bank because I have some real estate settlement clients who use that bank. I have no secretary.

I'm trying to hook up with the old, established lawyers in this small city where I live. When their secretaries put me through to the lawyers, I once again introduce myself, and then explain why I'm calling.

In most of the calls, halfway through, the lawyer would ask me whose secretary I was.

Sure, and because of the name under which I practice law, lots of mail comes to me as "Dear Sir."

I respond on my firm letterhead, as myself, because I have better things to get worked up about than an automatic salutation that's meaningless. Getting the job done is a lot more important and garners me a lot more credibility and profit, all the while making yet another inroad for a woman.

[Finder]

3. "We've come a long way, baby".

Just had to say that.lol

I don't get worked up either but I must confess I did return an email with "Dear Madam" when I was aware the rep was a male. He responded with "touche" so it was cool.

I find humor helps when assumptions are made.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. I don't have a brick and mortar office--my office is wherever my

laptop and cellphone are, although I do have a designated "office" in my apartment.

As a free-lance translator, I buy a certain amount of office supplies and a bit of electronics and furniture, so I'm not much of a draw for direct sales people.

I haven't run into specific gender bias other than from a few Japanese translation agencies that offer women ridiculously low rates on the assumption that all female translators are married women who are supported by their husbands and take in a little translation once in a while to earn spending money or to keep busy while the children are in school.

However, from what I have heard of other people's rates, I'm in the middle range. My income is constrained partly by the fact that I refuse to do what the highest earners do: translate patents eight to ten hours a day. One time, when a good customer gave me a lengthy rush job, I earned $8000 in a month, but by the end of the month, I had eyestrain, headaches, and carpal tunnel syndrome, not to mention being a nervous wreck.

I'm willing to take a lower income for a more sane lifestyle.