For this week’s edition of FinanciElle “Statements”, I had the opportunity to interview Sophia Ruffolo, Founder of femmebought.

femmebought is a movement that empowers more women to reach the top. It’s also a community; a community of smart, driven and passionate advocates who take action towards leveling the playing field. It does this by creating a directory of women-owned businesses and hosting events.

Paolina: What does having the Power of the Purse mean to you and femmebought? Why is it so important to promote and buy from women led businesses?

Sophia:

Great Question! When you look at where your spending dollars go, you may be surprised to find out how little goes towards women founded businesses.

Our mission is to empower you to step forward, influence action, and support women in business. By using your dollars to buy from women owned businesses, you become an advocate taking action towards leveling the playing field with every one of your spending decisions.

Paolina: What has been your hardest experience dealing with your business and finance and what did you learn?

Sophia:

Have you ever started down a path and realized, uh oh, this is not in line with my brand or my vision? Heart-break!

One particular moment in femmebought’s infancy was the design of our website. I wanted to make sure the website projected our mission of empowering more women to reach the top. I was $700 in with my developer and realized this isn’t what I had in mind. I scraped the site, took a step back, spent time to find brands that aligned with my vision, and developed a more succinct brand strategy.

Losing the $700 was the best lesson I’ve had to date.

Paolina: What advice do you wish you had gotten about finance when you were first starting your business?

Sophia:

A lot of people will give you unsolicited financial advice. Very few people will actually help you crunch your numbers.

Knowing your financials is crucial to staying afloat and getting grants, loans and investors. I wish I had started with a business financial planning expert earlier, someone who could help me with my financial projections so I could show my plan for implementing a long-term sustainable business sooner.