????最近大家都在討論女性與金錢的關系。上周，我發表了一篇題為《女孩害怕金錢嗎？》的文章，激起了大家對這個問題的廣泛探討。美國運通公司OPEN卡部門（American Express OPEN）總裁蘇珊?薩博特也通過郵件向我表達了她的一些看法。她的觀點頗有洞見，于是我請問她，我能否將該郵件作為客座文章發布。

????薩博特認識很多企業家。美國運通OPEN是運通公司旗下一個服務于小型企業的部門，自1990年起，她連續七年主管OPEN卡部門。兩年前，運通OPEN卡攜手《財富》雜志（Fortune）創辦了“最具影響力的女企業家排行榜”（ Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs），該排行榜每年會篩選出美國最具創新精神的女企業家，并召開《財富》“最具影響力女性峰會”（ Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit）。在峰會上，她們有機會同來自世界各地的最知名的女企業家和熱衷于企業家精神的榮譽男嘉賓沃倫?巴菲特進行思想上的交流。——Patricia Sellers

????當我們同女企業家談及她們的事業時，她們通常會從創業的靈感、個人的使命、與客戶之間的關系以及作為企業家的心路歷程等這些話題談起。

????經過剛開始的幾個試探性的問題之后，她們才會切入正題，比如她們的商業模式是什么，以及她們是如何賺錢的。

????而男性企業家在這個時候可能會在思維順序上與她們有一些不同之處。

????那么這意味著什么？當然，并非所有的女企業家都是這樣。只不過相比于男性，女企業家比較“忌諱數字”，她們會說，“我是一個對數字不大關注的人……”

????然而在通常的情況下，事實并非如此。

????這種“恐懼”是一種心理障礙。同女性討論關于金錢的問題會使她們感到不太自然，她們認為這是應該獨立去應對的事情。

????公司的規模對她們而言似乎也不那么重要。但是這對男性企業家來說（請原諒這里提及的刻板印象）卻至關重要。

????女性企業家奮斗的動力源于她們對事業的使命感。而對于男性企業家而言，奮斗的動力則是利潤的多少。

????這一點是我最近與一對經營零售業的夫婦在交談中發現的。丈夫與我聊了一些關于庫存周轉方面的細節，而妻子則與我談論了她是如何專門針對客戶的特殊需要進貨的。

????她更注重維護客戶關系；而他更注重貨品的周轉。

????男性企業家通常會有一個堅定且需要迅速達成的目標。他們的目的是想要賺到X美元的利潤或是達到Y程度。目標驅使他們制定計劃并一步一步的達成。

????而女性企業家則傾向于制定一個大體上的發展目標。然后她們會集中考慮具體的計劃：客戶的數量是多少？選擇什么樣的供應商、獲得多少利潤與現金流才能達成目標？

????最終的結果是：女性創業的比例是全美平均比例的1.5倍。而且，從某種程度上來說，女性使得我們的小型企業得以成長。也就是說，女性企業家的公司要比男性企業家的公司成長更為迅速，但是她們的員工數量一般不到100人，企業估值也大多在100萬美元以內。

????在所有的女性企業家的公司中，遺憾的是只有3%的公司收益達到或超過100萬美元。而男性企業家的公司中，這個數字卻達到了6%。

????而那些公司規模較大、運營較為成功的女企業家們最好能做些什么呢？她們可以與其他的女性分享經驗，讓她們認識到數字的重要性，讓她們知道運營公司的一個至高目標則是賺錢盈利。

????那么，打破女性對于金錢的心理恐懼的最好方式是什么呢？應該讓她們從小就知道，不應該刻意回避數字——尤其是不要回避賺錢這件事。

????The debate rages on about women and money. After I published "Are women afraid of money?"--which stirred up this week's far-flung opinionated commentary--Susan Sobbott, president of American Express OPEN, emailed me her thoughts. Her note was so insightful that I asked her if I could run it as a Guest Post.

????Sobbott knows entrepreneurs. At American Express (AXP) since 1990, she has headed OPEN, the company's small-business card unit for seven years. Two years ago, OPEN partnered with Fortune to create Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, a program that each year selects 10 of the most innovative female entrepreneurs in the U.S. and brings them to the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. There, they share ideas with the world's foremost women leaders and our honorary male participant who believes passionately in entrepreneurship: Warren Buffett (BRKA). - Patricia Sellers

????When you speak to women about their businesses, they start with their inspiration, their mission, their client relationships, their personal journey as entrepreneurs.

????After a few probing questions, typically, they get to the business model and how they make money.

????Male business owners have the order a bit different.

????So how does this translate? This isn't true for all women, but more women than men are "intimidated by the numbers," they say. "I'm just not a numbers person..."

????Usually, that is so far from the truth.

????The intimidation is a psychological barrier. Asking for financing comes less naturally for a woman. She feels that she should do it on her own.

????Size of business also matters less. And size (pardon the stereotyping here) absolutely matters most to men.

????The mission of the business is what drives women who start them. The size of the profit drives their male counterparts.

????I noticed this recently as I was speaking to a married couple who own a retail business. The husband shares details about inventory turns while his wife talks about the specialty merchandise she carries for the unique needs of her customers.

????She's focused on the relationships; he's focused on moving the goods.

????Men also tend to have a hard and fast goal in mind. They want to get to $X in revenues or Y locations. The goal allows them to plan their way to it.

????Women entrepreneurs tend to operate with a more general goal to grow their business. Their thinking then goes to the plan: How many customers?...What suppliers, margins, cash flow will get them there?

????The upshot of all this: Women start businesses at 1.5 times the national rate. And women are driving the growth of our smaller business--to a point. That is, women-owned firms have higher growth rates than male-owned firms, but only up to the 100-employee and $1 million mark.

????Unfortunately, only 3% of all women-owned firms have revenues of $1 million or more. This compares to 6% of all male-owned firms.

????What's the best thing that women who have large and successful businesses can do? Show other women that knowing the numbers is critical and that making money is a noble outcome of owning a business.

????And the best way to break woman's psychological barriers about money? Teach girls at a young age that they shouldn't shy away from the numbers--and especially from the money.