MONROE, La (03/03/20) — Acqunetta Woods is the owner of Bayou Teepees and she says as a female entrepreneur, she has a point to prove; And in just under a year and a half, she’s proved that point with the success of her party planning business.

Small businesses are making an impact as the local community is constantly pushing to “shop small”. “When an entrepreneur opens a business in our community, that’s some dollar amount coming back to the community, and it will boost the local economy and ecosystem altogether,” said Virendra Chhikara, Director of Small Business Development Center at ULM.

Entrepreneur Acqunetta Woods is doing just that. Woods started her business in the fall of 2018 and says even though it started off rocky, she’s seen huge success in a short amount of time.

“The bookings were a little slow, people had to buy into the idea to what you know, I was providing,” said Woods. When she started her business, she faced challenges being a woman in the workforce.

“As a woman, you have so much to prove and my main thing was, I did not want to fail,” said Woods.

Woods persevered to prove herself and bring another successful small business to the local community.

“It encourages me again to just push harder. I have a two-year-old daughter and I’m hoping one day that she can take on the business. I want young girls to know that there are options, big or small, you can own a business,” said Woods.

As a female entrepreneur with a small business, Woods says she likes being a role model to other women who might be struggling with starting their own business.

“I encourage as many young women, old women, regardless of age, race, whatever, go after whatever it is that you wanna do. If it’s that little idea that’s in the back of your head like ehh…I think I wanna pursue that…Do it,” said Woods.