Being a woman doesn’t mean you can’t excel at the workplace or run a business. In fact, it places you at an advantage, and not just because of your feminine wiles. Especially if you incorporate some easy tips for women who want to be an entrepreneur.
Studies have shown that women are better at multi-tasking than men, and that places you at an advantage. Stories abound of amazing women who have conquered in various fields of endeavor, and you too can become a part of that elite clique.
After all, it’s no longer a man’s world, right? Of course, every girl ought to know how to shape up in a perceived male-dominated business environment. It’s much better when you know how to handle your business enterprise and make your own money. It makes you an independent woman, and you can call the shots without waiting on your man to hand you some change.
That is not to say a girl shouldn’t let herself to be pampered by her man every now and then. Every girl deserves a caring, loving man, of course. But it’s twice the fun if she makes her own money along the side, right?
So whether you work in an organization, you run the organization, or you just want to start a new business and don’t know the first thing to do, you’ll find this article helpful. Here are my best tips for women who want to be an entrepreneur.
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1. Being Enterprising
Being enterprising is one of the most overlooked tips for women who want to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is about risk assessment and management. You must constantly extend and expand your knowledge base by going after helpful information, just like you’re doing right now. Think about what you want to achieve, if you haven’t started. And if you have, carefully consider what direction your business needs to take in other to breakthrough.
2. Build Your Business around Your Passion
This seems easy enough, but often people miss the point. Imagine if a tuna were to get into the aviation business. Unless it’s in a cartoon movie, it just won’t work, because fish and flight don’t go together. On the other hand, an eagle can succeed in the airline business.
So check yourself and be true to yourself. You’re more likely to succeed in a line of business that syncs with you. If you hate the idea of cooking, why are you going to set up a restaurant business or go look for work at McDonald’s?
There’s surely something you’re good at. Learn to optimize on your strengths. What makes you stand out? What can you do better than others? To succeed in life and business, you must leverage your skills, your interests and your unique abilities. You must build your business on the foundation of what you are, what you enjoy doing, and what you’re passionate about.
This is important, because once you lose passion in any venture you might as well pack it up. Passion is the fuel that keeps the fire burning, even when the business hasn’t begun paying yet. Passion makes you relentless, makes you stick with it.
It also drives innovation.
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3. Be Innovative
When you’re passionate about something, ideas pertaining to that thing come to you effortlessly. You cannot be an entrepreneur without the capacity to remold and reinvent yourself and your business.
Before you start out, perhaps you want to draw up a chart, a projection of how you want your business to grow. Now, this may be far fetched from reality. But at least having the end in sight gives you the motivation to pour your heart into your business.
If you’ve been running your business for a couple of years now, what distinct or noticeable changes have you made in your brand?You run a beauty parlor or a landscape business? Or maybe a restaurant in your community?
What sets your business apart from the next lady’s just around the block? You have to evolve, because life is a moving target. Constantly strategize as you go along.
4. Be Assertive without Being Bitchy
You cannot succeed as an entrepreneur if you haven’t got grit. You must assert yourself to your team so that everyone is up front about the goal of the brand. You can do this without necessarily coming across as a vixen. Also, you must have the guts to approach difficult situations with determination.
However, that doesn’t mean you have to constantly nag and berate those with whom you work, even if they’re your subordinate. You must appreciate the fact that to succeed, you need a strong team. Constantly talking down on those in your work place doesn’t make you a great boss, it only douses the morale of your workers.
So what does that make you? You guessed it…!
5. Be Humble
When you’re running a business or you’re the boss at work, there’s the possibility that you get overwhelmed with the enormity of your responsibilities. You can begin to over-estimate your importance and treat others with less regard.
However, no one really succeeds all by herself. It’s in the interest of your organization that you start to treat your workers with courtesy. Say "thank you" when someone does well. Smile and shake hands firmly. And when you need a hand, please ask politely.
Humility is one of the finest traits that any leader can have, even in business. Never let the success of your business get into your head.
It’s true - pride goes before a fall.
