The last decade has seen numerous women ditching the traditional workplaces and starting something of their own. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), entrepreneurship rates among women have increased by 13%, while it is only 3% for the men. However, there is no denying to the fact that the statistics are still below par and the women workforce is still largely untapped.
Here are some valuable tips from a fellow women entrepreneur to women who are planning to start a business or working towards making their venture sustainable.
1) Trust Yourself
Business involves risks and critical thinking. There might be times when you could doubt yourself or maybe fight with yourself if a decision doesn’t comes well. As an entrepreneur, you should understand that this is all part of the work cycle and should never fear from trusting yourself again. In the words of Katherine Sullivan, “Stop telling yourself you don’t know what to do. Yes you do. Listen to yourself and trust your intuition”.
2) Create a routine
Every day is an impact day and it is important that you make most out of it. Your schedule should not only about your work but also give equal impetus to quality sleep and time to indulge in activities you enjoy. It is important to give time to recreation. A good tip here would be to establish priorities and work out your schedule around it. It might be difficult initially to set timings, but it would definitely be an asset for you in the future.
3) Keep Learning
You might be great at your skills but it is vital that you learn along the way to keep yourself updated. A CEO, on an average reads around 60 books a year. If you don’t enjoy reading, try to indulge in educational videos and podcasts.
If possible, try showcasing your knowledge and views on business with everyone by blogging or creating videos. This will not only help you creating a knowledge ecosystem but also make you stand out when compared to other business owners.
4) Get a supportive life partner
Who you choose as your life partner is as important as who you choose to be your business partner. You need to have a person in your life that trust, motivates and encourages you along the way. He should be someone, who can support you wholeheartedly when it comes to household responsibilities and treat you as an equal.
5) Remove negative people
Unfortunately, you will meet people who will always put you down, be pessimistic in their approach and won’t trust your decisions. Try to have minimum possible conversation with such people or make them understand subtly that you don’t support their negative approach.
6) Delegate
You should understand that you can’t do everything yourself and try delegating work to others. It will help you relax and ensure that you focus on other important aspects of your business. It might be possible that you may not find the work done by others good, but with time and training they will improve.
7) Plan big
Women usually underestimate themselves and get scared dreaming big. You should trust your potential and create big plans as these can only lead you in becoming a successful entrepreneur. Don’t worry if you fail as the learning you get from it will help you in being successful eventually.