Entrepreneurial Life is a Highway.
5 Tips to Find Success as a Female Entrepreneur
Running your own business feels a lot like driving through the Rocky Mountains. Often the climb at the beginning is so steep you’re not sure you’ll make it to the top. At other times, you find yourself racing down a steep decline with such confidence and freedom you want to roll down your window just to feel the winds of triumph rip through your hair. Then there are those terrifying moments when you approach a blind hill with your hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly your knuckles have turned white. You don’t know what obstacle might be standing in the road, be it a passing car, wildlife, or a global pandemic (we’re looking at you, Covid-19!).
As women, we sometimes feel as though we’re on a completely different highway. One that constantly goes uphill and is laden with extra obstacles like roadblocks, construction, and roadside distractions (hello family members!). The reassuring news is that we’re not on this highway alone. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of others who have traversed the road ahead, proving that it’s not only possible to succeed but that you can have a thrill while doing it!
Here at Fine Point Writing and Editing, we’ve been travelling the business highway for the past four years, and we’ve learned a thing (or five) to make the journey a bit easier. Keep reading for our top five tips for business success.
Canada Needs More Female Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship is lonely, and it can often feel even more so for women. In 2020, only two out of the top 100 companies listed on the TSX had female CEOs. Before the pandemic hit, the Canadian Federal Government reported that women ran only 16% of small- and medium-sized businesses across the country. At Fine Point, we are a female-led team of writers and editors, and in honour of International Women’s Day, we’ve decided to share our top five tips to help other women (and anyone, really) find business success!
5 Tips for Business Success
1. Make Connections
When you first start out in business, the idea of networking can be terrifying, especially if you consider yourself an introvert. Nerves are perfectly normal, but try not to let them stop you. The reality for most service-based businesses is that you’re more likely to find your next client from networking and referrals than you are from your social media posts.
There is no “right” way to network. The purpose is to meet people and make connections that will lead you to possible clients, so how you go about it is up to you. You could join an official business network in your community that meets in-person (during non-pandemic times) or you could join a virtual network either locally, nationally, or even internationally. Just remember that if you’re networking with someone in Brazil, then you should be set up to serve and bill someone in Brazil.
2. Find Business Friends
Another benefit of networking is that you’ll meet other business owners. Even if you have a supportive family and friends, they won’t always be able to relate to or understand all your business headaches. We highly recommend you find yourself a group of fellow entrepreneurs to support you in your business journey, offer advice, and hold you accountable to your goals.
You might want to join an established group or start your own. If you’re a mom running your own business, you might seek out other entrepreneurial moms. If you’re a photographer, you might seek out other photographers so you can share insights specific to your industry. However, cross-industry groups can be beneficial as well. The key is to find a group that is supportive and willing to hold each other accountable so you can all learn and grow together.
3. Ask for Help
Running your own business takes courage and tenacity. While those qualities are admirable, being our own boss means we often forget that we can ask for help. Admitting you need advice or extra hands does not mean you’re failing at your business. On the contrary, it means you are aware of your limitations and have the wisdom and insight to solve them.
If you’re terrible at keeping track of expenses or using payroll software, you might want to hire a bookkeeper. Hate writing? Browse our extensive writing and editing services. We can help take care of those important but less exciting tasks in your business, such as blog writing, website and landing page content, press releases, product descriptions, and more.
4. Grow Your Confidence
You started your own business because you had a goal in mind or a skill you wanted to offer the world. Maybe you were previously employed and decided you’d rather go into business for yourself to have flexible hours or creative freedom. Whatever your reason was, you took the leap and became your own boss. But just because you created your own business doesn’t mean you were automatically presented with CEO-knowledge.
If you feel that you lack confidence in an area of your business, take the time to work on improving those skills. For example, if you feel shy presenting proposals or pitching project ideas to clients, you could join a Toastmasters club in your area. Leadership skills can be learned, and the longer you’re in business, the more experience and natural confidence you will gain.
5. Take Ownership of Your Business
We’ve already established our best advice for finding clients, surrounding yourself with knowledgeable colleagues, and improving your business skills. We also declared that there is no shame in asking for help. Our last tip is to remind you that you are the boss. That may sound like an obvious statement, but we know how tempting it can feel to wish some magical, outside force would swoop in and take care of all the hard parts of the job.
If you feel that you lack confidence in an area of your business, take the time to work on improving those skills. For example, if you feel shy presenting proposals or pitching project ideas to clients, you could join a Toastmasters club in your area. Leadership skills can be learned, and the longer you’re in business, the more experience and natural confidence you will gain.
Hire help when you need it, but always stay informed. You are the driving force behind your business; the last thing you want is to outsource a portion of the tasks without any oversight, especially when it comes to items like finances or branding. When you work with us for marketing, blogging, or any of your writing needs, we work closely with you to align with your brand voice so you can be assured that you and your business are represented accurately and authentically.
Happy International Women’s Day from the Fine Point Team!
There you have it! These are our top five tips for business success: Make business connections, find supportive entrepreneurial friends, boost your confidence, push yourself to grow in your role, and recognize when you should ask for help. Our conclusion? Running a business is hard sometimes, but we love it anyway!
Cheers to all the women running their own businesses!
