Different ways to get your business moving.
Only around 30% of all businesses are majority female owned. This figure varies from country to country but remains relatively low across the board. So, there exists a very specific set of challenges for women in business who are looking to achieve small business success. For those with a keen vision and the enthusiasm to take on the challenge there are a number of ways to make sure that your enterprise succeeds.
Tips for business success for women
Build and exploit your networks. Research suggests that women are particularly good at networking and this is one of the fastest ways to build up plenty of support for your enterprise. Industry groups, women’s groups and local entrepreneur hubs can all be a valuable source of contacts for support and growth.
Social networking is a crucial tool too. Networking via social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram is a great way to establish relationships with people all over the world. Your business will also benefit enormously from having a social media presence, both in terms of marketing and being able to engage with your customers and a potential audience. Best of all, social media is free to use and the advertising options available can be scaled depending on the budget that you have.
Make use of technology. You may have all the time in the world to dedicate to your business, or you may be trying to juggle it around another job or motherhood or caring responsibilities. Technology is a great tool for enabling you to simplify many of the more time consuming processes that are involved in running a business and make the time that you have more effective. Automation software, for example, could help by automating the more mundane tasks so that you don’t have to do them yourself. Or you could use a finance app so that you can send out invoices and track your income on the go.
Ensure you learn the art of delegation on early on. No business can grow if it is entirely reliant on one person to do everything. So, in order to ensure the success of your business you’ll need to learn how to delegate some tasks and responsibilities to others. Part of this is finding employees that you really trust to work in the best interests of your business. Once you have a great team around you then start learning how to use them to help lighten some of the load.
Just do it. It’s important to research your potential market and the product or services you want to sell or deliver to ensure they align. However, this part of the process can sometimes end up taking far longer than necessary. It’s easy to get stuck in an R&D phase – or a preparation phase – and never end up taking that crucial first step to launch, either through fear, lack of confidence or perceived lack of funding. But remember there are many alternative ways to find a loan so funding your business is one concern that may be easier than you think. Sometimes the only way to get started is just to do it and then see what happens next.
