Did you know there are about 12.3 million female business owners in America?
That’s an amazing number!
It’s a growth of 114% in the last 20 years.
We can learn a lot from these inspirational women.
Five of these women share some advice that applies to all business owners.
Finding Balance
Misty Akers is the co-founder of The Candle Pour. She shares her experience about balancing personal and professional life.
Figure Out Your Priorities
Balancing [is] being the best mom and wife I aspire to be while also trying to be the best businesswoman I know I am capable of being.
I want to give everything I can to my family as well as the team who works for us, but I also understand that I can’t always do both.
There are sacrifices that I continue to make for both sides, and it can be frustrating to feel like you are letting one or the other down.
Akers quickly realized that starting a business and managing a family is tough. She had to figure out what was most important and prioritize different aspects of her life until she found a balance.
With your own business and personal life, write down all the things that require your attention. Choose three items for each, and focus on how you can work them into your schedule.
Accept What You Can’t Do
Be patient, and only hire people who share your vision and enthusiasm for your business.
You can’t do it all, so make sure to surround yourself with a team who understands the expectations and can carry them out as well or better than you.
Akers knew she had to rely on other people for assistance. The same is true in your life.
You already have a list of priorities and things you know you can’t get to. Figure out who you can delegate the tasks to so that you can remain focused on your top priorities.
Make It Easier
Business is a challenge; life is a challenge in general.
Wouldn’t it be nice to make life easier for yourself?
You can!
Sign up now for the Business Breakthrough Challenge and learn all about the latest neuroscience applicable to your endeavor.
Shape Your Reality
The Founder of The Sparkle Bar, Alex Bradberry, knows that you are the secret to your own success.
Choose Your Ride
What I love most about being a business owner is that, while it’s a roller coaster you need to buckle up for, I have a choice.
I get to create a life around a business that I love, creating experiences with a team I enjoy, with clients.
I feel grateful we get to create space for women that didn’t exist before while attempting to design the life of my dreams for my girls. There is no glass ceiling on my unicorn dreaming.
Bradberry knew that she was the only person who could make her business successful. Everything she does in the business is her choice—either for good or for bad. It started with her thinking and ended in success.
All of this starts in your mind. You have to have the right mindset to succeed. You have to question negative thoughts. You have to act on positive thoughts.
Improve Constantly
It doesn’t get easier; you just get better. You go, girl.
One of the things that Bradberry experienced is that business (and life in general) will always throw curveballs, but how a person responds is what counts.
When you think constructively and refuse to let negative thoughts and limiting beliefs get in your way, you gain the power to do better. You become your own inspiration.
If you think back on your life, you can most likely name many bad events. Simultaneously, you can tell the story about how you overcame them and improved through the experience.
Have a Plan
Jami Stigliano understands the importance of having a plan. She is the CEO and co-founder of DivaDance.
Identify Your Goals
I can spend my days and energy in ways that align with my goals and dreams versus working for someone else on the clock from 9–6 every day.
When I had my traditional career, I was constantly working for the weekend and my vacation days. As a business owner, every day is mine to make.
Stigliano wanted to do something that made her happy. She created coherence between her dreams and her career, but this came down to goals.
Even if you haven’t started a business, you still need dreams and goals. Think about what you really want from life and use it as inspiration to create a vision board.
Set goals for yourself to turn your vision into a reality. Make each day impactful.
Focus On Habits
Progress, not perfection.
Don’t wait for everything to be ideal. Just take steps and don’t stop working toward your vision.
You can slow down or take breaks, but don’t stop moving forward.
As Stigliano worked on her business, she knew everything wouldn’t be easy or perfect, but she could continue to make progress no matter what.
Progress is best attained through habits. Using your goals, write down a plan for how you can turn them into habits that get you to your end point faster.
Focus on small actions that you can do day after day. Every day is new progress, and all together, it counts for a lot.
Female Entrepreneurs Know What Works
You know what works best for your business.
You can always do better, and we are here to help you with that.
Join us for the Business Breakthrough Challenge and find out how you can take your business to the next level.
Trust Yourself and Others
The co-owner of Clementine’s Salon & Skincare, Dani Everson, explains more about trust in business.
Believe In Your Abilities
Go with your gut. Intuitively, you know what’s right.
Everson shares an important piece of truth: You know what works and what doesn’t, so use it in your business.
There was a reason you started your business and chose a specific niche. It might seem like gut instinct, but you probably thought about it a lot more than you realize.
Trust your gut, and if you are uncertain, then find the necessary data to support your ideas. Consider the pros and cons, and then, make an informed decision.
Trust Other People
How important a good accountant is.
Everson strongly believes that trust should also extend to other people.
You cannot do everything on your own—there simply isn’t enough time in a day to manage it all. Besides, there are also things that you might not have knowledge about; for Everson, that was accounting.
Allow other people to help you with your business. Seek out the right team and trust that they will have your best interests at heart.
Build a support team for yourself, too. Create a group around you consisting of family, friends, and confidantes that can help you cope, personally and professionally, in times of need.
Be Proud of Your Accomplishments
Stephanie Shearer, the co-owner of Trunk Nouveau, teaches us that we have to be proud of ourselves—even when other people don’t think it’s a big deal.
Take Yourself Seriously
When I opened my first boutique, friends and family thought it was “cute.” Twenty-two years and six businesses later, they still think it’s “cute.”
I’ve never heard anyone say that it’s “cute” that Elon Musk started a business.
The business community at large, including banks, lenders, and policy, still do not take a women’s role in business seriously.
Shearer highlights an important part of female entrepreneurship: People won’t always take you seriously.
You are the only person who knows about your dreams for the future. You are the only one who can make it a reality.
You cannot allow other people’s opinions to get the better of you because they aren’t responsible for your success.
Trust in your own abilities and be proud of how far you have come already.
Blow That Trumpet
You are the only one who will toot your own horn, so strap on that proverbial trumpet and blast it to the [mountaintops]!
Why do we as women always feel guilty for our success?
Most men will proudly tout their successes, but as women, we often whisper ours.
So strike that superhero pose, girl, and do not be afraid to speak—loud and proud.
What Everson describes here is imposter syndrome. It is something many people struggle with because they don’t feel they truly belong in a certain group.
If you are a female and you have a business, then you belong. Even if all you have is an idea, you still belong.
Be proud of your accomplishments and let other people know about them. You are doing amazing already!
Calling All Female Business Owners
We are inviting all aspiring female entrepreneurs to improve themselves with our amazing training at the Business Breakthrough Challenge.
It’s a five-day event that will change your business forever.
We can’t wait to see you there!
