Women's Business Blog

When Did You Know You Were An Entrepreneur?

Were you born an entrepreneur? Did you spend your childhood standing on the street corner selling lemonade to strangers? Did you go door to door selling greeting cards, Girl Scout cookies and later Avon? During the summer months did you put on backyard carnivals with games to play such as ring toss over the coke bottle or knock the stuff animals down with a softball? Or perhaps you babysat for the neighbors and as the best baby sitter in the area took a piece of the action when you were able to slot another babysitter into a day and time when you were not available? Well, those are the things I did. And, yes, I believe I was born an entrepreneur. My mom may have bought the lemons, the sugar, the cups and the ice, but I made the drink, constructed the stand and painted the sign and, most important, made sure to pay her back every penny for the goods I used. I knew then as I know now you aren't in business if you don't account for every penny of income and expense. Every business is a game of profit and loss and too many businesses forget some expense that eventually puts them out of business. Take for example, the backyard carnival. I had a little "surrey with the fringe ontop" that needed to be pedaled to take kids for rides. Getting a kid to pay $.10 for a ride was easy but getting another kid to pedal it wasn't always easy. Good thing for me I had a younger sister -- better known in those days as cheap labor. She believed being allowed to help me with the carnival was her pay so I hired her. The games were different in that the $.10 it cost to play was all profit unless someone actually won and then those prizes cost me about $.50 a piece. I had to be careful to make sure I didn't have too many winners. It makes you realize just how important it is that those people running casinos get their winners and losers margins accurate as too many winners puts you out of business. Of course, no backyard carnival would be any fun without the food. I sold hot dogs, cotton candy and slush cones (yes, I owned a machine for each of these and the ingredients are nothing more than sugar and water and a little food coloring - these were my big money makers) and of course, my special lemonade. On a beautiful Saturday afternoon I could make as much as $150. And, that was after expenses. Of course, the swings and slides that just happened to be in my backyard brought me in some extra revenue that I didn't have to expense. Every year the carnival grew bigger and kids from other neighborhoods knew about it and found their way to may backyard. Even today, as a woman business owner and serial entrepreneur, the backyard carnival will always be my finest entrepreneurial dream. Why? Because I made money, made kids happy and even had enough to donate to charity at the end of the summer. Running a small business is about more than making money. It's about having a life that aligns with your beliefs and makes the world a better place because you have taken a risk that allows others to benefit and you to share your enthusiasm. When was it that you knew you were an entrepreneur?

 

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Women's Business Coach: TIP OF THE WEEK: Delegate

Women entrepreneurs have a particularly difficult time delegating responsibility in their business. Before reading further, ask yourself,

(1) Do I delegate the important needs of my business to others?

(2) Am I willing to ask for help?

(3) Do I know how to search for the expertise I need to get my business to grow to the next level?

(4) Do I believe I will only be a true success if I do everything my business needs by myself?

If you answered yes to the first three questions you are in the minority of entrepreneurial women and you can stop reading this blog as you are on your way to scaling your business to new heights. If, however,  you answered yes to the fourth question you are in the majority and this blog is for you.

You, the business owner, are NOT the business. You cannot and should not rely on yourself to take care of all the responsibilities required of the business. Yes, I realize that you are operating on a shoestring budget and doing your best to stretch your financial resources. But, while trying to bootstrap your business to do more with less you are suffocating any chance you have of scaling your business. You cannot succeed by depending on the energy of one human being who even in the best case scenario only has the capacity for 16/7 -- even you, a superwoman must sleep. Perhaps, you were brought up to believe that asking for help was in some way showing vulnerability and now that you are CEO of your own business the last thing you want to demonstrate is weakness. Yet, all you need to do is spend one hour in the present of your banker, lawyer and/or accountant to observe that depending on others allows you to do the most important job you have in your business - visualize the big picture and develop the constant plan for expansion. 

So, begin this week to delegate tasks to others. Even a sole proprietor can take this opportunity to outsource a task and pay an expert to do the work she would normally do on her own. Watch how quickly your energy for the business will expand. When you spend your time focusing your attention on the tasks that scale the business and you outsource other responsiblities, the business will have greater momentum and higher revenues. This week the word is delegate. Start today so it becomes natural for you to ask for help.

Women Entrepreneurs: WATCH OUT - Here They Come Again..

I have been writing about, profiling, speaking about and spreading the news about women entrepreneurs for more than 20 years and yet not a day goes by that I don't read an article somewhere that suggests women have just begun their entrance into entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial women have been around since the beginning of time... better said the beginning of owning/starting one's own business. However, it is only in the last 30 years that they have begun to gain media attention. Why? The media is fixated on defining roles for genders, for ethnicities, for age and even religion. Anytime one of these groups seems to act out in a way that doesn't follow their definition, the media enters into expose mode to uncover the oddity. Of course, there really is nothing odd about extraordinary people acting in "get out of my way" mode (I believe I can do it my way and create a better life.). The mantra in the media now is that women are starting businesses at three times the rate of others (presumably that means men - your guess is as good as mine). The most important take away for women entrepreneurs is that they are not alone. They are following a long line of sisters that have thrown out stereotypes generations ago and focused on getting what they want in business and in their career. So, if you are a women entrepreneur and you feel isolated --- by the way, isolation continues to be the number one issue concerning women in business -- combat that feeling daily by checking back on this blog and with other links that I will make available to you regularly where you can follow other entrepreneurial women like yourself. Check out Forbeswoman/entrepreneurs/