5 Questions to Ask Yourself If You AreTo Be A Woman Entrepreneur?
Posted by Vicki Donlan on Tue, Jan 17, 2012 @ 09:26 AM
Entrepreneurship is something both men and women think about from time to time over a lifetime. Still today, entrepreneurship is the American Dream - start a business, work for yourself, make as much money as you are able to by working hard - anything is possible - the world is your oyster! 
Women entrepreneurs have been following their dreams for generations and learning that financial independence is possible along with control of their work lives.
However, entrepreneurship is not for everyone as the statistics report more than 50% of new businesses fail within the first five years. Statistically women's businesses are alittle less likely to fail then men's businesses, but this is mainly because women's businesses tend to be smaller, not have outside capital demands and are launched as lifestyle businesses not "food on the table" businesses.
Having coached both male and female entrepreneurs over the years, I offer the following questions to would-be entrepreneurs to consider:
(1) Are you unafraid to ask questions? Are you willing to take the time to learn what you don't know? You will continue to learn from vendors, customers, staff and other business professionals. If you have the need to be right all the time entrepreneurship might not be for you.
(2) Are you willing to fail and then get back up and try again? No business person wins every battle. You must make mistakes along the way. The key is to learn from what went wrong and change course.
(3) Can you manage money? The old adage "you need to spend money to make money" is only true if you know what to spend it on. Spending money without a plan will put you out of business before you have a chance to prove your concept. Get financial help before launching the business and have a plan to manage income and expenses.
(4) Can you take rejection? No one truly likes to be told that what they are offering isn't worth anything, but not everyone will want to buy what you are selling. YOU WILL BE REJECTED! Can you handle it? Self confidence, strong self worth are critical characteristics for entrepreneurs to survive.
(5) Can you sell your passion for your business to get others to follow you? You need others to believe in you and what you do in order to succeed in business. Whether or not you employ others you will definitely require others to be part of your business team. Vendors must believe in you. Most importantly, customers must believe in you. Your passion can be a make or break business element.
Entrepreneurship is alive and well in American and will continue to be the engine driving our economy even though the millions of small businesses will never make the headlines. If the answer to "what to you want to be when you grow up"? is entrepreneur - be bold, be brave, create a plan and make sure to answer the above five questions - YES! Now go out and do it.
