Women are making inroads into the boardrooms these days – this could be due to the Company policies or on their own steam. But whatever be the reason, women are moving into areas earlier dominated by men.
Economic activity has brought women to the forefront in many areas of business, backed by their passion and naturally honed in networking skills.
Here area few simple tips on how to to be successful in your new venture:
1. Balance work and personal Time: Women are natural at balancing tasks both within the house as well as those that have to be conducted outside within certain time frames. Hence, maintaing this balance between work and home should not be too difficult. Just put official work down as similar to handling the market chores where you do the navigating to the correct and appropriate vendor and bargaining, and, work at home to handling the basic chores, and that should help you balance this pretty well.
2. Always keep a Business Plan in your drawer. This is similar to keeping the list of things to do as well as maintaining a budget.You should, however, keep several plans, in case you are met with barriers. This is similar to learning to navigate out of situations like, when a child is ill, your plans for certain tasks can go for a toss. But women have still managed to circumvent these situations and keep the home fires burning. Use this similar skill to manage your business too.
3. Know your area of work/expertise well and keep updated. This should be child’s play to a woman given that besides knowing what’s happening in the world, she is also aware of the microeconomics of what’s happening around her in the daily prices, etc. It’s like finding out from your networks, where you can source the best vegetables at a good price.
4. Build networks- this is very important for your business. Just as your local networks help for household stuff, so too will networks help build your own enterprise. Networks are very important for your business to succeed. Women are known seeders and collaborators of information and knowledge. So use this to your advantage in your business.
5. Let your passion for what you do show! Women are known to be more emotional than men. So use this in the positive sense, and ride your passion to success.
Although, it is still not as easy as it looks when women run their own enterprise, especially when they lack support of home and society. Yet when a woman takes that plunge, that makes her an entrepreneur to be reckoned with. With passion, networking, and, financial skills, any enterprise run by women, as she runs her household, either as a single woman or a married woman, will have its ups and downs. The enterprise may not necessary rake in the profits in the first few years, and this should not be disheartening, but as long as the woman keeps these 3 basic aspects in her perspective, the aroma of success cannot be far…after all success is but the trial and error period and not the final outcome!
Yes, I could have said Women Entrepreneurship, and that would have been a politically correct [...]
Yes, I could have said Women Entrepreneurship, and that would have been a politically correct thing to say. But then, I am never correct! (despite being a woman, and am not out to raise the hackles of women here)
Right, so why Women and Entrepreneurship? Well, for one thing, I don’t really see such a big thing about it. We know what an Entrepreneur means and what is involved. And women are doing this all the time! Except of course they don’t display it in so grand a term as a “Private Limited” or “Corporation”. Moreover, besides making a profit to be called an entrepreneur, I was always of the opinion that there had to be something creative or at least original in what you were trying to put together. Many of the searches on Women and Entrepreneurs threw up a list of the Top 5 or 10 in a specific country and also sites that now cater to “Women Entrepreneurs” or rather how to get there!
Take for example, Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders in India, of whom I think just 2 on this list merit being called Entrepreneurs, as they started it out on their own, and did not just rise up the ladder! It’s not that I don’t credit the laurels of the others, but hey, its the time of equality, and why should they not also be given a chance to climb up and reach there on their own merits- but does it entitle them to be called Entrepreneurs? Leaders, I am OK with that ( I am not being critical of the blog per se, but just the labelling). Then, we have an interesting blog called the Startup Princess, ” An international network committed to Empowering Women Entrepreneurs by offering resources for women in business to support, mentor, collaborate, learn from, and inspire one another.” Is there one specifically for men/princes? Ah well, they have had it comfy for so long, so why bother. It’s women who require the help! Grrr, as if women don’t have the brains! What have they been managing for so many years!
Have you ever spied upon a housewife? (not the peeping Tom variety) How she manages and juggles her work, people, friends, family, vendors? and of course her days when she is feels low or irritated, but still has to go on doing what she does. These days women have to juggle much more, so what’s not so “entrepreneurish” about all this? She budgets and manages the finance and still is able to run the house on a low or high budget! (OK OK not all females, but relatively speaking, the housewife has always “managed” “house” work)
Then we have a listing of historical women Entrepreneurs – amazingly most of them have all gone into the beauty product line or woman’s fashion, a man’s domain and hence termed Entrepreneurs. Ahmen! Why haven’t the queens of yore been listed???? Kings sat on thrones and held court, women sat besides them and held their hands! But what about Queens who sat on the throne, held court, and, commanded armies to go forth and travel and conquer, those who fought battles on the field, now then why haven’t they been called Entrepreneurs?? They also helped save the economy of their own lands, increased the revenue when they conquered lands??? Even a lady begging on the street can be termed as an Entrepreneur, as she uses her skills to increase her financial assets, and she too can make a killing of a profit just by begging! (But begging is exploitation! and so too has been this “Entreprenurial Brothel venture“), so I will not sing their merits as they often have been pushed by men!
Ladies and Gentlemen, something is definitely wrong with the picture here?? Hence my title Women and Entrepreneurship and not Women Entrepreneurs! Women don’t really need that label- we have carried it with us for centuries in our genes! (Now you can call me a Feminist:-), but I do not like labels- just being human is more than enough in this lifetime!)
