If you are a woman and ever doubted your ability to start a business here are the reasons why you have a great chance at success. In the province of British Columbia, Canada, we have the largest number of small businesses in our country and most are owned by women! Below are the main reasons why you already possess several built-in qualities that will help you to start a business and allow you to run it well. I am not saying that men cannot be excellent entrepreneurs as well, just noting the key ingredients that women possess and why that can make it very appropriate for them to give it the “old college try” because they do have many of the traits necessary do it well!
- Female Brains are designed for multi-tasking
Yes, we know that multi-tasking is actually a myth as your brain takes 15-20 minutes to line up the necessary neurons to do any task at a high level of performance. However, as female brains are more compact than male brains our synapsing distances are shorter so we are more likely to manage this to a certain extent. Anyway, entrepreneurs, especially when starting out their business are multi-tasking out of necessity as they try to keep their costs down initially. This means that you are answering the phone, balancing your business bank account, maybe making coffee, and meeting with clients and maybe potential investors. However, after managing your household, this will not be too difficult to handle…..you have already been a chauffeur for your kids, handled all the household duties of cooking, laundry, and cleaning, so transferring those abilities toward your business should be easy for you.
- You are a practiced negotiator
As a mother, you have negotiated bedtimes, handled curfews when that was necessary, assigned chores and made sure they were done on time. All of these issues have prepared you well to negotiate with employees and customers and it is unlikely they will get the better of you as your family never did!
- Passionate women work harder
This has always been the case because if we wanted something we had to work that much harder to get it, especially when in competition with a male counterpart. You will definitely find the drive and determination to build and maintain your business, especially when you are now doing what your love! That sort of drive is an essential characteristic of any successful entrepreneur. After all, when the going gets tough, you will need the stamina to make it through, and if you’re genuinely doing what you love and are truly passionate about it, that won’t be a difficult issue for you.
- Women are not afraid of hard work
Don’t be scared off when people tell you how much time and energy it takes to start a business. Of course that is true, however, we know that anything worth doing is worth doing well! You would never leave tasks partly done, or quit your workout halfway through it or only partly prepare a meal for your family. Yes, it takes effort, time and determination to create and maintain a successful business but you will be sure to apply yourself in any way necessary as that is your style.
- You will become what you do
I heard that men’s brains are like a series of boxes, all separated and with doors on each box. Because of this setup, they are able to compartmentalize every part of their lives: so they have a work box, a home box, a family box, a car box, a sports box, a friends box, a nothing box, etc. Women’s brains are more homogeneous with many connections to both sides of the brain and so they rarely compartmentalize anything. That can be problematic in that we never get to shut it down, however, it is great when you are building a brand and representing it yourself. Rather than leaving the office and shutting off your mind completely from your company, you will live and breathe that brand and that will be obvious to customers and that will build loyalty and return business.
I hope we are getting past people thinking that women cannot do things as well as men. Nonetheless, you as a female need to embrace your strengths and realize that if you want to start a business, the only thing likely holding you back is YOU! So push aside your concerns and give it a try!
