4 Tips for Women Entrepreneurs

Even though plenty of women run small businesses, when you say the word entrepreneur, many people still think of a man first. Women entrepreneurs can look to organizations that offer grants, mentoring and other assistance as well as joining professional organizations to raise their profiles. The tips below can also help.

Women are often encouraged to put themselves last and to consider the needs of their employer, their family, their friends and nearly everyone else besides themselves. Success as an entrepreneur means sometimes pushing back against this tendency. Of course, this is not always possible, but becoming more ruthless about prioritizing professional development is an important step for women who want to be successful entrepreneurs. By saying no, you can remove limitations placed on you that prevent you from learning how to dream big, an essential skill for women who want to drive their careers forward. 

When you're getting a business up and running, it can be tempting to try to do everything yourself. You might feel like this will save you money or that you need to know how to do every task involved in running a company, but neither of these is really practical or realistic. This is why people work with an attorney to assist them with legal issues, an accountant or bookkeeper to help with finances and IT experts to manage computer issues. 

All of these can be hired on a contractor basis, which relieves you from having to be an employer. You might also want to hire professionals to help you with your web presence. For example, you could contract with someone to manage your social media. An SEO consultant can help ensure that your site is optimized to get the kind of traffic you are looking for. You can review a guide that explains more about this position.

Learning how to pitch your company to investors and others is an important skill to develop even if you don't need any cash right now. In fact, although it might sound counterintuitive, the right time to seek cash is actually well before you do need it. The reason is that you are needy and thus more vulnerable when you reach the point that fundraising is necessary. If you are like many business owners, you didn't start your company so that you could spend time selling yourself, but unlike some of the tasks listed above, this is one that you must learn to do yourself.

Broadly speaking, many women are good at building relationships. This is an essential element of successful entrepreneurship. You can and should network both online and offline, and there are a number of different ways to go about this. Online, follow some of the major players in your field, and interact with them if they tend to be open to it. There may also be groups for women entrepreneurs or for women who work in your industry. You should also keep an eye out for online seminars. These same types of organizations and meetings exist offline as well. You can start locally, finding out what resources are available where you live, and expand outwards from there. If you went to college, look into connecting with alumni groups.