As an entrepreneur, your life and business can be deeply and constructively connected.
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May
6, 2021
4 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The pandemic has caused a global reset. People being forced to find new jobs or pivot their current business are reevaluating their values and how they want to live.
As an entrepreneur, your life and business are deeply connected. Which doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You can set your own hours, be empowered with a sense of personal responsibility and potentially earn a better salary than working for someone else from 9 to 5. Perhaps that’s why there has been a massive spike in new-company registrations globally, per a study by U.S. Census Bureau. The same study reflects that 30% more startups were founded in December 2020 compared to the same period a year before.
According to Female Founder Space, women in particular start their own businesses to make more money, gain independence and inspire other women. (Not to mention that versatility is helpful when women have disproportionately bore the brunt of balancing work and home life amid the pandemic.) Women becoming their own bosses may be the surest path to freedom from the salary ceiling and gender gap.
Like other female entrepreneurs, one of my driving factors is to inspire more women to start their own business and take the leap into entrepreneurship. More importantly, I want to teach them how to do so. Here are five of the earliest and most crucial steps.
Related: Bethenny Frankel’s Success Starts With Time Management
1. Get inspired
There’s nothing more inspiring than looking at the people who’ve come before you. You are not alone; there are others who’ve been in situations like yours who turned it all around. Look for people whose journey resonates with you. Even a quick Google search can help you discover the stories of others who’ve been where you are.
2. Find motivation
Inspiration can’t stand on its own. You’ve got to become motivated to do something about your current situation. Dreams and desires are great motivators.
Start writing a list of things you want for yourself; make it long and don’t say no to yourself. Keep writing. Make the list as long as possible without holding back on the things you want. This is not the time for you to think logically, be pessimistic or overly pragmatic.
3. Learn from the trailblazers
When you are ready to take action and pivot, you want to start learning from those who blazed the trail for you. Examine what they did to pivot so you can learn and take similar actions. In most cases, you’ll find that your trailblazers are sharing free guidance online, as well as email newsletters and free challenges and trainings. You’ll eventually discover that being an entrepreneur doesn’t only require strategy, but mindset work.
4. Take action!
The key success factor might sound obvious, but it’s where most people lack and therefore don’t pivot successfully. It’s all about taking action; learning is not enough.
Don’t postpone the action until you know more or your website or logo is perfect. Take action on the things that will actually help you pivot. Don’t spend months nailing your niche. The quicker you take action, the quicker you’ll learn from those actions and be able to tweak and get better.
Related: We Need to Fight Unfair Conditions for Women in Tech
5. Don’t give up!
Expect mistakes. That’s when we learn and get up again. The most successful people fail way more times than unsuccessful people ever dared to try. It’s not about being perfect and never failing; it’s about being in a state of always learning and becoming better.
Every time something isn’t working for you, ask yourself this question: “What actions can I take to make this work?” Remember you are the only one in charge, the only one you can control and the person who’ll be responsible for your success in your business. The quicker you take responsibility for making things work for you, the more rapidly you’ll succeed.
Now it’s your turn. Become inspired, do your motivation list, learn from other women, take action and keep going!