How to be a successful business woman?

Great things may come from anyone, regardless of gender.

Each year, more and more women launch and lead their own businesses. The advancements made by female entrepreneurs often reach enormous heights and make male business owners scratch their heads. However, the path of women in business is not always smooth and hassle-free. It requires a set of skills and qualities for them to feel at ease:

Traits of a Successful Female Entrepreneur

They should be particularly aware of the challenges and risks that might be following them on the road towards desired business growth. Some successful female CEO’s have gladly shared some advice to help overcome the most common obstacles:

1) Female business leaders often act like men

To feel more confident in a business environment, women often prefer to choose a “male” approach towards business management – aggression and competitiveness often take a lead when it comes to the choice of a strategy. But successful CEO’s claim this is the wrong way to manage a business.

Solution:

Just be who you are and be confident in what you do without trying to “be a man”. Confidence and persistence are your major keys to success. When you feel like your ideas receive less acknowledgement than those of men, do not let it discourage you. When you run any business, make sure every decision is supported with a strategic business plan.
Experts claim that women tend to have extraordinary intuitive sense and they can focus on people in a special way. These features are extremely useful for business management and they set women apart as strong leaders.

2) Female businesses often receive less recognition and funding

As a rule, startups look for investors to help get their businesses to grow. However, capital raising is much more difficult for women-run businesses. Experts agree that investors tend to give money to those of the same gender.

Solution:

For women looking for funding opportunities, it is advisable to create a solid business plan and bring together a reliable team. It will raise confidence in your startup. Make sure your products fit the market well to look attractive enough for investors.

3) Emotions and other female qualities affect business management

We previously mentioned that acting like men is not a good option for women who run a business. At the same time, allowing your feminine qualities to take over will make your business too vulnerable. It’s in a woman’s nature to be too nurturing and emotional, which only affects business decisions. Running a business often requires tough decisions from the leader, which is why an emotional connection with other team members or customers won’t be an advantage.

Solution:

When dealing with money matters and business arrangements, female entrepreneurs need to be quick and decisive. It is also very important to be direct in expressing opinions and even criticizing.

4) A lot of women cannot find a balance between their families and businesses

Wives and mothers frequently set up their own startups and then struggle to run their companies and families at the same time, as it is very challenging to run a business while being a mother. In addition, they always live with the thought that they could manage their businesses more effectively if they didn’t have kids.

Solution:

“Momtrepreneurs” should find a way to devote time and efforts to their businesses and families and thus achieve true work-life balance. Successful female business owners learn to avoid any judgement related to either business or family. They understand that missing a school trip is not a crime.

5) Female entrepreneurs feel the fear of failure

Experts say that women are more inclined to be afraid of failure than men. It is actually one of their main concerns when they are considering launching a business and that is often preventing them from doing so.

Solution:

Failure is quite common for both startups and even established businesses. But it shouldn’t be considered as something negative. Women should learn to be ready to face a massive failure if they wish to achieve massive success. Successful female entrepreneurs recommend to keep pushing despite the discouraging inner voice. It can sometimes be very hard and you will have to struggle with yourself but this is what female CEO’s usually go through.

The number of women-owned businesses keeps rising. Technology, present-day market changes and other factors contribute significantly to female entrepreneurship. So when it comes to business, many women have managed to catch up with men and show really good results. Hopefully, you will take the above mentioned tips into consideration to overcome your fears, concerns and obstacles.

Just believe in what you are doing and always remember that it’s absolutely possible for you to achieve great things. At the same time, be ready to take risks, even if they go with tough decisions.

Having questions or concerns regarding your future or existing enterprise? Join us in the comments to start a discussion and learn more.

About the author:

Beata GreenBeata Green is Director of HeadChannel Ltd.

London based bespoke software development company. She is responsible for overall strategic direction and overseeing the company’s continuing growth, building closer client relationships and maintaining best working practices. She enjoys brisk country walks with her red fox labrador and then relaxing in front of a TV crime drama with a glass of red wine.

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1 Response
  1. Great article but I completely disagree re. “allowing your feminine qualities to take over will make your business too vulnerable”, “it’s in a woman’s nature to be too nurturing and emotional”, and “an emotional connection with other team members or customers won’t be an advantage.”

    For decades now, studies have shown that emotionally intelligent leaders consistently outperform those who lack inter- and intra-emotional management skills. And male business leaders with high levels of EQ are in huge demand because they channel their emotional capital on a daily basis. They have empathy and great relationship skills; they build rapport and deep connection quickly and on an emotional level; amd their people are consequently loyal and hard-working. The first rule of business is to “win friends and influence people. People buy people. And people connect on an emotional level. Fact. Neuroscience has now proven that the emotional brain (the limbic system) drives the rational brain. So excluding emotions from our day-to-day business relationships is not an option. It’s how our brains are wired.

    There is no such thing as being “too” caring of others or “too” emotional. It’s about deploying care and emotions in a positive and constructive way in business. Of course, in business sometimes we have to act ‘tough’: self-reliance and resilience are also competencies of an emotionally intelligent leader. But so is empathy; empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and to make that person feel heard, understood. An empathic leader has other people’s backs. Because they care and because they can articulate it, and practically apply this to motivate others to perform to the best of their ability. Empathy is sadly lacking in many business environments today, and yet it is the cornerstone of human connection. And not caring enough for those around us in business creates toxic and unhealthy work environments. In this sense, suggesting that applying too much care is a bad thing is, in my opinion, dangerous and irresponsible.

    Women naturally have higher levels of many EQ competencies e.g. self-awareness, empathy (which is often present when serotonin and oxytocin levels are high – again, it’s a neuroscience and gender argument), relationship skills, self-control and adaptability. As business leaders we must play to our strengths, to help our businesses gain a competitive edge, and EQ is often a clear skill set of strengths that women leaders can deploy to gain competitive advantage.

    Can I suggest further reading up on emotional intelligence and neuroleadership: Salovey & Mayer, Bar-On, Goleman, Martyn Newman, David Rock?But I hope this is useful as a starting point for exploring EQ in leadership.