Sponsored by Catherine Hooper:
Whether a woman decides to start a business or to work for an established company, there are ways to enhance the chances for a successful, rewarding business and career.
One of the first things to do is to identify your passion. What makes your heart beat faster and is also something that you feel strongly about? Is there a need you can think of within your community that you could fulfill by opening a business?
Ask yourself if there is something you’d like to do on a daily basis that would be rewarding and will create positive feelings and a sense of pride and accomplishment at the end of the day. People who are able to do something they’re passionate about as their life’s work are often happier. It’s also important to not let any ideas of a glass ceiling hold you back or keep you from pursuing your dream.
Brand and Reputation Building is Important
Some of the most important tasks you will undertake are those that help you build a brand and create a good business reputation. This is true whether the business is your own or not. Being dedicated to being the best and helping to build the brand enables you to go farther.
A crucial part of gaining a good reputation is good customer service. Going the extra step to help customers find what they need and providing great service will create community goodwill and enhance the company’s reputation.
Doing these things well takes a consistent and strong work ethic. There will be times you’ll need to make sacrifices and those usually come in the form of the time you’ll spend working for the business rather than with your family.
Finding Balance is Crucial
Finding a good balance between your dedication to work and your home life is incredibly important for personal life satisfaction. Sometimes it can be easy to dedicate yourself totally to your business and career and pay less attention to other areas of your life. Your desire to make a positive change in the world needs to be tempered by necessary time to relax and unwind as well as time to enjoy family and creative pursuits.
Consistency and setting limits are both very important to finding balance. By keeping a good balance, you may find that your ability to stay focused and on task and to keep yourself motivated actually improve. It can lower your stress level, and when your stress level is lowered, you might be more successful!
Tips for Business Success
Successful women in business, like Catherine Hooper and many others, have found that there are specific steps you can take to increase your business success. These steps include:
- Understand the risks and rewards of your specific business.
- Analyze the competition to learn from their successes and mistakes.
- Be organized using tools and lists of tasks to be done.
- Keep good records or hire someone to keep them so you’ll always know exactly where you stand financially.
- Stress a company culture of honesty and integrity.
- Stay adaptable and be willing to change as trends and products change.
- Find ways to encourage productivity.
Successful business women will probably tell you that it took years of hard work, determination, discipline, drive, and passion to get where they are. They will most likely also tell you that it was worth the hard work to become successful.
Great article. I completely agree with the tips you do mention in this article but I think there should be more. As a woman in business myself I definitely identify with “Finding Balance is Crucial” and I believe it is one of the hardest things to do.