Becoming an entrepreneur can be intimidating, especially if it’s the first time you’ve ever started a business before. You don’t know what you don’t know, after all, and the early stages of a business can be extremely stressful. Women might feel additional stress because of the difficulties they often face in the workplace, but entrepreneurship can be very well-suited to women’s strengths.
There are some qualities that the best, most empowered female entrepreneurs share, and if you have these qualities, you’re well on your way to success. Don’t worry if this doesn’t describe you, however, because it’s always possible to develop your skills. Here are four qualities that empowered female entrepreneurs often share.
1. They’re Constantly Learning
You don’t need a Harvard business degree, but empowered women are constantly learning, honing their craft, mastering their industry, and figuring out ways to improve their business. They love learning and make it one of their life’s missions to always be picking up new skills.
A love of learning can help you overcome any lack of knowledge you might have in your industry by helping you close those gaps, and empowered women know when they don’t know something. Instead of being defensive or giving up, they decide to expand their knowledge base and figure it out for themselves. It can mean the difference between success and failure.
2. They Take Care of Themselves
Empowered women are also aware that they need to schedule in self-care time as well as devoting time to their new business. Women can often feel like they need to devote more time to their business to build it, but this means they might neglect taking care of themselves in the meantime. This can quickly lead you to feeling exhausted, burnt out, and resentful towards your business.
Self-care is a very important part of running a new business, because it can quickly consume your life. Meeting that need from the very beginning can help provide you the freedom you’re looking for from running your own business, while at the same time keeping it from becoming everything you do.
3. They Say No
When you first start a business, it might feel like you need to say “yes” to every project, every task, every client, or every deadline. You’re trying to build a business, after all, so you need plenty of satisfied customers. The art of saying no, however, can help you build a sustainable business, and it’s something that every successful female entrepreneur has figured out for herself.
Women can often find it more difficult to say no, but that’s something you’ll have to quickly master to avoid biting off more than you can chew. You don’t need to be rude, but being deliberate and discerning in who you say yes to can mean the difference between failure and wild success.
Women know the challenges other women can face in the world of entrepreneurship, but instead of holding them down, empowered women offer a helping hand. Women don’t need to compete with each other, but instead, they should share their experiences with others and help them avoid common mistakes.
There’s usually no need to feel threatened by other female entrepreneurs, unless you’re in the same industry and are a direct competitor. Even so, there are plenty of people that are hungry for the knowledge you might possess as a successful female entrepreneur. Start handing out business cards around your local neighborhood (if you don’t have one, you can design one for free at businesscards.co), join a local entrepreneur group, or start posting about your experiences on a website like Medium; you have knowledge that others can benefit from and, as an empowered female entrepreneur, you should feel qualified to share it.