Can women be as successful in business as men?
100%, yes it is!
There are some brilliant examples of successful women in business and more coming every year. Historically, in Western society, women have struggled to break through the glass ceiling, have been expected to take the support roles and not necessarily be out front and leading… but this situation is changing, there are more women in senior positions in large companies and more female entrepreneurs and women starting up businesses than there ever have been.
Deborah Meaden is an iconic role model of a successful woman in business, with a business success streak reaching back 4 decades, Deborah has been linked to the growth and success of over 34 different businesses with only a combined investment of £2m.
“Misogyny is just a more concise way of saying business is too tough for me.” – Deborah Meaden
There’s work still to do – data collected by the BBC show Women make up 40% of the global workforce, only 23% of Executives and 29% of Senior Management Roles. Data from 2021, shows that women now make up 43% of all business owners in the world.
See how Business Coaching Services are tailored to help Women in Business.
Top 10 Tips for Women in Business:
One thing this throws up is how do we help women to be successful – and here’s our Top 10 Tips to build skills, confidence and results as a woman in business.
1.) Be The Leader You’d Want to Follow
To establish a strong sense of leadership create an open line of communication between yourself and your team; support the potential of your employees, live the principles and values of your business and ensure your team does to. Show empathy and understanding to team members when they are struggling. Demonstrate authority when making business decisions, being clear, focused and consistent will help with this.
Great leaders set clear direction – so develop your longer term and 90 day goals and the plan to achieve these and share these with your team – helping them see their role in the success and what they will gain from that.
2.) Take Control of What You Can Do, Outsource What You Can’t
Do not overwhelm yourself with responsibilities, analyse the areas of the business you can excel in and find solutions to automate or outsource others. Delegating tasks to team members or outsourcing to external agencies enables you to focus on the tasks you need to do and ideally the ones you enjoy most.
Growing your business the right way will enable you to spend more time on the areas you enjoy and love, ensuring you retain (or regain) your enthusiasm.
‘Work on the business, not in the business’ – Jenny Morgan
3.) Be Passionate About Your Ideas
Be passionate about the ideas you have created and make choices on the risks you want to take and the challenges you need to overcome to get the growth you are looking for. Review your goals and longer term plans to ensure you balance risk and reward and have thought through the actions required and then get started.
4.) Know Your Niche
It is easier to grow and develop your business when you know more about it. So take time to explore the marketplace, look at business trends, competitor analysis, business mentorship and customer reviews.
Overall spending your time more strategically, setting aside time to develop and learn new skills will help you to grow and develop and therefore maintain steadily increasing sales and profits and delivering customer delight.
Pick apart your business, and consider niching down by ensuring you use your market research to develop products/services that really caters to the needs of your customers.
5.) Surround Yourself with Great People – Mentors, Coaches, Your Team Members
Find the help you need to grow into a businesswoman you can be proud of. Mentors can help you maximise your business performance, help you improve your problem-solving abilities and help grow your confidence as a businesswoman. We promote healthy competition and negate the concept of pitting women against each other. We believe in creating a respectful competitive market so businesswomen can grow and strive for success in their respective markets.
6.) Take Risks and Learn
Take every chance you can to learn and explore as you grow your skills and your business. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t succeed the first time, review and analyse what didn’t work and decide how to move forwards; we call this process Testing and Measuring and based on the results you see you will decide on your next action.
As you learn you will find your natural strengths, the areas you want to develop and those weaker areas that you may want to outsource or employ someone else to do. The key message here is to invest in your learning so you can reap the rewards of your hard work.
7.) Gather Feedback
Proactively gather feedback – on your business, your products/services and on your own skills – this will help you build a picture of the successes (you can draw confidence from these) and of the areas you may need to work on (which you can then build the plans and actions to resolve).
Building your understanding through discussions, questionnaires, focus groups, forms, reviews, ratings and feedback both online and in person will give you a sound set of data to work from in analysing your (and the businesses) strengths and challenges.
Once you have that the trick is to decide on which areas are the priorities to build on or to resolve and then from there to put together your Action Plan.
8.) Stopping Imposter Syndrome
Your business is your business, so comparing it to another is unlikely to be helpful. The key to success here is not comparing yourself or your business to others but in being honest with yourself about where you and your business are and where you want to be. Use the ideas from ‘Tip 7’ to gather feedback and then work up and Action Plan to leverage your strengths and overcome issues.
Set your goals and targets and build your plan to achieve these. Once you start taking action on your plan you will start to grow and develop and build confidence. Remember, all large businesses were small at the beginning. Working together with other people, benefiting from experience of your peers and constantly learning from your work environment and team will help you. Remember to review your successes, not just the things that haven’t worked. Our successes are the place we can draw confidence from.
9.) Don’t let Stereotypes Hold You Back
“whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
Mindeset is so important in succeeding, especially as a woman in business. Stereotypes can be unhelpful, they create or re-enforce beliefs that we may have and if these are negative e.g. “women can’t run a business” then that thought process will always get in your way when you are running your business – you will constantly be waiting for things to go wrong.
Instead we need to reprogramme our brains to focus on positive role models and building positive beliefs e.g. “I am a great business owner, running a wonderful business” which is much more empowering and confidence building – now you will be subconsciously looking for opportunities to succeed instead of fail.
If this is an area that you struggle with here are two great exercises to do:
1.) Find your role model(s) – doesn’t matter if they are famous or someone you know. Find someone who is doing what you want to do and identify the skills and traits they are using that you want to use.
2.) Write a list of 10 positive affirmations that will help you believe the things you need to believe to be successful. These will be sentences starting with I am….. e.g. I am strong, confident and successful. Find at least 2 times every day when you can repeat these to yourself with meaning. This will help you to reprogram the voice at the back of your head to be positive and helpful.
10.) Build Your Network
Improve your professional appearance by networking and cooperating with other companies, freelancers, business partners, business owners, or professionals from your industry.
If you are unsure how to build your network, you can attend networking events, join networking groups, and build a personal brand on LinkedIn. Use your contacts to build your clientele and customer base through discussions, meetings and webinars with new members of your business circle. This can help you upsell your business expertise and to come across as a serious businesswoman.
Conclusion:
To conclude, to be the best businesswoman you can be, you need self-belief and motivation!
Knowing you are capable of anything you put your mind to is the most powerful mindset that can lead to huge breakthroughs and can help combat the negative stereotypes and biases women in business must overcome.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a woman running a small business or a thriving female entrepreneur, these 10 clear tips will help enhance your business performance and help you work with a better balance and vision for your business.
Here is a podcast where Jenni Morgan talks about Women in Business:
