What does it take to be a truly successful female entrepreneur?
Really, it just takes the same level of determination, range of skills (or the willingness to acquire them) and level of single-mindedness possessed by all successful business people, whether male or female. All entrepreneurs begin with a dream, but what sets the successful ones above the rest is their ability to keep focused on that dream and turn that dream into a set of goals. It goes without saying that the would-be entrepreneur should be ambitious and never stop setting farther-reaching goals. However, this ambition needs to be tempered with reason, and enthusiasm checked with logic; in other words, restraint is as important an asset as raw ambition. There will be times when it is prudent to say no, or to step back, start again and even possibly to wipe the slate clean.
The entrepreneur must steel herself against the word no and refuse to accept it for an answer. This may sound rather trite, but it is not always possible to surround ourselves with upbeat, positive, successful people and we will hear from more than our fair share of naysayers and from those who like to accept the status quo rather than consider the benefits of an alternative.
The entrepreneur will make mistakes"plenty of them"but always learns from them and understands that they are a vital part of doing business. Take a step at a time and celebrate your victories, but always be focused on a goal. Formal goal setting is still overlooked by many aspiring entrepreneurs. Make no mistake about it: if you have no tangible and achievable, real goals, subconsciously you will not make that extra effort.
We need your help!
The female entrepreneur faces all the challenges, potential setbacks, and heartbreak that her male counterpart does, but often the female must endure additional challenges in our traditionally male-dominated business world. As we know, the vast majority of high-level and ranking business executives are male, yet there is no reason why this should be the case. When we see female entrepreneurs breaking through and making a considerable difference in our society, this is cause for extra celebration! Young Entrepreneur is staging a casting call. If you are or know of someone who is a successful female entrepreneur, please contact us at youngentrepreneur.com/contact and give us a paragraph or two describing your (or her) success, along with full name and company name, a relevant article and a link to the Web site & Twitter account. You can also leave comments for us here on this post!
We will get back to you with our list of the Top 50 Women Entrepreneurs of the Year. Watch this space.
Adam Toren
