How to Succeed When Running a Women-First Business

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How to Succeed When Running a Women-First Business. Every business faces challenges as they continue to grow. However, for women-first businesses, there are often numerous obstacles that not every organisation might go through.

The reality is that while the ratio of men and women-led organisations is slowly starting to see some better alignment, men still face considerably fewer obstacles than women in many respects.

For example, it has been shown that when it comes to securing funding, businesses owned and operated by men often receive better funding and receive higher valuations than women. In other areas, like promotions or when taking on leadership roles, women often have a much harder time proving their eligibility for these new positions.

While this reality can be disheartening for many aspiring female entrepreneurs, there are several strategies you can follow to help your women-first business succeed in spite of these setbacks.

Overcoming Funding Obstacles

When a company is in its infancy stage, being able to successfully secure adequate funding can make or break a business. Unfortunately, though, it’s much harder for women-first businesses to gather the funding they need when compared to their male counterparts.

But rather than allowing this statistic to negatively impact your willingness to stay motivated when finding the funding your business needs, there are some effective ways you can get past this issue.

â—Ź      Reach out to Female Investors – Today, there are a variety of venture capital companies designed specifically to empower women-first organizations. Pitching to other female investors is a great way to get your ideas heard without needing to feel like you need to overly prove yourself.

â—Ź      Think About Crowdfunding—Many crowdfunding platforms, like Kickstarter, can help you appeal to a wider community of small investors and get the viral attention your brand deserves.

â—Ź      Look For Government Funding Opportunities – There are various state and federal government programs in place to help female business owners get the capital they need to launch their startups. Research applicable options for your business and take advantage of them.

Battling Unconscious Bias

It’s the reality of the world we live in that women will often experience a certain amount of unconscious (or conscious) bias concerning their abilities. This might come from potential clients assuming they are less experienced regarding certain technical topics or could even originate from internal stakeholders.

Regardless of these ungrounded assumptions, women shouldn’t let them affect how they continue in their business development efforts. To do this effectively, it’s important that women regularly acknowledge the importance of their self-worth.

When confronted with a lack of confidence in your abilities, don’t hesitate to back yourself by highlighting measurable results that speak to the contrary. This could include highlighting past successes you’ve had or showcasing key business metrics that you’ve directly helped to improve.

Prioritising Self-Care and Emotional Well-Being

It can be very difficult to know how to properly balance both your personal and career goals while keeping your anxiety at bay. This can be especially difficult for female leaders who are often charged with helping to take care of their families while also being responsible for helping the company grow.

Suffering from burnout shouldn’t be the answer to this issue – there needs to be balance. When necessary, anxiety therapy professionals can play an important supportive role in helping you prioritise time for self-care while progressively setting clear boundaries in your work life.

Learning how to say “no” to taking on too much doesn’t come easy to some people, especially female leaders who feel like they’re constantly under the spotlight to perform. However, by recognising the importance of your mental health and prioritising it, you’ll be in a much better place to sustain your efforts and make the quality of your output much higher.

Not Being Afraid to Ask for Help

It can be difficult to ask when you need additional support in a female leadership role. There are so many preconceived notions when it comes to saying, “I need help.” For many people, this statement is almost automatically associated with a sign of weakness, and most women feel like they’ll be automatically judged if they don’t try to handle everything on their own.

However, this attitude can lead to an incredible amount of stress, which is both damaging to your mental health and your long-term career goals. Women adapting to work life after having a child will often experience this feeling as they reintegrate themselves into the working culture. For those suffering from depression or going through postpartum therapy, this added stress of not leaning on others for support can be long-lasting and deeply impactful.

You should never feel like you are not eligible to ask for help when you need it – whether it is getting additional resources to help your business grow or getting help to rebuild your emotional resiliency.

Building Supportive Relationships

When we feel supported at home, this can quickly translate to how we feel in the workplace. This is why it’s so important to establish healthy and trusting relationships that you can count on.

On the flip side of this, any additional emotional stress you’re experiencing in your own relationships can cause a ripple effect when trying to create sustainable working relationships with employees, clients, or outside partners.

There are a variety of avenues you can explore at home or at work to help you ensure your relationships stay grounded and that you’re communicating effectively. Couples therapy, mentorship programs, or interpersonal relationship courses are all effective ways to help you ensure you’re able to establish healthier relationships with those around you.

When you take the time to really value and prioritise your relationships in life, it will only help you to be more trustworthy when running a business.

Make Your Business Goals More Achievable

Running a women-first business successfully doesn’t have to seem like an uphill battle. By following these strategies, you’ll be able to improve the likelihood of your business succeeding while making sure your personal and professional goals remain achievable.