Starting a business is hard, and even more so as a female founder, but the rewards can be worth it. During the startup journey it’s essential you lay the foundations for growth and be prepared for when you encounter challenges.
Here are my top tips for startup success as a female founder.
Develop CEO habits from day one…
The success or failure of your business rests squarely on your shoulders in the early stages.
Thinking, acting and running your business like a CEO paves the way for you to become a disciplined founder, ensuring your startup is capable of sustainable and profitable growth.
And unless you develop these skills and learn to “manage” the business it will not survive no matter how amazing your idea.
Only do the things that are going to move the needle in your business. Don’t get distracted by busy work or worry about creating processes and an automated backend yet; this will come with time.
Manage your calendar, this is the key to effective time management! Be strategic with your time. Have meetings all on one day for example, and dedicate specific hours to working on your business.
Say no and say it often. When you’re fiercely protective of your time you can maintain a consistent schedule.
Plan your exit strategy
I know you’ve only just started, so why the need to think about the end right? Beginning with the end in mind, plays a part in determining the strategic direction of your business.
An exit strategy isn’t just selling your business and retiring. There are multiple reasons for exit including succession, family circumstance and the failure of the business. By planning for these you will limit the loss.
Ask yourself, ultimately what do you want from your business?
Identify Your Strengths as a Founder
Your strengths hold the key to your success. When you know your strengths, you’re able to foster them, identify areas of growth and when it comes time to hire , you need to find the right people to fill your weaknesses.
There are two types of skills: soft and hard.
Soft Skills
Usually as a new female founder, you may possess a lot more soft skills than hard skills. Soft skills are hard to systemise and automate. These include:
communication
leadership
personal skills
creativity
professional skills
Hard Skills
Hard skills are around a specific knowledge or ability and include:
technical skills
analytical
marketing
management
certifications
A good exercise is tothink about what activities you engage in, get you excited or you get lost doing, because you excel in them.
Validate, validate, validate
Your time and energy should be spent on validating your business idea, product, programs and services. If you’re starting a business, it’s important to make sure that people actually want and will pay for what you’re offering.
Get out and talk to people, this is the only way to validate your product, program or service and determine if people will actually pay for it.
Get your finances under control
One of the main reasons that startups fail is poor financial management. If you don’t understand how to balance cost and profit, your startup will likely struggle. Creating a cash flow forecast is a key way to prevent this issue.
Ignorance is not an excuse when it comes to finances. Make sure you have enough capital to sustain your startup, but be careful with spending. In the early stages, most startups are loss-making. So, you need to have a plan to get through these lean years.
The longer you go without money, the greater the chance your business will fail.
Find support and community…
A supportive network is crucial for making the right decisions, especially when you’re starting out. It can be a really isolating experience. Find a strong support system of other female founders that know what you’re going through. Don’t struggle alone.
There are a lot of Facebook groups out there dishing out terrible advice, so be careful who you take guidance from.
And when you do find that community and support, don’t be afraid to ask for what you need.
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The startup stage is tricky. Fail fast and get through this stage as quickly as you can.
