A study last year by the
department for business revealed that – finally – more women are taking the
plunge and launching their own businesses.
The number is still pretty low
– just nineteen per cent of SMEs are female-led, according to the study, but,
more encouragingly, a quarter
of new businesses – two to three years old – were formed by women.
I was fortunate enough to
speak at an all-female business event held by the New Entrepreneurs Foundation
last week to drive more women to apply for its new programme, which got me
really thinking about how we can encourage more women to choose the enterprise
path, like I did.
Something Anne Marie Morris
MP mentioned in her speech really brought it home – women-led businesses
contribute £70 billion to the UK economy. That is surely too significant a
figure to ignore?!
So, here’s my advice to
make sure women get in the game and level the playing field:
1. Stop thinking of ‘female’ as a disadvantage.
You’re a woman... so what?!
I once heard a young female
entrepreneur ask, “I’m pitching to investors and worried that they’ll look
at me and think, ‘What if she gets engaged and has babies?’”
2. Choose your girlfriends carefully.
The importance of carefully
choosing a guy who will emotionally support both you and your career is obvious.
What’s equally crucial is befriending women who reflect what you wish to
become.
3. Know your heroes.
To make your ideal scenario
happen, you need to know what it looks like. I really look up to Katie Couric,
Sheryl Sandberg, and Brene Brown – namely, the way that they’ve had careers and
families without making it an ‘issue’ – they’ve just gotten on with it. Mindy
Kaling and Connie Britton also inspire me to value the freedom and beauty of
being single.
4. Focus on what you can control.
You’re going to come up
against people who want you to feel like you don’t deserve something because
you’re a woman. Let these people make you, not break you – those who try to
bring you down often act that way because they feel like you are above them.
5. Don't judge other women.
Some women choose to focus
on career. Some women choose to focus on family. Some women choose both. I
don’t feel like it’s my right to comment on any other woman’s choices because I
know that there’s always more to her story than what I can see.
6. Really get to know yourself.
Women are often so focused
on those around them instead of putting themselves first. Whether it’s through
journaling, yoga, therapy, or a retreat – take time out to be with the only
person you’re ever going to really know. Getting to know your own mind can keep
you grounded when things are rocky.
7. Nurture your male friendships
Male-female friendships
don’t have to be weird unless somebody makes it weird. I have a lot of male
friends and I value those friendships just as much as I value my female ones.
8. Ignore your mother’s nagging when it comes to your love life
My mother used to be on my
back about the ‘lack of effort’ that I apparently put into my love life until I
told her what I’ve always believed: it happens when it happens. As you get
older and get to know more guys, you learn that truly loving relationships are
places where you go to give, not places where you go to take. It can take time
to find (and to become ready) for that. Focus on building your business and
follow your own timeline, not one projected by magazines and popular culture.
9. Celebrate being a woman
The worlds of femininity
and masculinity are colliding and I feel like millennial females are caught in
this collective identity crisis. On the one hand, it’s exciting to be a woman
in an era where we can vote, become CEO, or run for President.
10. Always have faith in yourself
I’ve met a lot of female
entrepreneurs who have faith in their abilities but don’t have faith their
worthiness of love, affection, true friendship. When it comes to finding
investors or customers, or a boyfriend or a life partner, or great girlfriends…
it starts with being able to accept yourself wholeheartedly.
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