We may be living in the 21st century, but most women still do the lion’s share of household chores and childcare duties. This makes starting a business problematic for many reasons. For many women, a lack of motivation is not the problem; it is finding the time to fit everything in. After all, by the time you have done the school run, cooked, cleaned, and done the grocery shopping and laundry, there are not that many hours in the day left. So is it even possible to start a business and make it work?
Great Reasons to Start a New Business
There are many reasons to go it alone and start a business, so it is important to think about what’s right for you. Many women have children, so working from home is an attractive option. You can choose your own hours and fit your work life around home schedules. This is attractive for women with families, as a regular 9-5 job is usually very difficult to work around.
Do You Have What It Takes?
Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. It is never easy going it alone and you need a huge amount of resourcefulness and drive, but we all have different skills and your skills might be a good fit for the business you are interested in.
A lot of planning needs to be done when starting a new business and you need to make sure you have the resilience to get through everything. You’ll need to think about what service will you be providing, come up with branding, make sure you protect your business with public liability insurance that is right for you and so many more tasks just to get your business up and running.
Since you will need to deal with people, including customers, suppliers and employees (eventually), consider how good your ‘people skills’ are. Most entrepreneurs can’t afford to lock themselves up in a room. If you did this, your business would suffer, so you need to be skilled at dealing with different people, many of whom might be tricky.
Dealing with people from all walks of life requires emotional objectivity. You can’t afford to make decisions based on emotion. Make decisions based on logic and the facts on the table. This should help you avoid any major problems.
Choose the Right Business
There is no shortage of business ideas out there, but choosing the right one is not always easy. Women have a tendency to downplay their strengths and focus on their weaknesses, and a lot of this has to do with widespread gender bias which must be tackled, of course. We lose sight of the things we are good at and concentrate instead on all the things we can’t do.
Look first at your interests. Do you have a hobby that could be expanded into a money-making business? Anything you are passionate about could evolve into a business. You might even be passionate about healthy living and want to look into creating your own supplement company. There are now more products out there than ever created by private label companies (you can even get private label vegan elderberry gummies!) that are selling to the masses – so get involved! Turn your passion into a career with the help of manufacturers that can create your perfect product.
Iif you are passionate about beer, there is a huge market for craft beer right now, so it is a great time to start a microbrewery. The same applies to coffee. Take a good look around any town and city and you will see lots of artisan coffee shops full of hipsters. Open an artisan coffee shop and you could be tapping into a goldmine. You can also employ your family along the way.
Franchising Opportunities
Another potential avenue to explore is franchising. Franchises are a turnkey business opportunity. You have to invest upfront, but in return, you are buying into an established business with a great deal of support to help you get started. Some franchises require a significant investment, but many are small and cost very little to buy into.
See if there any franchise opportunities that interest you with openings in your area. If there are, explore them.
Learn a New Skill
It is never too late to learn, so why not take a course and learn a new skill. You can put this new skill to good use and start a business. For example, if you are gifted with numbers take a bookkeeping course and become a freelance bookkeeper. For some wanting to start a new business, choosing to go back to school and study an MBA is a popular option, especially with so many opportunities in the MBA organizational development area for busy, working people. Alternatively, polish up your language skills and start translating for businesses. Whatever your skills, there is a whole world of freelance work available for women who want to work from home.
The Benefits of Networking
One thing you must do plenty of when setting up a business is networking. Networking creates contacts and new business opportunities, so put yourself out there and start making new connections with other entrepreneurs. Learn from their experiences so you don’t make the same mistakes they did.
Entrepreneurs have to love what they are doing. If you don’t love your job, you will struggle to spend every waking moment growing the business. The first few years are very hard indeed and it will probably take a while before your business is making money. The important thing is not to give up. Success will come if you work hard enough.
