In FEMME project we have the goal to empower women, who are also mothers, to start their own business or service. In that sense, in this article, we give some guidelines who are useful tools to motivate and inspire in that process[1].
Believe in your idea and Believe in yourself – it takes real confidence to return to start-up a business after having children – and self-belief is absolutely vital in order to succeed. Confidence is just as important as competence – if not more so. Self-doubt is damaging and it needs to be conquered. Of course, all entrepreneurs have doubts from time to time – the danger is if those doubts spire out of control, creating unnecessary anxiety and negative self-limiting beliefs which prevent us from doing something that we really want and can do.
Find a nice Niche and just be better – most people also think that being an entrepreneur means you have to come up with an unique invention. But that’s not the case. You don’t have to pioneer something new; you just need to do something better than anyone else – something that outshines your competitors. Starting a business doesn’t mean inventing something new.
Do your homework and make a plan – Read our article n.º1 on how the entrepreneurial cycle is developed.
Learn by doing, asking and listening – Some people say entrepreneurship is not a part-time job, and it is not even a fulltime job, It is life style. Learn with peers, associations and entities that may help in the growing process.
Develop and Value your brand and tribe – Make the most of your networks, test the viability of a business first with family and friends.
Persist, trust your instincts and embrace your failures – The opposite of success isn’t failure, it is not trying. Failure rarely feels fun at the time but the lessons it teaches may not take long to become apparent and are likely to lead to a greater success in the end.
[1] Adapetd from Karmel, Annabel – “MUMPRENEUR – The complete guide to starting and running a succsseful business”, Ebury Publishing, 2015.
