Entrepreneurs start as small fish in a big pond. Studying about famous women entrepreneurs gives you new insight into overcoming obstacles in everyday life. Women face many problems like abusive Parents, Absentee Partner, Struggles for Identity, Just to name a few.
Studying stories of famous Women Entrepreneurs helps us to overcome such Obstacles, if you wish to become successful too, you will take heed in their lessons and apply them in your life as well. Self-employed women are able to spend more time with their children and families, compared to their wage-and-salary earning counterparts, according to a study released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The study finds that self-employed women spend about 3.5 more hours per week in household activities than wage-and-salary earning women do, and six more hours than men do.If you're planning to start a business .Here are some important things to consider regarding proposed business concepts
Is your concept unique? Do you have barriers to entry? What's my niche?
How do I distinguish myself in the field? What's the innovation here?
Entrepreneurs should explore their proposed business concepts carefully. People want Innovation; they are looking for a distinction, something new, and something cutting edge. Consider whether someone can easily copy your idea. What if someone comes along with more marketing resources and takes your work and makes it larger? Make sure you've trademarked it and registered it. What can you do to make yours special that somebody else can't do?"
Here are the issues to be considered before taking the plunge into an entrepreneurial venture:
Market demand: Determine who your customers are. Are they reachable? Are they receptive? How many are there?
Market size and structure: Is the industry fragmented or emerging? Who are your competitors and what is your sustainable competitive advantage? Money: How much will it cost to produce the product or service? Can you charge enough to make a profit?
Do you have the cash flow needed to sustain your business through the launch?
Choose an emerging market.
You want to be in a place that is growing. You want to be in a place where it has potential to have a long-term viability. You need a good network. Your network should include your personal confidential network, like a good lawyer, accountant and marketer, along with friends and people who'll give you a discounted rate until you grow your business. Also people who're talking about and promoting your product and thus spreading the word about your company. We need to create network for success in business like getting involved in organizations that include your target customers. For example if you're selling dolls, it is recommended to get connected with children's organizations.
A women Entrepreneur must take care of herself first, so that the entrepreneur tries to get refreshed and generate energy for self first. Avoid draining yourself, and make sure you take care of yourself before taking care of everything else. You have to have passion. You have to get up early, work late. It takes a lot of passion, a lot of energy; it takes a lot of yourself. Have good credit. In this downturn, people aren't managing their credit. You need to call creditors and rework your payment schedule or ask them to work with you on the interest rate. Good credit is also fundamental to getting loans. Know how to price your product. Know what your margins are. Know what to set aside for research and development. Pay your bills on time. Master it before you delegate it to somebody else.
You've got a great idea for a business. But before you manufacture that product or set up your ingenious new service, you need to do your homework. Try to identify Market Demand: This involves understanding the customer. Who is your target customer? What value do you provide that will make the customer buy your particular product or service? Always Remember "Just because you think it's a good idea--that you might pay for it--doesn't mean that everyone else will. You've got to quantify the number of people in your particular market.
To find that data, don't ask your friends, you won't get an honest response. Instead, get creative. Depending on your product, you might approach people at the mall or at the gym .You also could create an online survey and send it to whatever group you think would give you a valid response. But remember one thing we can trust a survey to a certain extent. "People will say, 'Yeah, I'll buy it.' during survey, But when it's time for them to have a choice between your product and something else, they may think of a different opinion. Be really clear that this is something people are willing to buy, so always ensure that it has to be something they need and can't get from other places, and it has to be sustainable over time. Once you define your market and how your product or service fits that market, you'll be ready to tackle the market.
Identify Market size and structure
Try to understand if it is a emerging industry or a declining industry? Is it a fragmented or a concentrated industry? You have a higher probability of success if you're in a fragmented industry because more players means more opportunities to differentiate your business.
Here are the questions you need to answer:
Don't think your product is so new or unique that you won't have any competitors, you always have competition. And you need to find out who your competition is, even in a local market. Who are your competitors? What are they offering their customers?
To what degree can you provide something different that's going to allow you to capture market share from this industry? What's your sustainable competitive advantage against all others?
You have to differentiate your product by adding some sustainable competitive advantage, so customers will switch from where they're getting their product now.
How much is it going to cost me to produce this product or service, and can I charge enough so that I can make money? "At the end of the day, your revenue minus your cost of goods should be around 30 to 40 percent or more," You want to have at least a decent gross margin because you need to be able to fund your operating expenses out of it."
It takes longer than you think, it's a lot harder than you think, it costs more than you think, and people might want to pay less than you think. All those things are going to impact your bottom line. The reality is that it's likely to take months before you generate any revenue. A lot of entrepreneurs will underestimate how long it will take to start their business and actually generate a dime of revenue. So it is always recommended, if you cannot support yourself for at least one year -- if you don’t have that in the bank--then you are putting yourself at risk."
Especially in today's volatile economy, give yourself the opportunity to be flexible, because market forces change. You have to have enough stamina from a cash-flow perspective to be able to ride those waves, be flexible, execute intelligently in the moment, and try to seize and shape the opportunity. Even if you can sell the product on Day One, it takes time to produce and ship it, and then wait for payment. "They might pay in 60 or 90 days. Even when you're selling a product and generating revenue, do you have enough cash flow to be able to collect the receivables and be able to sustain your operation?" ask these questions in mind.
Research confirms that women have a more difficult time getting access to capital and contracts. Networking becomes increasingly more important. Having relationships with the decision makers in every single account and developing those ahead of time becomes important. You've got to call that person, you've got to meet that person--they need to be able to connect with you in a way that's not the traditional way of doing it. Women have to leverage a different approach to business because there are obstacles.
Try to maintain all the above points to be a successful entrepreneur
