The list of Forbes richest successful entrepreneurs
and drop out billionaires is dominated by men;
but there are women who refused to die without leaving their prints in the
sands of time. I am talking about women who took the bull by its horn and
refused to accept anything below average from life.
I have been studying the profiles
and biographies of famous entrepreneurs but I have learned the most from the
women entrepreneurs. I am talking about female entrepreneurs that started
businesses from scratch and built multi billion dollar empires. I am
talking about business women such as Oprah Winfrey; the richest black
woman in the world, Anita Roddick, Rachael Ray, Coco Chanel, Mary Kay Ash,
Jenny Craig, Martha Stewart, Lilian Vernon, Debbi Fields and Estee Lauder.
Now how did these women become
famous entrepreneurs? What traits or characters do they possess that the average
female entrepreneurs lack? What’s the secret to their business success? What
traits helped Oprah Winfrey, Anita Roddick and Martha Stewart become
billionaires? Well, read on.
In this article, I will be
highlighting the 10 characteristics of the world’s most successful business
women; women who started businesses from scratch. Are you a female
entrepreneur? Do you want to start a business from scratch and grow it big?
Then read on as I list the traits needed to become a successful business woman.
10 Characteristics of Successful Business Women (Entrepreneurs)
1. Self Belief
The first and probably the most
important characteristic possessed by successful women entrepreneurs is self
belief. Read the written journals or listen to the speeches of these successful
business women and you will observe that they had a firm belief that they were
destined to be great.
They believed in themselves; what
others said about them didn’t matter. They never looked for problem solvers;
they believed they were the problem solvers and that belief worked for them.
2. Faith
Faith is moving ahead, even in the
face of uncertainty. Did these successful business women have faith? My
answer is yes. No one can build a successful business without faith because
business is a game where you thrive on uncertainty. When starting a business;
success is never guaranteed, compared to climbing the corporate ladder. If you
lack faith, you won’t have the drive to press on even when there’s no sign of
progress.
3. They are passionate
If there’s one thing that propels
successful business women forward; it is passion. Successful women
entrepreneurs are passionate about what they do and that’s why they built a
business around what they love to do best.
Debbi Fields built a business out
of her passion for baking cookies; Rachael Ray built a business around her
passion for cooking and Oprah Winfrey became the richest black woman with her
passion for public speaking. So if you have a passion; believe in it, strive to
be the best in it and you will emerge a success.
4. They are humble and willing to learn
Entrepreneurship is a life long
process and successful business women know this. Things change so fast in the business world; you
could be an innovation today and become obsolete tomorrow. To stay on
course and adapt swiftly to the ever changing trend, successful women
entrepreneurs keep studying and learning.
They read industrial journals,
books and magazines. They attend seminars and update themselves regularly with
the latest industrial trend. Successful female entrepreneurs know that their
cup is never full; they know that they don't have the right answers to all
questions. So they humble themselves and learn when availed the opportunity.
5. Ability to handle criticism
"Dare to risk public
Criticism" – Mary Kay Ash
Show me a business woman who
hasn’t been criticized and I will show you an average woman. Successful women
entrepreneurs were able to achieve success because they refused to be bugged down
by negative comments. From Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray to Martha Stewart;
they have all been criticized heavily. If you are an individual that listens to
other people’s opinion before taking action; then your success will be limited.
6. Persistence
“Perseverance
is my motto.” – Madame C.J. Walker
Another trait possessed by
successful women entrepreneurs is persistence. Starting a business is one
thing; but sticking to the entrepreneurial process is
another. Nothing good comes easy; you must give a good fight and persist on
what you want; if you are to really achieve success in the business world.
Without persistence, I don’t think you can become a successful business woman.
7. Dream
“The only thing I had
was this recipe, and with that recipe was a dream. And those were the only
things that I had to build my business: a recipe and a dream. And there was no
way I wasn’t going to see this dream through. And, so, my journey began. I made
the decision, and I was going to see it through.” – Debbi Fields
If there’s anything that kept the
successful women entrepreneurs going; it was their dream to build a successful
business and achieve beyond mediocrity. Successful business women envisioned a
lifestyle; they envisioned a future for themselves and they went for it.
8. They went beyond their comfort zone
Is Oprah the only female talk show
host? The answer is no. Then why did she emerge the richest black woman in
the world? The reason was because she went an extra mile than others. You
can never become a successful entrepreneur by
sitting within your comfort zone; you have to step out into the unknown and
that’s what the successful business women did. They left the comfort of their
home and security of their jobs to face life squarely. They paid the price for
success.
9. They balanced their acts
“When
my company started really growing, I didn’t have any help in my house at all. I
had the upkeep of my daily life, I had a one year old and a three year old, and
I had my house. So I had to prioritize.” – Julie Aigner Clark
One of the key characteristics of
successful women entrepreneurs is the ability to balance their acts between family
and business responsibilities. It’s really quite a challenge building a
business alongside raising a family; and to succeed, these women
entrepreneurs had to overcome this challenge. How did they overcome this
challenge? How did they balance their acts? They did it by mastering the art
of delegation and time management.
“How did you balance growing
the business with raising a family? You just do. I had a business, a lot of
orders, and a baby howling for supper. You balance it. You give your baby
supper first and then get your orders in. I have worked on more holidays… but
what are you going to do?" – Lilian Vernon
10. Strong sense of purpose
“To courageously
ensure that our business is ecologically sustainable, meeting the needs of the
present without compromising the future.” – Anita Roddick
"We must have a theme,
a goal, a purpose in our lives. If you don't know where you are aiming, you
don't have a goal. My goal is to live my life in such a way that when I die,
someone can say, 'she cared." – Mary Kay Ash
The last characteristic possessed
by successful women entrepreneurs is “a strong sense of purpose.” Critic
the life of entrepreneurs such as Coco Chanel, Mary Kay Ash and Oprah
Winfrey; you will observe that they live as if serving a higher purpose.
And this sense of purpose reflected in their business mission. This is why
their businesses and brands will stand the test of time even after their
demise.
“I
was a woman with a mission. I would stop people, even buses I would stop and
say, ‘Here, you’ve got to taste these cookies. Just try them.” – Debbi Fields
In conclusion, these are the
ten characteristics that make up successful business women. If you aspire
to become a successful business woman; then strive to develop these
traits and I will see you at the top.
1 comments:
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