Embarking on an Entrepreneurial Journey: Unveiling the Crucial Lessons of Success

We hold this truth to be self-evident: every woman with a good idea and the drive to make it reality can start her own business.

This tenet motivates everything at Empowered Women, and we aim to offer guidance, support, and encouragement tailored toward all of our fellow female entrepreneurs. This article in particular is meant for anyone out there wanting to take the plunge into self-employment or wanting a little advice as they begin the process. We’re not here to judge you for being cautious or seeking help: entrepreneurship is daunting.

Despite its challenges and frustrations, however, we still believe business ownership is one of the most rewarding pursuits to undertake. What we’ve learned by striking out on our own has enriched our lives in ways far beyond the literal, even if some of those lessons had to sink in the hard way. Our hope is that you can use our experiences to achieve successes of your own–with a healthy head start and without having to take it on the chin as much as we did. What follows is our takeaways from those experiences.

Consider this our declaration.

Make your own milestones

We’ve all felt the pressure: you have to accomplish X by Y, whether it's beginning your dream career on time or launching a business in a certain time frame. Or maybe you suffer from the inverse, impostor syndrome, and feel too young or unqualified to be where you’re at. On some level, everyone feels either like they started what they wanted to do too late, or somehow arrived at the party just a little too early.

Both impulses are wrong.

So many of the comparisons we set up for ourselves are arbitrary, markers we absorb passively from our ingroup and society at large. And while there’s nothing wrong with wanting to accomplish anything in a certain timespan, it’s important to remember that every milestone is arbitrary; especially as an entrepreneur, you pick both your goals and when you want to accomplish them. No one else decides that on your behalf.

Embrace failure

It’s hard to internalize just how normal and frequent–not to mention necessary–failure can be until you experience it firsthand. Fear of failure holds us back in so many ways, preventing us from taking that all-important first step and leaping into the unknown. Worse, our society’s bias against failure and mistakes means that many of us are hesitant to authentically share our experiences, both the good and the bad, out of concern of seeming unsuccessful.

We’re here to tell you that that’s bullshit.

Just because success is what we all strive for doesn’t mean failure is something to run away from. After all, success is never linear, and the upside to failure is the ability to begin again, but with experience to chart a newer, better course. Not every failure is the catastrophe we believe it to be–most aren’t, in fact–and as long as you can learn from it, you can overcome it. Resilience in the face of adversity is not a trait determined by genetics, but a skill that is learned only with hard-won experience.

To paraphrase John Maxwell, they’re not setbacks; they’re setups. Springboard off of every failure, and never be afraid of it again.

Believe in yourself

We know, cue the motivational kitten posters. But consider this for a moment: as an entrepreneur, if you don’t bet on yourself, who will? While this can be a terrifying headspace, we encourage you to reframe the issue. Once you’ve accepted that your success is up to you and you alone, you realize that betting on yourself is liberating. If you are willing to believe in yourself and to learn from your failures, you can experiment, innovate, and truly reach your full potential.

Adopt consistency (and routine…and discipline)

When your ultimate success depends on you and you alone, you should set yourself up to achieve it however possible, and we’ve found that consistency of effort is the way to go. In other words, make success–whatever that looks like and requires–a habit.

To that end, you should build upon systems you already have in place, just as you would for your expanding business. In doing so, you can be proactive, rather than reactive, to the challenges that come up over time.

Keep more resources in reserve than you think you need

Success is never linear; no one understands this more than entrepreneurs. While we hope you never face difficult times, the reality is that your business will face a rough patch or two. Even established businesses deal with unexpected challenges and turmoil, just like people do. Preparing for the bad times even as you look forward to the good will help you weather those storms.

Entrepreneurship requires a different conception of emergency funds than the layperson has. A business requires more resources to survive leaner times than an individual does, and the sooner you can internalize that more cautious financial mindset, the more successful you’ll be.

Aspire to activated knowledge

Knowledge alone isn’t power; activated knowledge is.

Speaking as avid readers, this can be a hard one to swallow, but you can’t read your way to success.

You have to be able to put into practice what you learn, as activated knowledge is the real power.

We also suggest putting a healthy dose of critical thinking in your reading choices and ask yourself a few questions prior to starting any book you want to incorporate into your business: what do I expect to learn from this? How would I put that into practice? And who is the target audience of this material? Applying this approach will save you time and allow you to focus on content that will grow your business.

Invest in yourself and your business early and often

Think of yourself and the business you’re making as the most important account in your life; everything you put into each is a deposit that will yield compound interest in the long run, but if takes time. The sooner you start, the sooner you can reap the rewards.

Even though reading alone won’t get you across the finish line, there are still so many ways to increase your skills, those of your employees, or even just look for ways to expand and drive your business into new areas. Leave no stone unturned, and you’ll be surprised at what you might uncover.

Learn when to delegate and ask for help

You can’t do everything by yourself. Even if you’ve done everything right, there will always reach a point where you can no longer do everything necessary to run your business alone. We’re here to tell you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help (in fact, we’d like to extend our congratulations for having such a successful business that you need the help in the first place).

When the moment comes where delegation can no longer be avoided, we understand the growing pains that come with that. Entrepreneurs on average tend to be Type A people, and we’re no exception. Letting go can be difficult; however, don’t fail victim to perfectionism. Finding the people you need to deliver great results, rather than chasing after an unattainable standard of perfection, will free you up to focus on the aspects of your business that matter most to you. Remember Dan Sullivan’s old adage, “Who, not How”.

Build a network as your foundation

Once you’ve accepted that there will come a time when outside help is necessary, you realize that many of the obstacles you encounter can be surmounted with a good network. The question then becomes: what are the characteristics of a good network?

Our knee jerk reaction as business owners is to focus on growing that business, and with that comes the need for referrals and revenue. This is an understandable goal, and vital to the viability of your business. But a truly worthwhile network must do more than simply push money around.

Transactional relationships will only get you so far.

Instead, look for people you can learn from, whether they’re potential mentors or experienced in something that interests and excites you. Being community-minded, helpful, and open to opportunities to grow will always generate networks capable of undergirding your business for the long haul. When you’re sitting down with people in your network you should be asking yourself “how can I help this person?”. Networks are meant to be communities of mutually beneficial relationships, you do not want to be known as the person that is always on the take.

Accept that creativity and inspiration come in waves

A glass of wine or a good margarita might unleash your creative forces, but unfortunately, most of the time you just can’t force it. We strongly believe everyone has a creative side that can be nurtured and honed, just like your resilience; that said, just because everyone has the capacity to be creative, does not mean that you can be creative 100% of the time. Learn to listen to your mental state and suss out when you’re having a more creative moment versus when all you’ll get is writer's block and a headache. Everyone has their limits.

Prioritize fun

Let us differentiate ourselves from every other source of entrepreneurial advice out there, once and for all: the grindset is not healthy. No one, no matter how intertwined their business is with their personal life, can be reduced to just their business. Make time for the things outside of work that give you joy and help you let loose, and you’ll be amazed at how that will spark your creativity and make you a better, more interesting human. After all, no one wants to network with a robot, and if a computer could do what you do, your clients would have already tried that. So give yourself a break, and have some fun.