Steal these six habits of successful female entrepreneurs

Thinking about starting your own business but need a final push? Read six habits that have made these female entrepreneurs successful. 

There’s still a noticeable gender divide when it comes to setting up new business ventures. While only 34% of the world’s entrepreneurs are female, the 2016 BNP Paribas Global Entrepreneur Report found that women entrepreneurs are actually more successful than their male counterparts.

And 89% of females who run their own businesses, reported that they expected their profits to increase over the next 12 months.

So, if women are more than capable of building a profitable business, why don’t more of us do it? And what can we learn from some of the women who are already running successful businesses?

Steal these six habits of successful female entrepreneurs

Well Polished, a domestic cleaning company which helps women start a franchise business, asked 50 female entrepreneurs to share the habits that have made them successful. Here are the answers from six of them.

1) Learn to say no

Josephine Middleton, Director of Slummy Single Mummy advises:

“One of the most important things you can learn, is how to say NO. I get masses of emails every day, and my first instinct is to want to say yes to everyone. But if you do that, you’ll not only suffer yourself, from being pulled in too many directions, but your clients will suffer too.

It’s much better to be choosy, say yes to just the projects that really excite you, charge properly, and then concentrate on doing those to a really high standard.”

2) Don’t procrastinate

Liz Pilgrim, Founder of Maternity Buyer says:

“My big motivator is telling myself ‘get on with it’ – it’s too easy to come up with excuses why you’re not doing something. We all procrastinate and worry endlessly about perfection and get overwhelmed by detail that it prevents us seeing the bigger picture.”

3) Manage your work life balance

Lisa Long, Founder of More than Words said:

“Manage your work to life balance – be strict. I’ve had to learn to shut my office door when the children get home and to not work again until the following morning. If you plan effectively then it should be easy.”

4) Trust your instinct

Aimee Rodgers, Founder of Revitalize Fitness asserts:

“Don’t let anyone tell you that it can’t be done or your ideas are silly. Trust your gut instinct and if you feel passionate and focused enough to make it a reality – go for it.”

5) Be adaptable

Laura Cyples, Founder of We Are Word Nerds says:

“If you’ve got an idea you want to develop and it’s something you love, just go for it. That’s not to say you won’t fail a few times along the way. But failing and readjusting is okay; it’s all part of the process. Adapt. After all, adaptability is the key to survival.”

6) Be persistent

Karla Zapolski, Founder of The Fashion Dollz shares:

“It’s incredible what you are capable of when you push yourself. I’ve never been very good at taking no for answer so through persistence and passion I normally get what I set out to get, and if I don’t then it’s not meant to be and I move on.

In order to encourage more female entrepreneurs to enter business we must we must celebrate the successes of those women who have already taken a leap of faith. Women need to have more confidence in their own ideas and capabilities in order to close the gender divide for the next generation.”

For more inspiration download Well Polished’s full eBook here.