Becoming a Better Entrepreneur & Leader

As a woman in business, you might think that history is against you. It is. Kind of. We know what a typical businessperson is supposed to look like – it wears a stripy suit and it’s bald. But take a closer look at the stats and you might be surprised. That typical businessperson might start taking on some changes – many of them welcome and long overdue. With over a third of the UK’s self-employed being men, you might think that men dominate UK entrepreneurship. Yet, over the last 10 years, more than half of new self-employed people have been women, with now close to 1.5 million female business owners in the country. Furthermore, according to a recent government study, 1 in 10 adult women are seriously considering starting their own business. What’s stopping them? Well, for a start, business closure rates are still higher across women, however, women are more likely to close business for personal reasons (especially between the ages of 25 and 35) than men, whose closures are more likely due to business failure. So there are some very real reasons to be positive as a woman Starting your own business in the UK, even though women across the Atlantic are statically still far more likely to have their own start-up. What can UK women do to give their businesses the best chance of survival and prosperity? There are, naturally, many creative logistics solutions out there to improving your business, but these are some of the most compelling solutions to improving your leadership : 1. Seek to empower othersrnAs a woman in business, you would not be alone in experiencing the sense of constantly having to prove yourself in order to be recognised as a ‘proper’ leader. Don’t let historical errors push you down this road. Always remember that the best gauge of your qualities as a leader is not your list of successes, but rather to what degree you have brought about success in others. 2. Believe in your agencyrnA series of knockbacks can deter the best of us. But the truth is that meaningful achievement cannot be realised without mishaps, misjudgements and unforeseen difficulties. Struggling to raise investment in your masterplan? That’s ok, everybody struggles to raise investment. At times, you might feel you don’t receive the respect, time or attention that your intelligence, energy and experience warrant – ignore obstacles, learn from your challenges and remain consistent throughout. 3. Customers, partners, staff want only one thingrnMore value. If you want to retain staff; attract the best talent; form better, longer-lasting relationships; or have happier, more loyal customers, ask yourself how you can provide them with greater value. Answer that questions correctly, implement your solution with efficiency, and the results will always be in your favour. 4. Mistakes prove the personrnWhat makes you different or better than the next person? Your mistakes. Not the frequency with which you make them, nor the weight of their impact, but how you recognise them, own them, understand them, and better yourself and your business in response to them. If you can be both a great entrepreneur and a great leader, you’ll be a great person, too.