Over the past few decades, a progressive number of women have been putting off starting a family and choosing to put their careers first.
Throughout the mid-1900s, most women were prominently seen as housewives who were responsible for the care of their children and condition of the home.
Many perspectives changed throughout the late 1900s and early 2000s, when women began putting their needs and careers first, before starting a family.
It’s not to say that all women stopped having children and went to work, but it was less typical to have kids at an earlier age, such as your late teens or early twenties.
The world started seeing more and more female entrepreneurs taking their chances and fulfilling their dreams as business owners.
As the number of female entrepreneurs increased, the desire among other independent women did too.
Let’s dive into the success stories of women entrepreneurs throughout the world and how they got there.
Tips on How to Start a Business
Sometimes, we have aspirations that aren’t as profitable as we may think, therefore, there are many factors to consider before starting a new business.
While some may love to start an art clinic or cooking class business, there may be little to no demand for a new art or chef teacher in the area that you’re offering it.
In order to avoid a financial investment disaster, consider these factors before starting a new business:
What is your ideal business idea?
What are you good at and passionate about?
Is there a demand for that business in order for it to be profitable?
What do you need out of your business? Is it going to be your main source of income or just a side-job?
What would you like to learn?
After you have considered these options, make the appropriate changes and/or actions to make your business dream possible.
If you’re unsure of what you’re good at, passionate about or what to pursue in a personal business, here are some great starting point ideas:
What is the Best Business for a Woman to Start?
Blogging and Freelance Writing
Affiliate Marketing
Social Media Influencer
Social Media Manager
Life Coach
Real Estate Agent
Travel Agent
Photographer
Interior Designer
Restaurant/Chef/Food Service
Stock Trader
Health and Fitness Coach/Trainer
Wedding/Event Planner/Coordinator
Online/Retail Wholesale
Do not stress if none of these industries interest you, they are simply suggestions to get your mind and ideas flowing!
Female Entrepreneurs Success Stories
Here are a few female entrepreneurs who have built some of the world’s most successful businesses from the ground up:
Sara Blakely: Spanx
You may not have a pair in your dresser, but you sure have heard of the infamous tummy-tucking shapewear that most ladies had to get their hands on; Spanx.
Blakey is known as one of the most fearless female entrepreneurs out there. At the age of 27, Blakely started the idea of Spanx by cutting the feet off of her pantyhose and wearing them under her clothes for a slimming effect.
She sold fax machines door-to-door and used her savings of $5,000 to start her worldwide business and in 2013 hit her status as a billionaire.
Whitney Wolfe Herd: Bumble
Everyone has tried or heard of dating apps such as Match.com, ChristianMingle.com, Tinder, Hinge and so on.
What’s interesting is that most of those dating sites encourage men to approach the women first.
Whitney Wolfe Herd flipped the dating dynamics by letting women make the first move by co-founding the famous dating site in 2004: Bumble.
The Match Group tried to buyout Wolfe Herd’s business for $450 million in 2017, but thankfully, she held onto it and became the world’s youngest, female self-made billionaire and CEO to ever take a company public in the U.S.
Ann Wojcicki: 23andMe
Ann Wojcicki plans to leverage 23andMe’s massive DNA library to fuel a “biotech machine” that would, not only, link genetic predispositions to certain diseases, but that would also help create drugs to treat those diseases.
Just recently, Ann made sure that 23andMe began asking their users about weight, activity levels, health conditions and experiences with COVID-19.
In January 2021, 23andMe released a tool that claims to be able to predict a person’s likelihood of developing a severe case of the coronavirus.
Ann Wojcicki is #93 on Forbes list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and is worth around $700 million.
Suzy Batiz: Poo-Pourri Toilet Spray
You may have seen Poo-Pourri at your local home goods store and wondered, “What on earth is this for?”
Twice-bankrupt Suzy Batiz turned this toilet spray into a $240 million fortune after trying her idea again and again.
Batiz grew up in a poor rural area of Arkansas and declared her first bankruptcy at the age of 21.
Thanks to Poo-Pourri’s clever marketing strategies, it finally led to its explosive growth and success, making Batiz one of America’s Richest Self-Made Women in 2019.
Batiz is a great example of how business women shouldn’t give up on their passions and ideas, even after they may have failed in the past.
Advice for Female Entrepreneurs
Everyone needs advice on how to make it in the business-world.
Here are some words of advice for female entrepreneurs all over the world:
Time Management
If you're a wife and/or mother who is running their own business, you need to have the ability to manage your time accordingly, in order to balance your business, work life and personal life.
Even if you’re not a wife or mother, time management is paramount in adequately balancing all aspects
Accountability
Set, track and monitor your goals to ensure that your strategies are working effectively.
If not, reevaluate your goals to something more realistic or change your strategies to be more powerful.
Be Fearless
Starting a business is scary but if every female entrepreneur stopped at fear, our world would be an entirely different place.
There wouldn’t be any Barbies, Spanx, Estee Lauder, or Rodan + Fields without female business owners.
Ask for Help When You Need It
While there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that we need to do for ourselves and our businesses.
By asking for help, women can reveal their strengths, rather than their weaknesses, and utilize their time and efforts much more efficiently. And that is true for scaling your business.
These days, more financial institutions consider supporting female-owned businesses. Particularly in Myanmar and Vietnam, banks are working out partnerships that promote women entrepreneurs. Recently, BIDV in partnership with ADB and Kiu Vietnam, launched a “Covid-19 Relief Comprehensive Financial Program”, that aims to support SMEs to recover and develop women’s business activities.
Other important characteristics to have as a women entrepreneur are believing in yourself, empowering the ones around you, learning from your mistakes, being able to say no when you need to, and being approachable, but also powerful.
Kiu is dedicated to helping our clients overcome the traditional barriers in business by connecting people, communities, countries and banks with businesses all throughout Asia.
To learn further about growing your business, visit our website.
Commentaires