The previously male dominated business industry has seen an ever growing amount of prosperous women entrepreneurs than ever before while steadily becoming increasingly inclusive to people of all backgrounds. An unfortunate down fall of this booming industry is the countless challenges women entrepreneurs face daily, leaving stressed and burnt-out individuals to figure out how to overcome them on their own.
The Ask Your Girls team of expert business women and entrepreneurs believe that no woman should be left to face struggles on her own. Join us as we discuss the various challenges women in the business industry face and helpful pointers for overcoming them that we’ve discovered through first hand experiences.
Challenge One: Securing Funding
Securing funds is an extremely difficult challenge that entrepreneurs face all around the world – including business women. Stressful pitching procedures, lack of investors, & tricky valuations are just a few examples of issues that can potentially arise during the process of securing funds for your business.
Luckily, there are ways to over come this widespread challenge:
- Remain confident in your abilities as a business woman and tune into your intuition to create a successful business plan.
- Do your research! Find investors who have expressed interest in supporting and assisting women entrepreneurs and business owners. Businesswomen have a higher chance of receiving funding from female investors.
- Go big or go home, as they say! Generally, investors will automatically discount pitched numbers to compensate for exaggerations so don’t hold back in your ask.
Challenge Two: Struggling to Be Taken Seriously as Women Entrepreneurs
It is common knowledge that the business industry has been dominated by men for centuries. This continues to be a contributing factor to the challenge women entrepreneurs face of struggling to be taken seriously by others in the business world.
The next time someone questions your leadership, doubts your skills, or undermines your authority, give these recommendations a try:
- Establishing a strong sense of self-worth and confidence in everything you do is essential in overcoming the struggle to be taken seriously as a business owner and entrepreneur
- Join a supportive community of like-minded businesswomen
- Stop allowing others to undermine your worth and assert yourself as a strong and confident leader every time you aren’t treated respectfully
Challenge Three: Building a Network
Business owners and entrepreneurs need access to a network of support to successfully reach their professional goals. Unfortunately, women don’t always have access to as many opportunities as men in the business world.
However, with the increase of online opportunities women now have access to a broad range of networking resources:
- Women-led networking events and conferences
- Online platforms created by entrepreneur women by entrepreneur women
- Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Reddit, Twitter, and Pinterest
The expert team of women at AYG recognized how many women in the business industry faced challenges in creating a network and connecting with like-minded professionals, which is why we worked hard to make the AYG platform a hub for business women and female entrepreneurs. Click here to learn more about our up-coming in person and virtual events!
Challenge Four: Coping with Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is a challenge for some women entrepreneurs and is often described as intense self-doubt or feeling like a fraud in your profession despite the range of skill, experience, education, and accomplishments an individual possesses.
Sound familiar? Here are some helpful ways to overcome this challenge and successfully cope with imposter syndrome:
- Remember the importance of not allowing negative thoughts to captivate your mentality and that everyone has moments of self doubt
- Cut yourself some slack! Everyone makes mistakes, and expecting yourself to prioritize perfectionism is never ideal
- Prioritize your mental health by practicing self-love, compassion, and care daily
- Create a network of supportive professionals who respect and empower your position as a woman entrepreneur
Challenge Five: Maintaining a Work-Life Balance
The last challenge that women entrepreneurs face is successfully maintaining a healthy work-life balance. This challenge can be exceedingly difficult to achieve for women in the business industry, but helpful strategies can enable you to create the balance you desire:
- Create a strict time to end all work for the day, including phone calls, emails, meetings, & last-minute tasks.
- Plan personal obligations and events ahead of time, giving yourself adequate time to complete your work before needing to attend.
- Take vacation days! Life shouldn’t consist of continuous work, and you deserve to enjoy free-time.
- Give yourself consistent breaks from technology.
Interested in growing your business and connecting with like-minded women in the industry? Join the Ask Your Girls Marketplace today to access expert assistance and empowerment from a platform of successful entrepreneurs!
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