The Women Entrepreneurs Blog @ Simon

Belonging to the Entrepreneur's Club

You want to be an entrepreneur and wonder if you have what it takes. What it takes is the incredible desire to belong to one of the most dynamic, thrilling and exclusive clubs in the world.

Getting into the club is easy. You have to start a business, any business, and you have to find other organizations with other business owners to introduce you to other business owners. Sounds reasonable, sounds simple. Not so...this club is different from all other clubs. Let me explain.

Like the game of golf, it's easy to get started but it isn't very easy to stay with it and practice the way you should. So, too, with this club.

Anyone can start a business and anyone can meet other business owners, but the real members of the club share some incredible experiences. Conversation is fast and exciting. The learning curve is steep. It's a great place to belong but best of all, the members become mentors to each other. Every member understands and wants to help the other person succeed.

Sure, you think the competition would be out for the kill, but in the entrepreneur's club, every member knows and shares the same world and wants to share their knowledge.  Of course, to be a member you have to accept the pros and cons of the membership...

Tip of the Week - "Never Give up"

From our blogger Jane Glazer:

The Tip of the Week for October 3rd: NEVER GIVE UP

In these turbulent times you may find that everyone will influence you to quit the fight. Friends hate to see friends suffer, so they will be the worst offenders. Resist and thank them for their good wishes.

You are an entrepreneur for a reason. If you wanted to take the merry go round, you would not have chosen the roller coaster! Trust your instincts and find ways to be leaner.

In 25 years, I have always been amazed that when I thought I was running a lean operation, during turbulent times, I found ways to get leaner.

And, I'm still here to tell you: Never Give Up.

Ask the Entrepreneurs: What, me worry?

Note: This question came in via email from one of our readers. We encourage you to ask yours via the form on our Home/About page or the email us. We'll have one or more of our bloggers offer their takes — which should provide starting points for your thinking and more discussion.]

Question: When you first started your own business, how did you get over that initial "what if" fear? I am interested in starting my own retail store and I understand the business of networking and how to bring in clients (I used to be in Sales), however, in the back of my mind I keep hearing, "what if customers don't come" and "what if I fail"? I believe in myself enough to know that this is what I want eventually and to know that I am capable of doing it, but I can't seem to get this thought out of my head. I was just curious if you had any suggestions.

With apologies to Alfred E. Neuman, when I first started my business I can remember worrying about how much discount I should give friends. How much would be too much? How much would insult them? And so on. As it turned out, they all wished me well with my adventure, but none of my friends ordered. What a waste of time that line of worrying was!

If you want to be in business for yourself, get used to the "what if" fears. They will become a part of your life. And, like my example above, the things you worry about will probably not be worth the worrying — and the things you don't worry about will pop up and give you real things to worry about.

This probably sounds like a mish-mash of words, but the best advice I received when starting out was "trust your instincts." No one will ever know your business as well as you, and you will be learning something new about your business every day.

The customers will come, but not the ones you anticipate.

Your business will evolve in ways you could never plan for.

Worrying is something entrepreneurs excel at — and eventually, probably thrive on. We are a unique breed.

Women Business Owners and Time Management

Women entrepreneurs rarely have time to think consciously about time management, but the truth is, without it they fail.

And women business owners (who are forced to manage their time more or less efficiently) sometimes forget how the rest of the world lives, until they accidently find themselves back in that space. Like driving somewhere at 10 AM. What is wrong with these people? Why are they driving so slowly? How about lunch with "the girls"?  Why do they sit there after the lunch hour has expired?

This must be the reason why women entrepreneurs seem to have an immediate link to each other. It's a sisterhood dedicated to time management. And that must be why so many women in business do a lot of their shopping online, which is good for me and my business!

A recent NY Times Blog Shifting Careers post, 5 Time-Mangement Tips, by Marci Alboher offers some great advice and links to more information expanding on these suggestions:

1. Tame the e-mail beast (including an InboxZero video presentation at Google)
2. Eliminate unnecessary meetings
3. Put up boundaries
4. Find your rhythm and schedule around it
5. Say no

Isn't that last one often the hardest for women?