Too often I've heard a woman say she's almost ready to start a business, says
Sophie Cornish. But budding female entrepreneurs needs to think big and go
for it – most men would, according to the businesswoman.
Too often I’ve heard a woman say that she’s "almost ready" to launch her business. This means I have to hold back on congratulating her because she needs to ‘finalise a few details’, or ‘do the snagging’ before she can press the button for the countdown.
It’s not that I don’t think she needs to deal with those smaller
issues. In fact, I’m a stickler for detail – it’s my greatest weapon as a
businesswoman.
Sometimes it’s the
finer points in life that can make all the difference between you and
the next enterprise, shop or person. Dan Germain, creative director of
the phenomenally successful Innocent drinks, said: “We’ve got lots of
clever people here to think about the big stuff – my job is to care
about the little stuff.” It’s one of my favourite quotes because he is
taking ownership of the detail, as much as, say, a CFO owns the finance
side of a company.
However, when these women say they are putting
their launch on hold in order to sort out the last few items on their to
do list, whether it’s choosing the right stationery or finalising the
guestlist for a press lunch, I believe they are failing to think big. In
sweating the small stuff, they’re forgetting that it’s the scale of
their vision that will set the tone for their success.
When getting going you need to judge your quality quota. Nothing is absolutely perfect, particularly in business, which means that getting things 95pc right is good enough. This doesn’t mean settling for second best, it means pushing on when the time is right despite the fact that you’ve still got a little bit left to sort out.
Dare I say there could be a gender issue here? While I know a number of women already delivering on their ambitious plans, in my experience, men generally have the edge on thinking big.
I define this as meaning that they tend to go for it and rely on working out some of the details as they go along. A risky strategy, for sure, but one that can be effective, so long as you know that some details matter more than others – getting the right bank account is a bigger detail than a website font. So you should definitely prioritise on the decisions that need to be made but then – make it happen.
It’s probably also true that men are generally better at behaving with confidence, talking up big plans to go with their big vision.
For those around them, this can mean more clarity in their plans, more action and less procrastination. Rather like that theory that men look in the mirror and believe they are better looking than they really are, whereas women believe they are less attractive than they really are.
I’d like more women to have faith in their own ability and trust that they will build their business, even if things aren’t exactly as they hoped they’d be at the start. After all, we need to teach our daughters to forge ahead with confidence and hope, too.
When getting going you need to judge your quality quota. Nothing is absolutely perfect, particularly in business, which means that getting things 95pc right is good enough. This doesn’t mean settling for second best, it means pushing on when the time is right despite the fact that you’ve still got a little bit left to sort out.
Dare I say there could be a gender issue here? While I know a number of women already delivering on their ambitious plans, in my experience, men generally have the edge on thinking big.
I define this as meaning that they tend to go for it and rely on working out some of the details as they go along. A risky strategy, for sure, but one that can be effective, so long as you know that some details matter more than others – getting the right bank account is a bigger detail than a website font. So you should definitely prioritise on the decisions that need to be made but then – make it happen.
It’s probably also true that men are generally better at behaving with confidence, talking up big plans to go with their big vision.
For those around them, this can mean more clarity in their plans, more action and less procrastination. Rather like that theory that men look in the mirror and believe they are better looking than they really are, whereas women believe they are less attractive than they really are.
I’d like more women to have faith in their own ability and trust that they will build their business, even if things aren’t exactly as they hoped they’d be at the start. After all, we need to teach our daughters to forge ahead with confidence and hope, too.
0 comments:
Post a Comment