Having written about tech and ICT for almost eight years, whilst starting and running a couple of businesses along the way, ICT Pulse Editor and Publisher, Michele Marius, shares a few of the things she has learned, so far, about being an entrepreneur and a woman in business.
This past Wednesday, 5 December, and as a mentor of the Founder Institute, I was invited to speak at a roundtable held in Kingston, Jamaica. The event was a Female Founder Roundtable, on the theme, “How to get ahead in entrepreneurship”, and the space was packed to capacity with female entrepreneurs and those who still mulling over business ideas.
To give some context, Founder Institute is a pre-seed start-up accelerator, which essentially means it focuses on helping start-ups in the period before they might be looking for funding. As a result, it has programmes designed to help entrepreneurs rigorously examine all of the main elements of a business, and to do the work that could increase its chances of longer term success. Hence, in addition to bringing visibility to the organisation and its programmes, the roundtable was convened to bring women together to share their entrepreneurship experiences and some learnings to date.
Perhaps surprisingly, I had never been asked before to speak about my entrepreneurship journey. However, I also had never given much thought to it before – my schedule was always so full that I really didn’t have the time to think about the blood, sweat and tears I’ve shed along the way. However, once I did sit to prepare for the roundtable, I realised that I’ve learned a thing or two over the years. Here are just five of them.
1. THERE NO QUICK FIXES
Owning a start-up is hard work. In. They demand your attention and effort, and it usually take a while for you develop traction in your market. So, be patient.
Further, in the beginning, you may be the only person working on your venture, and so the buck stops with you. Although you might be able to get family and friend to pitch in occasionally, which might give you a moment’s reprieve, you may still not be able to ‘relax and take it easy’ for a very long time. The days can be long, with (long) holidays becoming rare, to virtually non-existent.
2. WOMEN TEND TO BE THE ONE HOLDING THEMSELVES BACK
Coupled with the hard work of just getting a business off the ground, I have found that as a woman, I am also fighting a whole host of internal battles, which I believe are rooted in how girls have been socialised in most western societies. Generally, we are expected to be quiet, cautious, not to take risks, not to be bold, and so on.
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