Oprah Winfrey stands as a role model for many an aspiring woman entrepreneur - a woman with no dearth of talent and skills. Oprah Winfrey scored double over Bill Gates and four times over Richard Branson in a recent poll conducted to select the 'Most admired entrepreneur'. She is the first black woman billionaire and is undoubtedly one of the most influential people in today's entertainment industry. Statistics reveal that woman entrepreneurs in America employ 19.1million people and contribute $2.5 trillion to the economy. Also, women own 47.7% of all private companies in USA.
Data that proves that woman as powerful, decisive, multi-task-oriented personalities are well suited for the competitive world of big business. Women have been managing important portfolios, be it on the political scenario or economic development. But today the world is seeing such examples in plenty. More and more women are having the final say in the boardroom, they head corporations and women entrepreneurs have evolved a new style of leadership.
What makes a woman tread a hitherto male-dominated pursuit and combat challenges to reach entrepreneurial success? What are the common traits that all successful woman entrepreneurs possess? How does a woman initiate the process of discovering, what helps her in evaluating and how methodical is her approach?
Women entrepreneur data
Before analyzing the special traits in successful woman entrepreneurs, a glance at the physiological variations in the brains of men and women can be beneficial.
This reveals that women are endowed with natural advantages that aid in creating, developing and fostering relationships. Not restricting herself to merely fostering relationships with her family, friends and society, a successful woman uses this proficiency to build and maintain a flourishing business enterprise. She translates her natural advantages into effective networking, excellent communication skills and empathetic behavior. Her mastery over multi-tasking influences her to initiate action with direction and integrate it with management and organizational skills. A successful woman entrepreneur has the attitude and the inner drive to change her dream, her vision into reality.
What sets apart a successful woman entrepreneur ?
She is ambitious
A successful woman entrepreneur is extremely ambitious, has an inner urge or drive to transform an idea into reality. Experience from her previous tenure as an employee, relying on educational qualifications or lessons learnt from inherited business, she is ready to seize opportunities, sets goal, possess clear vision, steps confidently forward and is ambitious to succeed. Every successful woman entrepreneur is truly determined to achieve goals and make her business flourish. In-depth knowledge of the field is essential to success. She comes with new innovative solutions to old problems to tide over issues.
She is confident
A successful woman entrepreneur is confident in her ability. She is ready to learn from others, seek help from experts if it means adding value to her goals. She is optimistic and is more willing to take risks. A successful woman entrepreneur uses common sense to make sound judgements when encountering everyday situations. This is gleaned from past experience and knowledge acquired over the years.
It is essential not to get frustrated and give up when you face obstacles and trials. It is a part of setting up any business venture. The ability to explore uncharted territories and take bold decisions is the hallmark of a successful woman entrepreneur. A successful woman usually loves what she does. She is extremely passionate about her tasks and activities. Her high energy levels motivate her to contribute immensely towards building, establishing and maintaining a thriving business.
She is open and willing to learn
A successful woman entrepreneur keeps abreast of changes, as she is fully aware of the importance of evolving changes. She is ahead of her competitors and thrives on changes. She adapts her business to changes in technology or service expectations of her clients. She is curious, interested to learn and accommodative to innovations.
She is cost conscious
A successful woman entrepreneur prepares realistic budget estimates. She provides cost-effective quality services to her clients. With minimized cost of operations, she is able to drive her team to maximize profits and reap its benefits.
She values teamwork and loyalty
She has the ability to work with all levels of people. She is keen on maintaining relationships and communicates clearly and effectively. This helps her to negotiate even sensitive issues easily. She is empathetic to people around her and possess good networking skills that help her to expand contacts and make use of opportunities.
She can balance home and work
Cautious of not becoming a workaholic, a successful woman entrepreneur is good at balancing diverse aspects of life. Her multi-tasking ability combined with support from spouse and family members enables her to blend business priorities with family and household responsibilities efficiently and effectively.
She is conscious of her responsibility to society
A successful woman entrepreneur is willing to share her success with the society. She is committed to help others and enjoys doing it.
It is no wonder that millions of aspiring woman entrepreneurs admire Oprah Winfrey for her entrepreneurial skills, business achievements, and commitment to philanthropy. A woman can choose self-owned business as her career choice provided she is to ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of her, ready to walk the extra mile and ready to rely on her own vast resources and abilities.