Define success on your own terms and achieve it by your own rules
“I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things,” Justine Roberts, founder and CEO of Mumsnet, which is in the top ten most visited social networks in the UK, with over 12 million unique visitors per month.
“We need to accept that we won’t always be right, that we screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”
Arianna Huffington, Co-founder, The Huffington Post
We have seen a big increase in the number of women setting up their own businesses, 45 per cent up between 2013-2016, compared to a 27 per cent rise for men. This is great news as we need to utilise the talents, skills and expertise of all for our economy to stay competitive.
The Women in Business Council was set up by Teresa May in 2012 in order to advise Government on how women’s contribution to the economy can be optimised. They see an urgent need to broaden girls’ career choices and aspirations by bringing together schools, businesses, career development professionals and parents. To empower future generations of young women to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career option requires us to embed this female entrepreneurism in the education system.
More and more women who are currently in the labour market and struggling to find the necessary workplace flexibility are considering setting up their own businesses as a realistic career choice.
Working for yourself can be lonely, especially at the start, but there are support networks around. Women only networking groups are mushrooming everywhere. The members of these groups, myself included, find them warm, supportive, fun and less superficial. And it gets you real results too in terms of quality referrals and sales.
“Regular networking is a great way to benefit your business. The support you get is tremendous as a lot of smaller enterprises feel cutoff and isolated. Athena’s aims are support, training and strategic connections.” Julie Eltham, Regional Director, Wimbledon, The Athena Network:
Even women on top face prejudice, but don’t let that stop you finding your dream and living it.
