Adding On A Second Business

In the past few months a number of women entrepreneurs with pretty established companies have asked me if starting a second, non-related business could help them generate new revenue. It’s a great question to ask when sales are dropping due to this economic period.Four years ago I started this second business which was different than my first one, an event management company called Five Star Events (which is still in existence today). I learned starting a second company required exactly what it took with my first company – extensive planning, investigation, research and time.  Any woman entrepreneur interested in starting a second company, must do the essential planning first followed by the same amount of marketing, selling and networking they did with the first one. A second company also requires a woman to split her time between both enterprises so time management become extremely important.

Now more than ever before, I’ve witnessed women entrepreneurs experimenting with a multitude of solutions to sustain themselves. As business owners they understand new risks can produce new rewards. Starting a second business could bring in the extra revenue they need but I caution them to move forward carefully.

Remember sometimes it takes three years before a business is successful (even if you are an experienced entrepreneur). Make sure it wouldn’t be smarter and more productive to increase revenue with your existing company first.