Creating A Successful Business Now
Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
On Friday, I was saddened to learn of the closing of a company I have worked with and collaborated with for the past four years. The news was unexpected and disheartening. As someone who enjoys the excitement and optimism of hearing about other women’s business successes, it is difficult to hear about a company closing unexpectedly.
I remember years ago someone introduced me to Michael Gerber’s book, “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It.” The book highlights why Gerber believes most businesses fail. Often it is because the entrepreneur believes their knowledge of the technical work of the business qualifies them to run and grow a business. But he discovered and exclaimed, “Knowing the technical work of a business becomes an entrepreneur’s greatest single liability.”
The book suggests women entrepreneurs look 10 years into the future to envision their company and then work backward through time to plan for that vision to become a reality. How many employees will you have? How many clients do you serve? What are your annual sales? What do you excel at? The point being if you envision your company in ten years to have 10 employees located in two locations with 100 clients, you “see” the end result and can then work backward creating specific plans to accomplish that vision.
Today’s blog is to encourage entrepreneurs, whether their business is weak or strong, to envision the growth of their company from this point forward. Realize you, and you alone, will not be able to achieve all the success you envision. Your company’s success requires staff, financing, resources and a solid and specific plan. You must continue to revise your business plan to support your current and anticipated success to stay vibrant, relevant and employed. It takes work but it will be time well spent.
