Tweet

Seven Critical Mistakes Women Business Owners Make

Guest post by: Jan Marie Dore

Article Overview: Eighty-five percent (85%) of all new businesses fail within the first 5 years. Why? Because most entrepreneurs fail to plan, focus, delegate, and create systems. As a result, they suffer from overwhelm, fatigue, burn out, and lack of sustainable income. Learn the top mistakes women business owners make, solutions to fix them, and the seven success habits that set apart successful businesses.

Seven Critical Mistakes Women Business Owners Make

Eighty-five percent (85%) of all new businesses fail within the first 5 years. Why? Because most entrepreneurs fail to plan, focus, delegate, and create systems. As a result, they suffer from overwhelm, fatigue, burn out, and lack of sustainable income. Over the past ten years, I have coached and mentored hundreds of women entrepreneurs to help them attract more clients, build profitable businesses, and develop a quality lifestyle they desire.

I have noticed that there are seven critical mistakes many women small business owners make. The good news is that there are easy solutions that you can implement immediately for all of these mistakes, and I'm going to share them with you.

Here are the seven success habits that set apart the women who build extremely successful businesses and earn healthy six-figure incomes from the women who never seem to attract enough clients and who struggle to make ends meet every month.

Mistake #1: Lack of focus

Of all the issues that can sabotage the success of women business owners, lack of focus is near the top of the list. Going in too many different directions at once results in dissipated energy, loss of time, and often loss of income, as the most important items drop to the bottom of the to-do list.

The solution: focus on doing fewer things very well -to do less in more time. Instead of responding freely to the things that show up every day, decide what really counts. And put your focus there. Say NO! to everything else.

Mistake # 2: No system for generating new business

Many businesses fail from not finding enough new clients and opportunities. This is due to not having a system in place to consistently generate enough referrals to sustain the business.

The solution: ask for referrals and testimonials. Referrals are the best way to attract new clients. Research shows that up to 45% of most services are chosen based on the recommendation of others. Learn to clearly articulate the value of what you do. Don't be shy about getting the word out and asking people to send business your way. Create a database of contacts so that you have a consistent way to follow up over time.

Mistake # 3: Inconsistent follow-up

Failure to follow up and to stay in contact with clients will kill repeat and long-term business faster than anything. People want to know they are valued. They want to hear from you and to feel that they have a relationship with you.

The solution: consistent and frequent communication. Sales are rarely made on the first contact. 80% of sales are made on the 5th to 12th contact. Most business women give up after following up only once or twice. If you find ways to connect or stay in touch with prospects 7 or more times, chances are good that they will eventually hire you.

Mistake # 4: Trying to sell features instead of benefits

Professional service providers often make the mistake of describing the process they use or a feature of their service as a selling point. They offer a definition of what they do instead of a statement of the key benefits that the client wants. By doing this, they fail to establish the true value of their products and services in the mind of the prospect.

The solution: promote benefits and results. Help prospective clients understand how your service can truly help them solve a problem and provide a benefit or result they are looking for - and are willing to pay money for. Let them know you understand their needs.

Mistake # 5: Not targeting their market

Many business women waste precious time, energy, and resources chasing "pportunities" that don't result in actual business because they don't have a clear idea of who specifically they are promoting their services to.

The solution: Narrow your business niche. Clarify your specialty, identify a problem you can solve, and choose a profitable target market. Success in business depends on accurately identifying the best marketplace for your services and products. If you try to sell something to people who don't want what you're selling, they won't buy it. If you try to sell good services to the wrong marketplace, you won't make any sales. It's that simple.

Mistake # 6: Ineffective planning

One of the biggest reasons for small business failure is a lack of planning. Most entrepreneurs are doers rather than planners. They would rather be in action than plan the action. Many spend more time planning a trip or a party than they do their business.

The solution: Create a marketing action plan. Entrepreneurs who plan ahead are the ones who make it. You can create a simple, effective marketing action plan in as little as 60 minutes. With a plan, you have a roadmap to success that will exponentially increase your chances of succeeding.

Mistake # 7: Staying a secret

If you're not making an offer of your services to a large number of people, then you won't be in business for very long. Too many women are nervous or fearful about promoting themselves and their services. They feel they will be perceived as being pushy if they talk too much about their business, and so don't speak up clearly and proudly to say who they are and what they do.

The solution: Get well known. In order to be really successful, you need to stand out from the crowd and be well known by a large number. I'm here to tell you that it's OK to blow your own horn! It's okay to talk about who you are and what you do. Don't keep yourself a secret - get the word out. Do something that will get you and your services talked about and raise you to "expert status".

If you implement just a few of the solutions above, you'll be well on your way to having a highly successful, fulfilling business by avoiding many of the common mistakes business owners make.

Related Articles
  Women Business Owners Continue to Thrive
  10.0 Training – business management and technical skills: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  Its Time For Women To Lead in America in Entrepreneurship
  Nice vs. Honest - A Woman's Struggle
  Eliminating the Fear of Failure
  Are Men Smarter Than Women
  Franchise Businesses Appeal to Women Entrepreneurs
  Are You Too Big for Your Britches?
  Are MLM Companies For Women Only?
  1.2 Mission Objectives: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  Women Are Embracing Franchising
  Women Small Business Loans
  THE FEMALE ASPECT
  Women's Millionaire Club by Maureen G Mulvaney, MGM
  8.0 Promotion of women’s entrepreneurship: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  Loans For Women Business Owners
  4.0 The state of women’s enterprises in Tanzania: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  How Professional Is Your Image???
  Wanted: jobs for Africa’s youth - Entrepreneurship
  Seven Secrets of Closing Deals with Women Why Entrepreneurs Need to Focus on Women

Article Tags: small business coaching, small business marketing, small business sales



Related Forum Posts
A ton of Great Women - You might want to profile Teresa Cascioli of LakePort Brewery. She has an amazing story! I met her at at the celebratory luncheon for the Profit/Chatelaine Top 100 Women Business Owners. The Top 100 list is also a great resource for inspirational stories of Women Entrepreneurs.
New Study - Women prepare better business plans - I found an article in Business Week and I found this quite interesting. [quote:ka7lg35i]Who Prepares Better Business Plans, Men or Women? A new study based on four years of data from men and women in a training program for microenterprises finds that they come out the same in quality scores. "However, women scored significantly better on the presentation of their plan to judges," conclude the study's authors, Ronald G. Cook, Paul Belliveau, and Christine Lentz of Rider University, in a paper presented at a recent meeting of the Small Business Institute. [/quote:ka7lg35i] What do you guys think?
Five Biggest Mistakes Women Make in Business - Looking for some information I found an interesting article which mentions about “Five Biggest Mistakes Women Make in Business.” 1. Flighty Networking—Some women have the mistaken notion that networking means attending as many events as possible and pitching their business. This concept has two fallacies: First, it’s crazy to spend all your time flitting between functions unless you feel confident that your target audience will be there. Rather than attending lots of events, analyze who will be at each one and then determine if it is smart for you to invest your time and money to be there. Second, when you do identify an individual as a potential prospect, describe yourself and your business in a short, interesting way. Then focus on asking questions and really listening to what they say. Remember the old adage: Be Interested rather than Interesting. 2. Being too busy to volunteer—Always be ready to volunteer. Whether it is for CED or another organization to which you belong, always be ready to offer service. I have found that every hour I invest in an organization such as CED comes back to me tenfold. 3. Inflexibility—Today’s world is one of constant change and requires creative, out-of-the-norm approaches to business problems and opportunities. You can’t run a 2007 business playing with a 1999 handbook. It just won’t work. Always be open to listening, observing and trying new things. Always be thinking, “What will my customers want five years from now?” And be sure your business is heading in that direction. 4. Showing your strength by bullying others—I know so many women who have had to be “tough” in order to survive in a male-dominated industry. But the really smart ones have taken a different approach. They have developed a cooperative, consensus-building approach in dealing with others, and this wins out every time. 5. Working from a position of scarcity—Too many businesspeople have a “scarcity mentality.” They believe there is not enough time, not enough money, not enough customers, not enough qualified employees and on and on. Of course there is enough of everything in the world; you just have to look at situations from a slightly different perspective to be able to see it all. It is up to you to share and keep the cycle of success alive, not only for your own organization, but for every business within CED. Pass on what you’ve learned through trial and error, and share your time, energy, and encouragement with others. This is the mark of a truly successful entrepreneur!
Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
Re: History of Women in Business in the United States - Yes. Women have increasingly made positive economic contributions to society and their position is being recognized more and more as seen on the Forbes List of Executive Women. In general, women can be a bit more practical in their approach as entrepreneurs too.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Local Marketing: 3 Simple Low-Cost Strategies

Resolving A Conflict Between Two Sales Staffs

The five pillars of internet marketing strategy

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.