Support for Women in Business
There’s been a lot of discussion recently about support for women, and mumpreneurs, and what support is needed to help women in business. Having just had 2 weekends of supporting other women in business, I felt I’d share my thoughts, then stand back and listen to the discussion!
Bra Lady team at Conference
Last weekend was fantastic. I held the first Bra Lady Conference. This was a mixture of training and support for the Bra Lady team to help them develop their businesses. The feedback was very positive, with by far the most important part of the session, being, “I really valued being able to meet the other Bra Ladies and spend time getting to know them.”
On Sunday, the group attended the Mumpreneur Conference, and all got a lot out of the event. The motivational speaker Miriam Staley talked about “Belief is Everything”, and “Walk in a positive way”. Just the things the Bra Lady team, a group of newly self-employed women, needed to hear. The group have never run their own businesses before, and need support from each other, and their wider networks to help them through when times are slow, and they lose their self-confidence. The 2 conferences they attended certainly boosted their motivation levels and gave them some tools to help them grow their businesses with a new vigour.
Yesterday I had a stand at the Business and Baby Show, an exhibition designed to support parents who want to start their own business. The seminars were run by fabulously successful business people, and the people who attended the show were serious about starting their own businesses. Some of the ladies I spoke to about becoming a Bra Lady were impressed with the training and ongoing support we offer. But we also discussed that being a Bra Lady may not be right for them at this time.
All this has strengthened my knowledge, that one size of business support does not suit all! Some people need a lot of hand holding to begin with, and if this is provided within a franchise opportunity, this may be right for them. Others will hate being tied to someone else’s support structure as they’ll already have their own support network around them.
When you start a business you need to have the support of those around you in your home life. This much is key to your success. And after that? Well, it’s very much down to what skills and abilities you’re bringing to your business, and those that you need to develop to create the success you want.
- If you need to network to get referrals for your business, you can also use it to get support for your business from other business owners.
- If you need to be constantly reviewed and given actions to complete, then having a coach, or someone acting as a support buddy may work for you. Or being part of a franchise may be the answer, depending how it’s structured
- If you need motivation, then surround yourself with motivational speakers, books & people. Learn from them, but put your actions INTO action
- If you learn by watching, go to seminars that will help you develop new skills
- And don’t be afraid of researching, all the time. If you don’t know what’s out there, you don’t know
- BUT, don’t spend all your time doing these things, as you need to put your learning into practice!
So, all in all, I believe there’s a place for all kinds of support for businesses. Business women, mumpreneurs, dadpreneurs, men in business. We all want and need different things, and support. Sometimes it takes time to work out what type of business and personal support works best for you, and how you need to be supported by your networks, but it’s worth spending time working this out.
Without a strong support network, you will surely fail.
