We asked the Global Community Manager of one of the best upcoming e-commerce sites 6 questions about what it takes to be a young female with an idea they believe can one day be a force of its own. Here is the skinny on what it takes:
1. Confidence
2. Funding
3. Not being afraid to fail
4. Teamwork
5. Doing what you love
6. Trusting the numbers
Now let's get to the six questions we asked our expert on what it takes to be a young female with the desire to build her own empire (AKA how do we become Beyonce?):
1. What is the single most important quality needed for a female to be a successful entrepreneur?
"Confidence - believe in yourself and your idea! Determination and passion are also very high on the list, as well as being a visionary. I believe that for female entrepreneurs self-belief is particularly important, in large because the start-up and investor worlds are dominated by men - you need to be hard-nosed and resilient."
2. What is the most difficult obstacle a young female needs to overcome on the road to becoming an entrepreneur?
"Funding your business. Raising capital is a very time-consuming and tricky process. Be prepared to be grilled by investors!"
3. What is the biggest mistake a young female can make as an entrepreneur?
"Being afraid of failing. Failing - be it big or small - is the best way to learn and improve. Try new things, take risks! Break the rules and you can break new ground."
4. How can a young entrepreneur have their project stand out from others to investors?
"By having the right people on board your company. If you have an awesome team, there’s no limit as to how far you can go."
5. What is the biggest question you should ask yourself before deciding to become an entrepreneur?
"I believe the biggest question to ask yourself is 'Is there anything I would rather be doing than this?' If the answer is yes, then it might not be worth the struggle. Because let’s face it, being an entrepreneur requires a lot of hard work and passion. But if you love what you do, it’s all worth it!"
6. How does a young entrepreneur know when to give up on a particular project?
"My best tip here is to always look at data before you start working on a project. Make data-driven decisions, i.e. don’t develop anything or any feature that does not improve your metrics! A great way to do this is A/B testing. For example, before changing the call to action on your site, A/B test two different CTAs to see which one has the biggest conversion rate - for example for signups. The bottom line is this: instead of spending a lot of time working on a project and suddenly coming to realize that it’s not improving your business, try to test your idea on a smaller scale first in order to gather data. Analyse the results and commit fully to the project only if it’s supported by the data. If not - explore other options!"
Want some more inspiration to help you get out there and make your idea a reality? Look no further than our favorite females that have the guts to do what it takes to be successful:
Our expert Livia Moore is the Global Community Manager for Tictail which allows individuals and retailers to set up their own virtual stores, giving entrepreneurs all over the world the opportunity to sell their products. You can follow them on Twitter here to learn more and find out about their pop-up stores.
Do you think this is good advice for females looking to start their own businesses? Tweet at us! @wewomenUSA
This article was written by Dagney Pruner. Follow her on Twitter @dagneyp
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