Source: http://print.dailymirror.lk posted on Gender Talk by Nayomini Weerasooriya on 7/29/11

Entrepreneurship has always appealed to women because of the flexibility in starting one’s own business offers. Not to mention the qualities that often put women in charge of successful businesses ; the ability to multi-task and empathize which we all know by now but there are extraordinary women entrepreneurs who use what management calls ‘soft skills’ used to achieve that level of success.

There are women entrepreneurs who have been able to create multi-million enterprises from scratch, and they have used a combination of talent and skill, while being able to take business decisions that were strategically placed ; in short, they were at the right time at the right place. They have been able to make decisions and stick to those decisions, enabling them and their companies to go where a few had gone before.

Icing on the cake

Business behavior analysts believe that almost always, such women – and perhaps men – have demonstrated character traits that in the first place spurred the kind of phenomenon  achieved by a few. They believe that soft skills often put the icing on the cake for women who have always thought beyond the safe small business. For these women, soft skills that often use emotional intelligence in business building has been the key to what they have achieved.

A key skill such women portrayed was their ability to understand and make use of technology. They were able to harness its potential and use it to make real time decisions, cut the time frames between processes to minimize delays and were open to technological advancement that almost always brought entrepreneurial success. Today’s technology can benefit businesses tremendously, used correctly  it can harness the power of web based solutions and software to enhance, expand and build businesses on multiple platforms, while reducing costs and exploring opportunities. 

Female entrepreneurs who chose to initiate and build sustainable goals and then were patient enough to wait upon them, almost always came out on top. Vision, mission and goals are relevant not only for a business but also for the individual. Those who had clear-cut goals were able to view those goals, even in the distance ; it served often to keep the boat afloat until it reached the shore.       

Role model

Coming back to my favorite theory of role models, successful business women often had a role model, who served as an inspiration to achieve something more than a mere success. A mentor was always a driving factor for most  – to go the extra mile, to taste success at a higher level than average. Role models not only enabled them to achieve results but also to emulate from the very beginning of a career. Some were able to even follow the mentor’s path of a chosen career. Yet others have preferred global stars as their role models, inspired by their success, driven by their quest for worldwide appeal.

Re-invention

Behavior analysts also found that the outstanding women entrepreneurs were able to re-invent themselves and their businesses. Some businesses have been rendered useless by technological advancements while others have been made obsolete. A while ago, terrazzo floors were all the rage but today, tiles have replaced terrazzo. Re-inventing oneself and one’s business is key to development , take a look at Madonna. She’s been around since the eighties but she has always been able to powerfully re-invent herself and her music, still able to command an outstanding stage presence. In order to engineer re-invention, it is important to correctly perceive and read business trends. Successful female entrepreneurs who sought and achieved exceptional results were able to do just that.    

Defying norms of established boundaries also figured big in the list. Set norms and religious like belief in such norms could be limiting, imposing restrictions on oneself and one’s ability to grow. The innovators defied set boundaries and encouraged themselves and their companies to go out there and do something different. Identify new ideas and new needs before developing products and services to suit those needs.  For some, those very decisions enabled them to reach the top, for others it has resulted in developing products that went on to achieve cult status. Body Shop’s creator, Anita Roddick, identified a niche and developed her whole business based on that new need – an awareness of nature, recycling, awareness of animals being tested for products, they were new ideas but powerful concepts that a business could be built on.   

The mega entrepreneurial ladies also had a base of loyal customers with whom they always developed relationships. It has been pointed out that building and retaining a loyal customer base makes the business. These women worked on sourcing and retaining their customers from the beginning. They often formed relationships with customers that in some cases, lasted generations. In today’s superficial world of one minute customer contact, these companies valued their customers and worked at retaining them, keeping them satisfied. 

Building a business from nothing is never easy – more so for women who must also consider the life’s roles she plays while building and expanding her business. Thinking outside the box, applying rules not applied before, defying norms and coming out on top have been the pillars on which successful women have built successful businesses.