What are the keys to business success? It turns out is the same as the keys to life success! – InPower Editors
A couple of weekends ago, I volunteered at the Dallas Startup Weekend: Women’s Edition, held at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center (the DEC). If you haven’t been to a startup weekend, think of it as a hackathon for business. Within a weekend, you work on a startup idea (vetted through a voting process), gather a team, and create a quick and dirty (and hopefully viable) business plan. It can be a lot of fun and a great way to network and meet other like-minded people.
While I was hearing everyone’s pitches Sunday night, I wondered what drove these women to create these startups. Would passion carry an idea to launch? Would these teams stick together or fizzle like a weekend fling?
Then I wondered about the revenue models. Some companies included them, some didn’t. And it didn’t seem to bother the judges that some companies were missing one.
So I wondered, what makes one company soar while another company sinks?
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We often think companies succeed because of money. Throw enough money at it, and it will do great (the mantra of the Dot-Com Bubble). Strong money management is important to run a business well. Investors like women-owned companies because they do just that (ask Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank). But is money the single necessity for success? Not necessarily. Here are the key ingredients according to the speakers I heard from:
1. A team
During the startup weekend, the facilitator, Marion Desmazieres, and DEC founder, Jennifer Conley, individually commented that it is team dynamics that can bring victory or disaster.
Molly Cain and Clarisa Lindenmeyer of Tech Wildcatters spoke similarly about teams a month earlier during a conversation about the myths women face with startups. One of the topics we discussed was the myth that a startup is all about the founder. They told me that “the most important person in the room is not always the founder – it’s the team.” And the more diverse the team – from gender to personal background to subject knowledge – the better. More diverse experiences contribute to a better conceived product.
Sometimes we confuse starting a freelance business with launching a startup. The Rich Dad Poor Dad blog has a great post of the distinction between the two.
Most S-quadrant businesses are either structured as sole proprietorships or partnerships. They could be teams, but not in the way B-quadrant businesses are teams.
B-quadrant businesses bring different types of people with different skills together to build something greater than each individual. S-quadrant businesses bring the same types of people together, but they don’t build something greater than the individuals; they simply offer more of the same.
–Robert Kiyosaki, What Makes a Business Successful
At Startup Weekend, I noticed that the groups included UX professionals, lawyers, accountants, marketers, developers, financial types. The teams were mostly women, but they had diverse skillsets, backgrounds, and perspectives. Diverse thinking made the ideas mature.
So what prevents women from getting the team?
2. The ability to ask for help.
Women often have a difficult time asking for help. Both Clarisa and Molly agreed that this is probably one of the biggest obstacles for most women to overcome and get what they want.
Clarisa gave some great advice that I plan on using – ask anyone for help, especially movers/shakers and influencers. Asking an influencer for a favor is almost a guarantee for success. The favor isn’t just about your gain – she wants to feel that she has helped you and was successful in that as well.
Molly told me that’s how she got her column in Forbes. She asked.
Sometimes you will run into a specific problem that only others who have been in your position will understand. It is important to build a network of mentors and advisers so that you have someone to turn to for advice in bad times…
–Richard Branson, Asking for Help, Entrepreneur
A successful business takes a community. Not everyone in the community needs to be an employee, or even someone you know. You need to be part of a supportive environment that believes in you, your team, and your vision.
3. Stop perfectionism or waiting for recognition — take action.
Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.
— Ghandi
How many times have you believed that you’ll eventually get the promotion you deserve? Or if you just wait long enough, someone will notice your contributions? Molly recounted how many women she worked with in corporate America who were waiting – waiting for that next big thing to happen to them. Most women don’t realize that by thinking and taking action we make our own realities.
They reflected on why Gabriella Draney Zielke, who co-founded Tech Wildcatters, is successful. She has an idea, she talks about it with others, she creates a plan, and works through it with her team. She doesn’t try to get it perfect the first time and experiments to see what works. She follows her instincts and her passion – and obviously, they have guided her into the right place. She creates her destiny.
Their advice: If a job you want doesn’t exist – go make it. If a product you think belongs on the market doesn’t exist – go find a team and create it. If you need to make payroll and don’t have funds available – somehow, you find a way to get it.
Take action on your thoughts and words to make changes. Don’t be a woman waiting for change.
Anabella Waston of RentBillow created this meme:
Startups may begin poor, but money is just a small part of the equation for success. We know that investors prefer women owned companies – and there needs to be more eligible women-owned businesses for them to invest in.
To get there, we need to:
- Believe we create our own destiny
- Ask for help
- Recruit a team to make it happen
And then we need to just do it.
Take charge of your career development to get the job that supports your work and your life. Check out the tools and resources in the InPower Coaching Career Center.
