As published on the Femme Palette blog:
If the pandemic has taught us one thing, then it is the ability to adapt. From balancing housework with our job requirements to homeschooling and sharing the same workspace with your partner. The coronacrisis has shown that we can essentially do anything, we just have to try. And it is the same with business. If you have long had an idea in mind but have struggled to introduce it to the market, what are you waiting for? Now is the best time to give it a go.
You will never be 100% ready
Despite sounding like a cliche, great ideas are not born overnight. And so do not worry if your business plan is ready yet - quite frankly, it will never be 100% ready! It will keep evolving over time and only by discussing, obtaining feedback, and testing it with others, you can make it stronger and better than before. And you simply cannot do this alone! If you are unsure how to get your idea off the ground, build a user persona, write a business plan or access funding, apply for the mentoring program for entrepreneurs and get 1:1 advice from an experienced founder who can help you get started as an entrepreneur.
TIP: If you know someone who wants to start a business, why not give them a Christmas voucher to get money off mentoring? Give them the gift of career guidance and watch their business evolve!
Reflect and act
And why now is the best time to start a business? Corona has allowed us to reflect - to think about our current situation and contemplate the future. As a result, we might have concluded that this current state is not what we wanted or expected from life. But how to change that? You need someone to offer you a helping hand and pull you out of the dark place. Mentoring is a great way to tackle this stagnation and set off on a new venture. And the best part? You can do it remotely. Read more on the benefits of remote mentoring here.
Access to the global talent pool
Remote work has also been playing in the cards of entrepreneurship as it provided access to an-almost-unlimited-pool all of the workforce. Therefore, you can connect with talent from all around the world and find the skill sets that match your possibilities and expectations. As a first-time founder, you will also need a strong team to help your business grow. As our femmepreneurs would agree, working with people was one of the greatest challenges they tackled during the program, and it was the mentor who helped them overcome this obstacle.
Be ready to say NO to barriers.
Sometimes we lack the confidence or courage to sell ourselves or our brand (or both). A mentor will give us the necessary confidence to tackle this and serve as a safety net, should we fall. But mentoring starts with you! Therefore, the first step to successfully starting a company is to learn to say NO.
TIME
If you think that crisis is the worst time to set up a business, think again. Some of the most successful companies were born right after the financial crisis in 2008. Like a phoenix, they rose from the ashes and have shaped the way we work and interact with others since. These include Pinterest, Slack, Square, Uber, and WhatsApp, to name a few (source).
AGE
Just look at the example of David Karp who created Tumblr at the age of 21, just so it could be later bought by Yahoo. No one says that you have to be the next Forbes 30 under 30 but to think that you cannot achieve something just because of your age would be a misconception.
MONEY
Jessica Perno left her Wall Street job to launch a startup to provide daycare outside the traditional 9 to 5 (read more in the Dallas News). Needless to say, the paycheck in the corporate world differs rapidly from the earnings of a first-time entrepreneur. But if you invest your time and energy right, it is worth every penny - and not just financially, but also emotionally. You feel that your work makes sense and adds value to people’s lives. Jessica's company has since been called the shaker of the day care. If she could take this step, why couldn’t you?
Don’t let the fear of being too inexperienced, too young, too overqualified, or anything else bring you down! There has never been a better time to set up your own business. Apply now for the Femme Palette mentoring program and get a professional mentor to help craft your business plan and conquer the market. See you at our next Femmepreneur call?