5 characteristics that make a successful female entrepreneur

Female EntrepreneurIf you looked at a list of successful entrepreneurs fifty years ago, it was an oddity to see a woman’s name. Now we live in an exciting period where there has never been a greater time for women to launch a business. Women have the amazing ability to multitask, communicate with purpose and they are deep thinkers and visionaries. Women’s success in business is impressive as the statistics reflect.

There are a few consistent qualities successful female business leaders possess that the less (or non) successful lack. Here is a short list of key characteristics you want to develop to succeed in business.

Intuition

If you ask most entrepreneurs why they thought their idea or business would take off, most of them would admit it was a hunch or a gut feeling. How do you think they came up with the idea? It’s not because they are psychic (that would be great though!) It’s because they pay attention to what’s going on in the world by watching, listening and learning. When you have more knowledge and information, it’s much easier to make a gut decision about your business (vision) and choose the direction you want to take. Your instincts can be what sets you apart from your competitors – if you make better decisions…

Creativity

You can have a lot of technical skills and abilities, but if you haven’t got the creative juices flowing, there’s only so far you can take your business. No one is saying that you have to be Picasso or Da Vinci, it’s about thinking outside the box (what I call antimimeticisomorphism) and pushing yourself to uncover new methods that create a competitive edge that is sustainable. When you are creative, it makes you noticeably confident, allowing you to trust your unique set of abilities and skills. Learn  to hone, focus and prioritise your amazing ideas because without this skill you risk becoming a scatter brain that diffuses the power of creativity!

Persistence

One of the most important traits possessed by successful female entrepreneurs is persistence. You are going to face obstacles, problems and negative people along your journey, without persistence you won’t have the strength to stay the course. Easier said than done, I know. Unfortunately this one of those skills that just takes time to develop – believe in yourself and over time you will increase your persistence and tenacity. There is no other way – take the leap and trust yourself!

Fearlessness

Fearlessness is a quality often confused with risky behaviour. As far as business is concerned, possessing fearlessness means you will not let fears or worries stand in the way of achieving your dreams. You know what the risks are, but you persevere anyway because you KNOW you can overcome the risks and challenges. If the risks and challenges ARE insurmountable, then you don’t have a good business and you MUST re-evaluate. But once you know you can do it… DO IT!

Balance

Succeeding in your professional life, home life and trying to squeeze in some ‘me time’ is hard.  If it was easy, everyone would be “balanced”. Women are known to be better at this than men, but that doesn’t mean they all have “balance”. It is a constant struggle between competing interests, something you constantly need to keep an eye on.

Without balance, you risk burnout which is a recipe for disaster – NOT success!

Whether your are booking your next transnational business trip on corporatetraveller.com.au or planning your next exotic vacation, remember that these 5 characteristics of successful business women are a starting point on your path to your ultimate destiny – enjoy the journey because that is was success is all about. Having fun succeeding rather than succeeding with the expectation of one day “being happy”.
Guest post: By Keryn Thomson
Image: Bureau of IIP on Flickr Creative Common

1 Response to “5 characteristics that make a successful female entrepreneur”


  • Sheryl Sandberg with her book “Lean In” has done us all a huge favour by bringing many of the issues to the fore. Now not everyone is going to like Sheryl, but the lack of female representation in so many of our public companies is seriously holding us back both commercially and socially.

    Its good to see this topic getting more and more public exposure. Women have been starting more businesses than men for a while now.

    Ray Keefe
    Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd
    Engineering new Electronics Products for Australian Electronics Manufacturers
    Casey Business of the Year 2010
    Electronics News Future Award winners 2011, 2012
    Melbourne South East Small Business Award 2013
    Casey Business & Professional Services + Innovation Awards 2013
    Award Winning Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development
    Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development

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