While the term, ‘entrepreneur’, typically conjures the image of a male like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, we’ve come to see that the ladies are not leaving it for men to claim full ownership of the word.
In fact, females may be better than their male counterparts in certain areas. A Co.Exist article asserts that females are intuitive systems-thinkers, care more about solutions than who gets credit, are experts on collaboration, and are good at seeking balance.
There are certainly many things we can learn from them. To help you along, we’ve distilled a list of useful tips from female entrepreneurs in Singapore and around the region to guide you if you’re embarking on the road less traveled.
1. Understand why you are doing this.
Most ventures don’t succeed on the first try.
The reality is that behind every successful entrepreneur, there was a lot of learning from failed experiences. Understanding the reasons behind your decision to become an entrepreneur will help you to learn better from your mistakes and give you the confidence to keep going.
Carol hails from Taiwan(left) while Maria (right) is from Hong Kong. Photo: Shokay
Social entrepreneur Carol Chyau co-founded a lifestyle brand that promotes sustainable income in rural China called Shokay (Read: Five lessons from an experienced social entrepreneur).
Shokay designs and sells products made from soft yak down sourced by Tibetan herders.
Although Carol and her partner had zero knowledge in the fibre industry, they perservered and drowned themselves with knowledge from books, mentors and Google search results.
It took them patience and sheer grit to become experts in the field, having to tweak their business model several times before hitting the ground running.
What motivated these Harvard graduates to choose this path instead of a comfortable corporate career?
“I’m not doing this because I am more philanthropic than other people out there, nor because I’m particularly altruistic. For me, it’s about a sense of responsibility. I just believe that as lucky as we are to have so much, we should give back even more,” she answered.
Be honest with yourself. If you’re doing it to attract hot chicks like in “The Social Network”, then it’s probably not the best motivation.
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