By Jan Marie Dore

Canada is a global leader in women’s entrepreneurship. More women are starting small businesses than ever before. In the past ten years, the number of self-employed women in Canada has grown by more than twenty percent. Female entrepreneurial activity is higher in Canada than in many other leading countries, including Germany, France, U.K., Italy and Japan, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand. (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2005).

Over the past fourteen years, I have worked with hundreds of women entrepreneurs as their business coach. I’ve noticed that many women small business owners experience similar  challenges in growing and running their businesses, such as feeling overwhelmed and isolated, having difficulty keeping focused and productive, not enrolling enough support, and not planning for growth.

I’m often asked what my best business tips are for small business owners. I’ve compiled a list of my top seven tips for women entrepreneurs. Here’s a summary of my best advice for any woman running a small business:

1. Focus on your strengths

There’s an old saying – ‘Do what you do best and delegate the rest.’ Know what your top strengths are. Delegate or drop anything that you’re not exceptionally skilled at, and focus at least 80% of your time on using your key strengths and talents that bring you income.

2. Put yourself first

Your growing business needs a lot of time and attention. Many women in business put themselves third or fourth on their list of priorities. Put you and your business first and everything else will fall into place.

3. Learn to say ‘no’

I often ask women who have started a business to drop at least 25% of their time commitments when we start working together. Most women are too over-committed with non-business related activities. Be strategic about what you say yes to, especially in the first few years of your business. Guard your precious time as the valuable asset that it is.

4. Plan for success

Lack of planning causes more businesses to fail than anything else. Planning is very valuable because it causes you to think ahead to your vision and to consider next steps to reach your goals. You can create a simple one or two page business and marketing plan that outlines your business objectives and how you will achieve them. It doesn’t have to be complex or time consuming to do this.

5. Ask for support

Don’t try to figure it all out by yourself. Notice where you are stuck and could use some help, and ask for it. Ask colleagues or others who have been in business and could mentor you, hire a business coach, or form your own mastermind support team. Get peer support as well as administrative support. 

6. Delegate or drop your weaknesses

Get clear on what you don’t enjoy doing or don’t do very well. Either stop trying to do it, or find someone who will do it for you. A perfect example is bookkeeping. Many business owners struggle to keep their own books and records. If you dislike it, give it to someone else to do, and free up your time to earn money doing what you do best.

7. Keep an eye on the bottom line

You don’t need to have complex financial statements, but setting targets and tracking some key indicators every month will help you understand how you are doing. You‘ll know sooner what’s working and what’s not working so that you can make strategic adjustments.

Implement at least three of these tips, and watch your business start to thrive!

 Jan Marie Dore, MCC, is the Founder of Femalepreneurs.com, an online learning center for women worldwide who want to create a more profitable business and live a great life. Jan is an authority on small business whose passion is inspiring women to new levels of success and fulfillment through her coaching programs, teleseminars, workshops and retreats. She has made it her mission to teach women simple, effective marketing strategies to attract more customers and grow their profits substantially with much less effort.