Want to know what it takes to start a women-owned business? I have the answer: it takes a lot of work, a lot of passion, and a lot of grit. I started my own side hustle Business while on maternity leave with my second baby. I was so naive when I started – I had a great idea and I knew I could do better than my competitors. I thought – once I created and listed my products, people would come and buy from me and I’d be successful straight away.

I have an established customer base now, but it has taken me a lot of time and a great deal of learning to get here.

Action Points to Successfully Start a Women-owned Business

Here are some of my best tips for anyone else to start a women-owned business:

1- Have an Amazing Idea

Do you have an amazing business idea? Your idea needs to be something that customers will love, and something that allows you to stand out from the rest and have a real point of difference.

Many industries, especially online industries are very competitive. So you need to come up with something that will stand out from the rest.

What is it that you can do better than competitors? How can you nail your niche with an e-commerce business?

You need to be very passionate about your idea and know your purpose as you will be working on it for months and months to come.

2- Research and Plan

So, you’ve already got an amazing idea that is different or better than anyone else’s business, now you get to start doing it. You’ll need to research and make a business plan to succeed. There is a lot involved in starting a business.

You’ll need to research business registration, regulations, and legal requirements for your business type, as well as local government and state regulations. You’ll need to research products, suppliers, and people to hire for all the different tasks that still need to be done.

Read blogs, listen to podcasts, and purchase books and magazines to help you learn. Start with Smart Hustle and look for further opportunities. Create an awesome business plan and keep yourself on track.

3- Find Great People to Work With

There’s still so much more to do before launching. Photography, web design, branding, and marketing are some of the most important jobs. If you’re tech-savvy and willing to learn, you can do some of these yourselves. If you hire someone, don’t look for the cheapest person. Look for someone who has experience in your area and can provide references.

Speak to a lot of people and hire who you feel comfortable with. Facebook is a wonderful place to find people to work with. These people can make or break your business.

Finally, once you’ve got each of these things sorted, you can get ready for your launch.

4- Marketing

I think a reason why so many side hustles fail or are abandoned is because of marketing. Marketing is hard and can be very expensive. Start with social media, and post interesting things for your target audience. I love posting blog posts, memes, and questions for my audience.

You also might like to look at advertising. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just running some Facebook and Instagram ads and having all your dreams come through. You’ll need to research different types of marketing and decide what will work best for your business.

You might need to try a few different things before you find what works for you. You might lose money, to begin with, or just break even, but keep researching, keep trying new things, and keep making decisions based on what your data tells you is working.

If Facebook ads aren’t working for you, try different types of ads. If Google ads are too expensive, look for ways to optimize and look at SEO.

5- Plan Mum Time and Business Time

If you are starting a side hustle with small children, it can be so hard to separate mum time from business time. So making a work-life balance is a must.  Schedule time each day for what needs to be done for launching your business.

If you are trying to design a website while also playing dolls, you’ll be doing a terrible job at both. Separate the two. Plan your time so that you can work while your children nap, or while your partner is home to look after them.

Rally the troops to help with the children when you need to work on your business. Trying to do both at once is disastrous!

6- Get Inspiration

Surround yourself (online and in real life) with amazing people who inspire you. Find groups on social media for women like you who are starting businesses and succeeding in them. Listen to podcasts, read blogs and follow social media accounts for businesswomen that are full of inspiration. This will keep you on track and also give you amazing practical ideas for what you can do for your own side hustle business.

I can 100% wholeheartedly recommend the Lady Startup podcast.

7- Remember Why You are Doing It

Many of us want to start a side hustle so we can spend more time with our kids and have some more financial freedom. Remember these reasons all the time. Think of these when you are close to giving up.

There is no point in being at home to spend more time with your family if you are too stressed to enjoy your time with them. And there is no point in investing all your family’s money at the beginning before you have a viable, sustainable business.

Remember your goals and keep thinking about these as you work towards your successful side hustle.

8- Make the Most of Calendars and To-Do Lists

You should control and manage where you spend time. Keep your to-do lists up to date. Throughout the day, when ideas come to you, add them to your to-do list. At the end of the day or week, you might have a giant to-do list and no time to do all of the items. This is where your calendar is so useful.

You might need to write a blog post, finish your web design, or write a proposal. You cannot do all these things at once and you cannot do them all on the same day, maybe not even the same week! Instead, write these things into your calendar.

You can’t do all of your tasks in one day, but you can get them all done eventually with planning. Once a task is written on your calendar, you don’t need to worry about it until that day and time come.

Write tasks in your calendar and stick to them!

I hope the above pointers will help you successfully start a women-owned business.

Contributor:

Rachel Preston Broughton is a mother of two, a blogger, and the owner of an amazing side hustle called Baby and Mumma Gifts. Rachel is an advocate for women in business and passionate about inspiring fellow women to start and succeed in their businesses. Follow Rachel on Facebook and Instagram for more.

Smart Hustle Resources:

Is Your Business Name Stunting Your Growth?

Four Easy Steps to Nurture your Business Network

How to Start Using Instagram for Business Marketing

The post Want to Start a Women-owned Business? Do These Things appeared first on SmartHustle.com.