Success is something every entrepreneur aspires to when starting a business, but success rarely comes easily. As the 2015 Australian Businesswomen’s Network’s Hall of Fame inductees know all too well, it takes hard work and persistence to overcome obstacles to succeed.
The ABN Hall of Fame inductees including Kate Weiss, Cathy Reid, Camilla Frank and Michelle Bridges, are shining examples of how believing in yourself can turn an idea into a reality. The ABN Hall of Fame honours and celebrates Australian female business owners who have used strength, passion and ingenuity to create successful businesses and they now act as role models for future generations of businesswomen.
Our Hall of Famers share a number of common strategies to being successful in business, including:
1. Passion. As with anything in life, passion is something that fuels the fire. It is a driving force for entrepreneurs particularly during the tough times, to continue on the journey to business success.
Cathie Reid of Epic Pharmacy Group says owning a business is hard work and if you are not filled with passion about what you do, it makes it hard to get out of bed on the tough days. Her advice is, “If you are not ‘out of your skin’ excited about what you’re doing more days than not, look at what you need to change to get back to that mindset, and make it happen.”
2. Purpose. It is not enough to just be passionate about your business – it needs to have purpose, something which many of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees felt strongly about.
Barb de Corti of ENJO says make sure your business has a purpose. “Ask yourself what will it achieve for yourself and others? Many ideas fail because success doesn’t just come from a passion – the purpose needs to be there.”
3. Teamwork. Audette Exel of Adara Group says don’t imagine for a second that you can do this alone. She explains, “My career has been built with a great team, working with a shared vision. My biggest failures have come from the times I acted alone and the successes have come from working in a team. Adara is successful because we have built a diverse team.”
4. Lead by example. Be a leader that others can look up to, emulate and respect.
Penny Spencer of Spencer Travel says it is always best to lead by example. “As a leader you need to ensure people want to follow you. The only way to ensure this is to do as you say, walk the talk to earn the respect and trust from your followers.”
5. Believe in yourself. Be your own cheerleader. Michelle Bridges of 12WBT says if you don’t believe in what you are doing and who you are, then go back to the drawing board and figure it out. “Listen. Still do your thing, the way you do, with your unique flair, but listen to solid feedback and tweak your idea. It’s one thing to be bullish, another to be bull-headed.”
Along with their unique approach to creating a business, each of the inductees agree and used these strategies to help them on their path to entrepreneurial success.
A full list of over 75 strategies from the 2015 Australian Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame inductees is available here.