Remember Lucy Van Pelt in the comic strip Charlie Brown? I woke this morning thinking about one of her famous lines, “I told you so, you blockhead!” Lucy was known for setting up a psychiatric booth in the neighborhood offering advice to her friends for five cents per person. Clearly she caught the entrepreneurial bug early but I'm not sure I'd want to get my business direction from her. : -) This got me thinking about how women entrepreneurs need to be cautious when seeking advice, coaching and mentoring on their road to success.
When I first had the idea to birth Smart Women Smart Solutions®, something happened that nearly convinced me to hang up my coaching hat before I got started. I was attending a party with my husband and shortly after we arrived, I ran into an old acquaintance. I could hardly contain my excitement about my new business idea. After our initial conversation, I blurted out my new big idea and guess what happened? I'll never forget it. She had this loud, high-pitched laugh that carried across the room and with a flip of the hand, she said as loudly as she could, “Ha! That will never work! Women will never pay for that. That's why we have coffee meetings and girls night out!” She turned on her heel and waltzed away leaving me there with my glass of red wine and a broken spirit. : -(
Recently, I've had the opportunity to travel to multiple women's conferences and speak to scores of women entrepreneurs about their Big Ideas, Dreams and Goals. Questions come up on a range of topics including how to start a business to taking an existing business to the next level of success. One question that seems to have a recurring theme right now is “How do I create a successful business while maintaining work/life balance?” Great question! And one that deserves an answer with some solid tips and solutions.