Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, “I’m possible!” Audrey Hepburn
Why does it feel so impossible to become a successful female entrepreneur?
Is it that you don’t know the right network of people? Or maybe it’s you don’t have the money to really set yourself up for success? Oh wait… what about time? It’s gotta be because you don’t have enough hours in the day to make it successful? Or what about time management? Trying to fit it all in – life, work, being a mom, homework while trying to figure out what to make for dinner?
As a mom myself who runs a thriving coaching business that started while I globalmomschallenge.org was working a full time job in corporate America, here is a gentle reality check – it’s none of those reasons.
I am going to a get a little factual with you for a minute so bear with me but I feel it’s important cover some quick statistics:
In a recent article by USA Today roughly 20% of new businesses survive past their first year of operation. Half of all businesses no longer exist after five years. Only one-third make it past their 10th anniversary.
On the surface that sounds really discouraging, right? What can we as female entrepreneurs do to ensure we don’t become part of the “not around in five years” camp? I’ll get to that but let’s dive into a couple of more facts:
In FitSmallBusiness.com’s article “15 Entrepreneurship Statistics You Should Know” we learned 46% of businesses fail due to incompetence, 30% due to lack of managerial experience, 11% due to lack of experience.
To add to it entrepreneurs who succeeded in a prior venture, such as a company that went public, have a 30% chance of success in their next venture. On the other hand, first-time business owners have only an 18