5 WAYS TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR

A special thank you to BROOKSIDE Chocolate for sponsoring this post!

I’m excited to be teaming up with BROOKSIDE, my all-time favorite chocolate candy, hands down!  They have a fun campaign going on right now and I’m so excited to be a part of it!  It’s called ‘THAT’S BALLSY’ where you share an act that you’ve done that is courageous and brave, one that took confidence, hard work, and self-discipline.  The first thing that came to my mind was starting my own business which is definitely a BALLSY act in my mind!  I’m going to share 5 things that have helped me become a successful woman entrepreneur and I hope they’ll inspire and help you too!

I decided to start my own business right after I lost my dear dad to lung cancer in January of 2012.  I started it as a wardrobe consulting business where I met with clients one on one doing closet audits and then setting up their dressing rooms filled with outfits, shoes, handbags and accessories that I had picked out.  This was very time consuming because I was only able to meet with clients one on one.

After about a year of this, I decided to take another BALLSY step. Just as BROOKSIDE fuses and experiments with flavors such as acai until they uncover the most interesting and delicious dark chocolate combinations, I wanted to fuse and experiment with my love for fashion through a fashion blog. A blog would allow me to share my style advice with thousands of women in a much more efficient and effective way.

When I first started blogging I was making no money and was ok with this in the beginning, I wasn’t in it for the money anyway, I was simply doing it because I LOVE FASHION and have since I was a little girl. The main reason I was doing it was to help other women, that’s it, it was as simple as that.  I knew if I kept with it as with anything my numbers would grow and I would eventually start earning money.  After about 2-3 years was when I would say I started making a decent amount of money and now after 6 years I’m earning more than I ever thought possible. Just goes to show that women should never be defined by age or experience. So, if you’re thinking about starting your own fashion or lifestyle blog or any type of business, I hope these 5 tips will help you!

5 TIPS TO BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR:

1.) DO IT NOW: If you’ve been thinking a ton about starting your own business you’ve probably been planning a ton too. That’s good! However, planning and thinking about doing something is very different than actually doing it.  Set a date to start your business and as NIKE says: JUST DO IT!  I had done tons of planning and thinking myself, I made a list of all the things I needed to do to start a fashion blog such as come up with a name, build a website, hire a photographer, etc…. One day I decided to just do it and told myself that I would check one item off of my list every day until it was complete. So I did and so can you!

2.)  BE CONSISTENT:  If someone were to ask me the ONE thing I owe my success to it would be consistency.  I have posted on my blog 2-3 times a week, EVERY WEEK, not missing even one week for the last 6 years.  I have posted twice a day on Instagram for the last 6 years with the occasional one a day without missing a day, EVER.   I set a goal of posting 3 times a week on my blog and 2 times a day on Instagram and I wrote it down and I stuck to it.  My readers and followers have grown to expect that, it’s how I make sales so it’s what I do and will continue to do.  My advice to you is set a goal, a realistic goal for yourself, write it down, and stick to it, I promise it will pay off in the long run!

3.) NEVER GIVE UP:  Being told ‘NO’ is not something I like, I never have and I rarely take no for an answer.  Just because I don’t get a certain collaboration or don’t make the sales I thought I would for the month, I always keep trying.  I’ve learned to just keep working hard and stay focused, trust me, hard work and self-discipline always pay off!  One of my favorite quotes is this:  FALL DOWN SEVEN TIMES STAND UP EIGHT.  I love this, where there is a will there is a way!  The only way you will ever fail is if you quit!

4.)  KNOW YOUR CLIENT:  No matter what type of business you’re in this is a must.  My client or reader is a woman between 25-45 and she likes affordable, yet chic clothing.  I know this because I keep track of my sales every month and see what the best selling items were on my blog, what retailer they were from and how much they cost.  That information is so valuable because I take it and give all of you more of what you want! My recommendation to you is to get to know your client and more importantly know exactly what they want from you and give it them, it’s that simple.

5.) DELEGATE STRATEGICALLY:  God gave many strengths and for that I’m very thankful!  God also gave me a few challenges and it’s my job to recognize those and hire other people to fill in those gaps.  Being the sole person who runs my blog I have to wear many hats such as being the stylist (the one who picks out the clothes that will be featured on my blog), the one in the photos, the one taking the photos and editing them ( this is one of the first things I delegated), the one who writes the blog posts and comes up with the ideas of what to write about, the one in charge in SEO and tracking sales,  being in charge of getting new business, the one in charge of responding to interested clients, the one in charge of accounts receivable, the one in charge of accounts payable, the one in charge of taking care of my website in case it crashes, and finally the one in charge of managing all of my social media accounts.   Wow, I’ve never really sat back and wrote it all down and I’m sure I’m leaving something out, but my point is I can’t do all of this alone, so I had to recognize what my weaknesses were and hire someone else to do that job.  This not only made my job easier, but my business runs smoother and more efficiently.  I outsource my photography,  my technical support and website support, and I have a consultant who helps me with SEO and some of my social media accounts.  To be a good delegator you have to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and hire people to fill in the gaps, this is the perfect formula for a successful business!

I’d love to hear about the ballsy moves that YOU’VE made. Share in the comments or on social media with #ThatsBallsy.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I really appreciate each and every one of you!

BROOKSIDE DARK CHOCOLATE // RALPH LAUREN ARMY JACKET WEARING A SIZE S FOR LESS HERE // AG JEANS WEARING A SIZE 25 // SEQUIN TANK WEARING A SIZE S // SILVER HEELS // STELLA MCCARTNEY HANDBAG  

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARY SUMMERS OF M.A.S. PHOTOGRAPHY