by Jaclyn Johnson
As a female entrepreneur, I have been faced with challenges, opportunities, dead ends and open doors. I've learned firsthand that when you have to be your own best friend and your harshest critic, your mentality is everything. Here are a few things I've learned along the way.
1. Done is better than perfect:
Now, many people might say this isn't the best approach to business. However, in a world that is moving a mile a minute, often being the first to market is key. So just get it out there. Holding back and fixing any last minute imperfections with your product, site, brand, app, whatever, won’t necessarily bring about a successful launch or business. So just being able to put your product or company out in the world and iterate on it is a beautiful thing—take advantage of that.
2. Your gut is probably right:
I have had to learn this lesson the hard way. Opportunities will present themselves, people will say they want to help you out (and often times, they will) but other times you’re being taken advantage of. Trust your gut and put your foot down.
3. Hard decisions lead to better results:
You will face many hard decisions and it will feel like it is impossible to recover or deal with the decisions you are going to make, but trust me it is worth it. Harder decisions get easier to make over time. Don’t get sidetracked by the minutia—always envision the long game.
You will fail and that’s okay. You will mess up, you will be wrong, and that's okay, too. It's okay because you’re human after all. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Simply accept it and move on.
As a type A, “don’t worry I got this” individual, I realize how hard this can be, but it is crucial that you are your own number one fan and your own support system.
4. You’re a boss, not a bitch:
Don’t confuse the two like other people so often seem to. You are running a company and with that comes a lot of delegation and management, so don’t feel bad for telling an employee that what they did wasn’t satisfactory. It’s okay to say no if your employee asks to leave early on a busy day. You are a boss and as such you have to play that role and lay down the law when necessary.
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