By Lucy Njeri, Project Manager
It always begins from the inside out. Stay with me on this. While the motivation of the business keeps you going, it may dare I say, be its downfall. I got your attention, right?
In most homes globally, women have begun businesses for many reasons. Some have begun businesses because they have been denied an income by their spouses, others have sought to increase their responsibility and support their common households. There are also those who have wanted to have their own miscellaneous and entertainment money, devoid of battles of taking from the needs’ kitty.
Sadly though, many ladies have created businesses as a means of survival. Kicked out of home and with children to feed, instead of a begging bowl in hand, they get their hands dirty. There are those who are breadwinners in a shared home as the spouse’s income cannot meet their household’s needs, or their work assignments are cut short abruptly and the other has to step up.
Yet there are still a number of those, like all entrepreneurs, who seek to provide solutions to problems that align with their skills and experiences. These ones pursue setting up their enterprises, aware of the challenges of expanding their area of influence and impact. They may be coming from seasons of being a stay-at-home-parent, or an employee in an established institution.
Self-awareness of the internal drive informs not only the existence of the business but also the quality of the decisions, which have a bearing on the immediate success and longevity of the enterprise.
A business for survival with justifiable reasons requires so much mental energy to keep it moving. This means that some decisions may be more emotional than are logical. The view of the owner may be subsisting seeing that there is no help in sight, thus leading to fear of risk taking. Such knowledge informs any employee, business partner or investor on how to handle growth and scaling up conversations with empathy.
As such, the longevity of the business comes into question. Was there foresight of the business in the far horizon? If not, can the vision be recalibrated and embedded in the strategy and daily goals of the enterprise?
Therefore, it is for businesses to review, analyze, define and continuously refine their businesses from the core. The consistent ‘why’ question should be at the forefront to guide the decisions. Seeking external counsel clarifies the compelling why, beyond subsistence living and or extreme extravagance.
Seeing the end from the beginning changes the lens of the current business goals. In so doing, the fear of failure and anxiety over survival are overridden by the quest for multigenerational success.
As an entrepreneur, casting sights to the horizon expands one’s mental space and creates capacity for more solution based growth. Once your foresight is on innovating solutions you increase your income, influence and impact. Keep in mind, a destination is not a venue but a vision that is always growing and changing.
Image from: https://pixabay.com/
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