GLENVIEW, IL — April 18, 2014 – Spurred by innovative ideas, the need for flexible schedules to juggle family life, passion to make the world a better place, and other fuels firing the flame, the number of women taking the leap into entrepreneurship is growing. In fact, U.S. women-owned businesses reached nearly 30 percent of all businesses nationwide.
Today, women entrepreneurs find better access to resources, mentors, technology, and in some cases, capital. Even so, research suggests that the glass ceiling still exists. According to a recent SBA study, businesses with women on the management team are the fastest growing groups of entrepreneurial companies, however, few receive venture capital money.
“While resources are often scarce, time is a precious commodity entrepreneurs need to build businesses, understand customers and sell products and/or services,” said Lori Bolas, Director, Communications, SurePayroll Inc. “I talk to women entrepreneurs almost daily and what I hear repeatedly is that while women are great at multi-tasking they get sucked into all the operational tasks that eat away at the critical hours needed to develop strategy, build relationships and move the needle on growth. What we’ve learned from our small business customers is that there are key steps and resources that can make a tremendous difference in scaling your dream.”
How can women entrepreneurs become educated on taking a dream and launching it into a business?
Here are SurePayroll’s key steps to build your business:
1. Seek mentors to develop strategy and a balanced approach to building small businesses.
While new ideas drive entrepreneurs to launch businesses, there are many people who have already learned from experience. Find experts across different business functions and seek support. Network with friends and family. Find organizations to help. Resources are available at the U.S. Small Business Administration, Micromentor.org or SCORE. Women-specific entrepreneur organizations, like Ladies Who Launch ) or Women 2.0 (http://women2.com/), connect women entrepreneurs and hold events, provide training opportunities and access to potential mentors. Remember that it’s important to seek both male and female mentors to navigate the business environment.
2. Develop a plan to keep track of all financial records and identify an accountant.
Financial records are critical – for annual or quarterly taxes, payroll, potential investors and, in the event of an audit, proper documentation is key. Find a reputable accountant to help manage the business. Automate back office, redundant tasks like payroll. There are affordable, easy online payroll options that will give you peace of mind and save you hours each month.
3. Determine how to staff your business.
Strategy development includes plans to staff the business. Develop a staffing plan and begin to research and interview potential candidates. Develop an interview process with open-ended questions for candidates to think through solutions to real problems businesses face. Use referrals, conduct due diligence and find true partners to delegate projects.
4. Harness digital tools to run your business.
Do you need an office or can staff work remotely? Do you need full-time and part-time staff? Online tools, allow entrepreneurs to leverage efficiency and keep down costs. Use social networking tools to market the business like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more. Identify tools and leverage messages across multiple platforms to save precious time with efficiency.
5. Understand Alpha women that everything won’t be perfect.
And that’s ok. Constantly seeking perfection can slow down business development and someone else may hit the market first. In truth, nothing is perfect and continuous improvement should be part of business processes.
6. Develop a plan to scale your business.
Budding entrepreneurs often think of the big buy out from a large business, but that is not the norm. Often businesses grow, then plateau. To scale a business, selling solutions to customers are only pieces of a larger puzzle. Delivering the solutions – and meeting growing demand takes strategic planning. Think about growth strategies like influxes of capital, processes, measurements as well as resources to help plan how to invest money – when, where, with whom – to help reach long-term growth. And constantly seek ways to influx capital into the business to prepare for growth.
7. Continuously listen and learn from your customers.
Put mechanisms in place to gain feedback from customers. Talk to customers all the time. Don’t lose touch with customers while running the business. Otherwise, someone else will listen to the customer’s changing needs and provide a new solution. Evolve or perish.
8. Manage entrepreneurial expectations.
The idea of running a business is often far different than the reality. With small operating budgets, start-ups often begin on a dime with one or a few people running the business – and that may include many unforeseen duties. Keep long-term goals in mind and remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
9. Mentally prepare for unforeseen challenges.
Similar to life, few things go according to plan. Sometimes it’s frustrating. Sometimes it’s enlightening. Being an entrepreneur is exciting, exhausting, difficult and rewarding – sometime even in the same day. In the end, be prepared for constant change and learn to roll with the punches.
10. Go for it…and enjoy the journey.
About SurePayroll
SurePayroll is the trusted provider of easy online payroll services to small businesses nationwide. Whether a business has 1, 10, or 100 employees, SurePayroll delivers peace of mind by combining innovative, industry-leading technology and personalized support from an award-winning, U.S.-based customer care team. SurePayroll also provides private-label and co-branded services for accountants and banking partners as well as offering efficient online solutions for managing 401(k) plans, health insurance, workers’ compensation, employee screening and more. SurePayroll is a wholly owned subsidiary of Paychex. For more information, please visit www.SurePayroll.com. Follow us on Twitter — Circle us on Google+ — Connect with us on LinkedIn — Like us on Facebook.
About Paychex
Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) is a leading provider of payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses. The company offers comprehensive payroll services, including payroll processing, payroll tax administration, and employee pay services, including direct deposit, check signing, and Readychex®. Human resource services include 401(k) plan recordkeeping, section 125 plans, a professional employer organization, time and attendance solutions, and other administrative services for business. A variety of business insurance products, including group health and workers’ compensation, are made available through Paychex Insurance Agency, Inc. Paychex was founded in 1971. With headquarters in Rochester, New York, the company has more than 100 offices serving approximately 570,000 payroll clients as of May 31, 2013. For more information about Paychex and our products, visit www.paychex.com.
