Yes, You can start a business in difficult times!
Article by Lotte Frost, Norway
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected us all in many different ways, both regarding our work life and our personal life. We have shared learnings, we have been digitalized, we spend more time together with our families, we miss interaction with other people, we have started a sustainability journey etc. The list of what is transformed the last year is long and we are affected in different ways. Regarding business we see that green businesses is evolving and growing, new ideas are evoked while traditional companies that can´t cope with the system change are finding it hard to adjust and change.
How does the crises affect female entrepreneurs?
According to a newly published study from Kilden Kjønnsforskning[1] (gender research) in Norway, female entrepreneurs are struggling more during the crises than men, especially in three areas:
1. Female entrepreneurs dominate the businesses regarding closeness to clients; health, social work, travelling etc.
2. Uneven share of care responsibility regarding home-school and home-kindergarten
3. Women do not take enough advantage of the different schemes and tools offered by the government
The ability to readjust and claim your rights will vary between women, this is general learning of the pandemic crisis so far. The findings are supported in the Nordic innovation study[2], where the impact of the crises is highest in the businesses where there’s a higher share of female entrepreneurs:
Is this a time for establishing a new business?
Yes it is! If You have a good idea, if You have the guts, if the market wants it; it’s always time for establishing Your own business. And sometimes a crisis is a redemptive success factor. Cecilie Hoxmark, a member of the Women In business network in Norway, is one of the women who made a giant decision in the middle of the pandemic. She chose to leave a well-paid, secure job in order to give fully attention to an issue of great importance for her; involuntarily childless. By putting a very vulnerable and taboo topic on the agenda, she’s expiring huge attention and success. She has within a few months published a book, she has a podcast interviewing well known people and these days she’s launching her own YouTube channel.
So all you female entrepreneurs; follow your heart and launch your idea.
And If You need help, talk to us in the Wingate project, we’re here to help. Good luck!
[2] http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1438362/FULLTEXT02.pdf
Social Skills a Key to Business Success
Whether you run a small, medium company or you want to open a business in order to be successful, you must consider on the one hand the social skills, the so-called soft skills and, obviously, the skills that require work experience - the hard skills.
Soft skills are social skills based on emotional and social intelligence, while hard skills are those that can be quantified with the educational level of each and the work experience.
Following a WINGATE analysis based on the responses received from 1400 women in Romania, Serbia, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova and Norway, it emerged the importance of soft skills that women must have to open a business: public speaking, negotiation technique, conflict management and last but not least increased emotional intelligence. These features have been found to allow women to adapt more easily in the business environment, to have a positive attitude and to perform. Social skills are skills that have a great involvement in running a business on their own, they are combined with hard skills so as to achieve success in business.
Most of the interviewed ladies say that they value emotional intelligence more than a structured management plan, because soft skills mean integrating in the market and in the segment where you work, motivating and "selling" your business so as to create value. The ability to communicate effectively in business is an essential element to manage a successful business. Managerial communication is a function of management that makes known the result of managerial decisions and establishes a climate of understanding between those who transmit information and those who receive it.
The ability to resolve dysfunctions, the responsibility to allocate resources and the ability to negotiate are key competencies of a successful entrepreneur.
All these skills and abilities can be acquired through education or experience. Project management skills will help you lead your own team effectively to achieve your goals.
// The original article was published in Romanian. If you would like to read in this language, click please click here!