12 Kinds of Evil that Wastes Women’s Time

Written by Kristi Jackson

1. Not Learning How to Negotiate. When you become an entrepreneur, it’s no one’s job except yours to learn how to effectively negotiate your proposals, fees, and labor costs. Learning how to negotiate early in your entrepreneurial journey will save you money, headaches and tons of irritation.

2. Saying Yes When You Really Need to Say No. Saying yes to everything doesn’t make you look like superwoman, it burns you out, decreases your performance, and makes you resentful. At the beginning of the month determine how much time and how much money you can give away to certain activities or causes, and stick to it. When that time or money is up-it’s up. Then start saying no with absolutely no guilt.

3. Letting Fear Stop You. Fear can be paralyzing, but women are more prone to letting this emotion hold them back from being all that they can truly be. The fear will always be there but you must work hard not to let it stop you or inhibit your imagination and growth. As they say, feel the fear and move anyway.

4. Thinking Small. Don’t just think startup or only how your first year will be. Think long-term. Think about growth. Scalability. Strategy. Think about your goals. How will you reach them? How can you surpass them? How much will your business grow each year? Women CEOs should think like million dollar enterprises from DAY 1!

5. It’s Career vs. Family. Don’t fall for the “you can’t have both” myth.  Says what committee? Women are the strongest specimens on this earth – we can have children, a successful career and a business, can run a home, volunteer, AND have time to take care of ourselves.  Forget finding balance. Somedays you will eat bad, workout less than you should and not be supermom. What’s most important is figuring out what works for your home, your life, your family, and take it day by day.

6. Not Charging Your Worth. Yep, we beat this horse alive, just so we could beat it back dead. Hopefully sooner, rather than later, Women CEOs will learn to be confident and assertive in charging a fair price for our time, skills, products, and services.  We ARE worth it and need to start charging like we believe it.

7. Not Playing Politics. Women are prone to only focusing on tasks that get the job done, but time must be given to developing relationships, serving on boards, participating in industry events and a little schmoozing…..Get out there. Take the exec you’ve been stalking to play tennis, golf, or even to dinner/drinks.

8. Shying away from technology based businesses. Have an idea or a process that you think you could improve? Don’t worry if you’re not a programmer. You CAN start a technology based business. You CAN start a software company. You CAN hire the right people to develop it. Tons of venture capitalists are looking to fund technology based businesses with products and services that are scalable and duplicatable. Can you duplicate yourself? Probably not. Can you duplicate a process? YES!Start thinking differently. Start thinking LEVERAGE.

9. Gossip. It’s ugly. It’s nasty. Women gossiping about each other is a terrible habit and one you should stay away from. Instead of gossiping and tearing down the mistake, or downfall of your fellow sister, help her, promote her, give her advice and encouraging words. I promise, you may need to hear those same words sooner than you think.

10. Perfection. Waiting to put yourself out there until you’re perfect is a colossal mistake. You’ll never be perfect. You’ll also never experience what you are truly capable of if you don’t step out. Forget perfection. Focus on trying your best, taking notes, learning from your mistakes and moving forward, bravely.

11. Not fishing for the whale. Been avoiding going after the big clients? Not putting your name in the hat for the million dollar contract? Why the hell not? You’re talented. You’re capable. You’re ready. Aim for where you want to be, never accept less and screw the rest.

12. Working your business like a hobby. Do you live, breathe, eat and sweat your business? Are you working it during set hours, answering the phone professionally, set up a fully functioning website, presenting million dollar worthy proposals? Or are you playing at business? If this is your hobby-GREAT. Don’t worry about a paycheck. Don’t worry about negotiating. Don’t worry about ever moving forward. Just have fun. But if this is truly to be a business, you want to create a corporation, an empire- you want to be freaking colossal…. Then quit, half-assing each day, working when you feel like it, answering the business phone “ who is this”, or not investing in your business education. Quit sabotaging your business by running it like a hobby. From day one, run your business like a business instead of a hobby and you should receive a paycheck instead of a playcheck.