I will classify myself as an introvert. I’m not really a people person at all. With that said, I am in the process of trying to start my own business…not just a blog where you can hid behind the walls of the internet. I’m talking an engineering firm where I can create products, market them to the public, etc etc. I am very blessed to have a lot of allies and mentors to help me in this process. With that being said, I also have to schedule meetings with these people on a weekly basis, attend formal fictions, give brief presentation, and just in general be more in the spotlight than I am comfortable with.
I want to tell all of you introverted Mama’s out there who are planning on starting, yes, it is hard, but no it is not impossible. For me the constant go go go of meeting to meeting definitely gives a change of pace in my week. It also adds a lot of stress to my already full life. So, I wanted to give you guys some tips that I kept in mind entering my journey into entrepreneurship. These tips have helped to be my baseline and keep me on track through this stressful journey.
Pray, seek God.
This one is big! He will give you the strength to keep going and driving forward if you are meant to continue on the path of entrepreneurship…even if it is an uncomfortable path for you. Try to pick a study and read through it. I really like the commentary that is offered by the she reads truth ministry. You can access it here if you like.
Keep your priorities straight:
Your priorities first should be god and your kids. After this then schedule in things like your work, new business, hobbies, etc. But make sure as an introvert to give yourself down time. Allow yourself to do something that is relaxing so you are not constantly dealing with the rush. For me this is blogging or following some of my favorite vloggers and reading posts.
Work hard:
This is key, don’t be lazy because when you are starting a business it will need a large part of your time and energy. Don’t put everything off till the last minute or it will reflect poorly on your business.
Schedule/Keep a Calendar
I am a major Google calendar girl. I put everything in there. It keeps me organized it’s in my phone which is attached to my hand (lol) and it is easily color coded. I have never been able to use a paper planner, or like keep it even though they look totally cool! It’s just not me.
Plan to be there EARLY!!!!
This is a struggle for me! I am not a naturally early or even on time person. One of the things I have been doing is planning to have my my daughter to the baby sitter an hour before an important meeting. This gives me that leway in case I am late, LATE! some meetings it is better to arrive like 15 minutes early for than late, especially if they are all the way across town or even in the town over.
Stay organized:
For this I have been using my Google calendar as you saw above, BUT I have also been keeping all of my presentations and files in one place on my computer. I typically take my laptop with me to meetings in case I need some visual aid I can pop it open and quickly access one of my slides. In my opinion you should always bring a visual aid either electronically or a printed memo or hand out. For one, as an introvert it keeps the person’s eyes on it and gives them something to look at, but for two it makes you remember what you want to say as well as makes you look prepared for a meeting. So. crack out the printer or lap top and look at the top or your game…my surface pro makes me look pretty, snazzy too…just saying. Visual aids set you apart in a good way.
Focus on hygiene and appearance.
Don’t go into a meeting looking like crap, yep I said it. Honestly, I feel like I have e gained so much weight, have so little cloths to wear that I always look like crap anyway, but I try my best to piece myself together and put a little extra effort no to my untamable hair so that I look decent for an important meeting. You represent your business remember, you are the first thing a mentor or investor or interviewer/interview sees.
You don’t have to accept EVERY meeting.
You don’t have to go to every function, and every meeting that someone sets you up with, you can decline. As a young mom I know that my time is valuable and if a meeting is going to be with some who won’t advance my career any, but it’s just a “curtesy” call to make a mentor look good or busy work then turn them down. There is no since wasting time their or money on a baby sitter for that crap. You need to keep your priorities straight.
While there are some reasons you should make those with power over you like your investors or mentors look good, there are some legitimate reasons not to, so just use your best judgement.
I hope this was a useful post for any introverted single Mama’s or just single Mama’s in general looking to start your own business. Being and entrepreneur is not for everyone, but it can be very rewarding. Let me know in the comments what else you guys would like to hear about becoming a new business owner, creating product, or development of something new! I’d love to write posts you want to read and let you guys know.
Have a great rest of your day! Thanks for stopping by to support the blog!
Brie
P.S. This is part one of my summer entrepreneurship series, if you have specific questions about this topic, you can leave them in the comments below and I will try to write future posts to address them! Stay tuned next Monday for another entrepreneurship post!
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