Small business women entrepreneurs should avoid these mistakes

If you have started a business on your own, mistakes are bound to happen as you are unaware of a lot of strategies and lack experience. It is quite difficult for women entrepreneurs to get financial help as venture capital firms are male dominated and most of the times they do not find the business started by women lucrative enough to finance. Such a situation can lead you to falling in to debt for which you may have to search for various debt relief options. When you start your own business it is very important that you understand the basic necessities of the business that you are about to establish. If you don’t achieve this you may not be able to reap fruits of your hard work and dedication.

There are certain mistakes that you should avoid as a women entrepreneur, if you are starting a business of your own.

1. Not planning properly – Failure to plan can have devastating effects on your business. Very few businesses, whether newly set up or established, take time for planning. Your overall business plan can be considered the blue print of your success and the most important part of this is your financial plan. Your plan should include estimation of income, expenses and overall cash flow. Most of the times you fail in business because you don’t have standard goals to measure your progress against.
2. Making personal guarantees – You should avoid, as a small business owner, personal guarantees. You will find banks advocating for them, however you should keep in mind that as an entrepreneur you are investing a considerable amount of personal assets in your business. If you face problems getting finance for your business, you should look for other alternate avenues which can provide you help.
3. Not being able to manage account receivable – As a small business owner, you will be constantly challenged by accounts receivable. Your customers may take a long time to complete the payment such as 60 to 90 days but you may have vendors breathing down your neck wanting their payments within 30 days. You need to do planning and budgeting to make this process easier. You also need to make collection calls to various customers in order to make them pay as soon as possible.
4. Not having a working knowledge of finances - When you hire a team, it is important that you have a meeting with the in-house accountant or CPA but this doesn’t mean that you won’t have an understanding of your finances. It is necessary that you know the basics of finances to monitor the progress of your business.

If you take care to avoid these mistakes, your business will have a steady growth enabling you to reap profits.