Women entrepreneurs can get special loans

An entrepreneurial journey for a woman is full of many decisions and challenges, almost a new one every day. It is important that we keep our knowledge enriched, for it will help us gain the required know-how to become an expert in our domain. With such expertise we would ultimately be able to grow our start-up into a full-fledged business. However, it is not necessary that we may know what to do always. While starting out, we must not be afraid to ask for help and seek guidance from our mentors and friends or acquaintances as and when we require. Here are a few things aspiring woman entrepreneurs must know to lead a business successfully:

Set long-term and short-term goals: Entrepreneurship is a path to continually challenge ourselves to set newer targets and goals and work to achieve them in due time. It is important that we establish relevant specified goals that can be attained in a suitable timeframe and measured to keep our focus on actual growth of the business. Women entrepreneurs must set short-term business goals such that they ultimately help reach long-term goals in an effective manner. Realising these goals will serve as an impetus for long-term results that we aim to achieve. Once we are clear and have set out all our targets, we must share those with our team and give them a unified direction to work in to win with their support.

Prioritise organisation and its finances: When starting our business on limited resources, we may initially be engaged in managing finances ourselves. However, once we set our business plan in place it is imperative that we reach out to utilise professional accounting services and hire a capable resource to record all financial information and manage that for the company on our behalf. This would not only help women run the business better but also allow the opportunity to maintain focus on growing the business at the front-end. While preparing the financial plan we must ensure not to put all our savings into it and devise the financial strategy in detail, such that we are able to not only earn money but also make the money work for us in future.

Establish sources for funding: Another question in the minds of every women looking to start a business is where the money for funding the business would come from? There are several avenues that can be utilised to meet funding requirements to initiate a business. There are angel investors who are looking for credible businesses and to put in seed funding for returns. In addition to these one could also consider crowd funding, tie-ups with corporates or taking loans from government banks offering schemes like Mahila Vikas Yojna, Stree Shakti and many more.

Ensure transparency: Often overlooked, although it is important for women business owners to ensure that when starting a new venture they maintain transparency through the accounting books and organisational processes to govern the firm effectively. Being transparent implies ensuring that we are making the required declarations in terms of filing our taxes, how much money is being spent and where and what returns is the company actually making. Building a transparent culture is vital and is best established at the onset of the business to ensure a healthy growth. Nevertheless, a successful woman entrepreneur must be passionate about her idea to grow it into a successful venture. It is important that to engage in networking, public relation activities, obtain feedback from time to time and build a team of like-minded individuals to support us in realizing our dreams.

The writer is founder of LXME, financial planning platform for women