With the new normal being three side hustles, two TED talks a year, and one seemingly unattainable goal of becoming your own boss, the question is raised if you too can change your career and become an entrepreneur. Of course, you can! As our mentor Nataliia Rzhevska, an established entrepreneur and finalist “CIO of the year 2020” by WomenTech Network, knows it is possible to change careers, despite obstacles that might arise.
“I can't talk about entrepreneurship as a business topic, for me it’s life” - Nataliia Rzhevska
what is entrepreneurship?
A topic that has been coined more and more by people seizing opportunities and passions, but what exactly does entrepreneurship mean and how are women reshaping the entrepreneurial world? Some key facts include:
4.2% yearly growth of women entrepreneurs
36% of small business owners are women
114% increase in woman-owned businesses over past 20 years
Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond resources controlled.
Gone are the olden days of a certain type of person being at the forefront of entrepreneurship. If you have a passion, a goal, and a plan, you can become an entrepreneur too!
steps to achieve your entrepreneurial goals
Becoming an entrepreneur might seem like an impossible endeavour, however by following key steps it can be attainable and achievable.
1. find your passion
Finding your passion is the baseline of any new venture which you undertake. Discovering what you are passionate about will then lead to creative development and an underlying drive when the going gets tough. Take time to brainstorm what your passions are, and then begin to apply each passion into a business context. Nataliia followed her passions and changed careers to become an educator for women in the fields of artificial intelligence and women in technology. Currently Nataliia is supporting girls and women in technology and providing education to low-income families and people in rural areas through her for-creation Academy.
2. believe in yourself
“Be yourself. Your uniqueness is indisputable. Respect yourself and your thoughts — they are the voice of your soul” - Nataliia Rzhevska
One of the key aspects to becoming a successful entrepreneur is self-belief. Once you possess the belief that you can achieve your goals and reach your targets, you have already completed half of the battle! In collaboration with Nataliia, our top tips for enhancing your self-belief and self-confidence are:
use all learning opportunities which become available, learning a new skill or developing an existing one can increase your self-confidence tenfold
take risks and be bold in your decisions
take daily steps towards your goal, focus on breaking it down into manageable tasks so that you can feel accomplishment for many different aspects of the goal
use manifestation tools to visualise where you want to be, what you will do to get there, and who will be able to help you along the way
3. get advice
You have discovered your passion and are stuck on what the next steps should be. Get advice! A helping hand or guiding light are only the beginning of the help which you can receive. It can be difficult to get in touch with people who have experience in a certain industry or have set up their own businesses, which is why a mentoring service can be extremely helpful. Through a mentoring program, you will gain access to skilled and experienced people who can help you on your journey. You can ask questions, receive feedback on your progress so far, and gain a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in that industry. Through as Nataliia mentions “becoming a member of reputable communities”, it will enable you to further your plans and become more sure of your goals and how to achieve them.
key learnings from an entrepreneur
You have the tips on how to become an entrepreneur, so here are some key learnings from Nataliia on the experiences which she has had over the years on her entrepreneurial journey:
remember to set priorities when it comes to goals and plans >> pro tip! Break down your plans into actionable steps to keep on track, use a goal setting workbook to help you with this
embrace “minutes of silence” for yourself to reflect on your achievements, take a breath, and focus on your upcoming steps
remember that this process of becoming an entrepreneur is an important stage of your development and even if at first you are overwhelmed and not happier or more successful than you were, you will achieve your goals
visualise yourself being in an authoritative environment and it will be so >> pro tip! Write down what you want to achieve and make it your mantra
often in negotiation, you should try to focus on becoming like-minded individuals rather than trying to win the conversation
continue the cycle of support
“Mentoring is an opportunity to become a participant in another's dream. Mentoring is an opportunity to walk the entrepreneurial path together.
Mentoring is an opportunity to reassess your values and listen to others.”
-Nataliia Rzhevska
Do you feel like you could benefit from mentoring or become a mentor yourself? Here at the female factor we believe that #werisebylifitingothers, and mentoring is an additional way to do this. Through our mentoring program, mentors have the ability to pass on knowledge, experience and help to others who are in the beginning of their journey. This creates an opportunity for others who are entering an industry or changing careers or pursuing a dream which they have always had to receive an insight into that field.
Nataliia Rzhevska; PhD, Lecturer, WEF digital member, EdTech Mentor, Education Futurist, CIO VideoWiki, HundrEd Ambassador