The Top Mistakes Female Founders Wish They'd Never Made

By Marsha Firestone, PhD

We have all made mistakes in the process of building our businesses.  Some of the mistakes I wish I had never made in building the Women Presidents’ Organization over the last 17 years were related to hiring.

Several years ago we hired a woman who came to us with glowing recommendations.  On paper her skills were impressive. In hindsight, I wish we had been more thorough during the vetting process before we extended an offer.

While a new hire’s first 90 days are a crucial time for determining whether they’re going to be right in the long run, sometimes your intuition tells you early on it is not the right fit. I wish I had trusted my instinct. When you get that sinking feeling that you’ve made the wrong choice, listen to your gut. Cut your losses sooner rather than later. Don’t let your judgment be clouded by what you hope is the truth.

Realizing that the person you hired is the wrong fit leaves you with a clear but painful choice. If you see the signs of a mistake, have the fortitude to make the tough call. It’s not easy, but you must be honest with yourself and let them go. The key message here is to make sure you do thorough background checks. You cannot fix something that is unfixable. “Don’t go to the hardware store looking for oranges.”

Other WPO members who have built their businesses based on our signature peer advisory learning model agreed to share some mistakes they wish they’d never made and what they learned as a result.

Angela Armstrong, President, Prime Capital Group, in Canada, said the biggest mistake she ever made was trying to save money by not retaining an accountant. She got too busy juggling sales, marketing and customer service to pay close attention to her finances.  When it came time to pay taxes, she hired a bookkeeper to sift through shoe boxes of incomplete records.  It took 3 months and consumed her business savings to re-create years of records.  While the financial pain was outweighed by the relief at getting it done, it was a lesson learned. She hired a bookkeeper to come in every week. Now the most influential piece of advice she shares with clients is doing everything yourself can lead to costs that far exceed short-term savings.  Outsource the jobs you’re not good at.  The peace of mind you’ll have will give you energy to put back into your business.

Tanya Callaway, CEO, First Touch Communications, said her biggest mistake was paying too much attention to building visibility for herself, rather than for her company’s reputation. While in the short term she gained business based on her personality, it prevented her from growing her business and its brand.

Nicole Savage, President, Nature's Way Environmental, said one of the biggest mistakes she ever made was to avoid being the face of her company after her father’s death. Because she was so new to the industry, she decided not to participate in establishing their brand visibility.

During a time of dire need for business, Nicole decided to get over her fear and attend industry events to market her company. To her surprise, no one asked her intricate details of specific processes to which she did not know the answers. Quite the opposite – her presence proved to be a catalyst for her company. When asked questions about her company's services, she learned that if she didn’t know the answer a simple follow-up was all that was needed. Most surprisingly was the number of people who told her they were glad that her company had survived the loss of its founder and was still in business. She was touched by the many stories that colleagues and former clients shared with her about their relationships with her father. Sometimes comfort and stability are important aspects of business.

Nicole's biggest mistake was in not believing she was her company’s best representative. She credits her success with having a talented staff and will never again doubt the power of personal interaction in marketing.

Entrepreneurism offers benefits regardless of gender, especially in today's social and economic environment. But specifically for women, it offers a chance to start out on more equal footing with male counterparts.  Rather than battling a corporate culture that might be male-dominated, women who set off on their own can create a personal standard for workplace equality.

For women, entrepreneurism is the great equalizer.

Marsha Firestone, PhD is the Founder and President of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO). She is the author of The Busy Woman’s Guide to Successful Self-Employment. You can follow her on Twitter @WomenPresidents.