One of the things I learned early on as a woman entrepreneur was that neither my siblings nor close friends wanted to hear about my business. This was difficult to learn because my business is such a major focus of my life, and something I am excited to talk about. This holds true for all entrepreneurs.

It is very important for women entrepreneurs to have a sounding board, people they can talk to and who can add valuable insights. For this reason you need to build your Personal Support Network as you build your business.

The development of a Personal Support Network to help you navigate and sail through the ever-changing entrepreneurial curve, from startup through to exit, is fundamental to your success as a woman entrepreneur and business leader.

While your Personal Support Network should change as your needs do, here are 8 criteria you might consider when selecting the right people for your Personal Support Network.

1. Woman Business Owner – Who do you admire in business that you feel is someone you could learn from?
2. Family Member – is there a successful entrepreneur in your family who would support you?
3. Friend – a friend who comes from a family of entrepreneurs can also be supportive to you because they will appreciate your way of thinking having grown up in an entrepreneurial house hold
4. Sales and Marketing  – how do you envision your sales team? Do you know someone who has built a successful sales team that you could learn from?
5. Human Resources – the most money you will invest will be in the people you hire so find a friend who is an expert in this field. They can advise you on HR policies that will save your butt. I will never forget the elderly HR friend who handed me my first policy: “All overtime must be approved by your supervisor in writing PRIOR to be taken”.  This policy saved me money!
6. Legal – it really isn’t cool to ask for free legal advice but once a month (if necessary) you could take your lawyer for lunch and ask for advice on a challenge you have.
7. Accounting – similar strategy to your lawyer
8. Entrepreneur Organization – while organizations are not the best place to discuss intimate business issues there are some you could considering joining like EO Entrepreneurs Organization where members gather in forum groups to learn best practices and confidentially share and brainstorm on business issues.

And finally, make sure you show appreciation to those in your Personal Support Network.  It is a blessing to have people in your life that you can trust and who understand you as a woman entrepreneur. Weathering a bad storm should you encounter one, will be a whole lot easier.

As a woman entrepreneur for over 20 years I have steered my business enterprise through both calm and turbulent waters. I have been called crazy for my vision, stupid for taking risks, applauded through high growth, brilliant for receiving Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, brave for standing up to a billion dollar predator, and ignored and shunned in times of difficulty. Through it all I have learned that the greatest support comes from the people you would least expect, and from never losing faith. Faith is not only belief in yourself but in what you cannot quite see from where you may be standing.

To keep momentum everyday I have found inspiration in nature and in the words and wisdom of the theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein. As we venture into 2014 and a new business year I wanted to share with my colleagues and with other women entrepreneurs eight of Albert Einstein’s inspiring quotes which have become a foundation in my business.

1. Start-up – “Imagination is more important than knowledge”

2. Business Design – Be passionately curious. “The important thing is not to stop questioning”

3. Competitive Advantage – “You have to learn the rules of the game and then play better than anyone else”

4. Persevere – “Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts”

5. Be a Leader – “Try to become not a person of success but a person of value”.

6. Be Fearless – “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new”.

7. Embrace Failure – “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”.

8. Stay Balanced – “Look deep into nature and you will understand everything”.

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2014!

While our success attracted more customers, more employees, and more profits, it also attracted a billion dollar predator. If I could give someone in my shoes advice I would tell them: “Know the industry you are in. If you are in a billion dollar industry and you are not a billion dollar player you need to whisper and tip toe when you achieve success and hold your breath when you make money”.

Financial Post Magazine, November, 2012 Feature articles written by Christine Dobby of the National Post.

Digital Shift

Make a Shift

The official start of the 2012 sailing season was recognized by an opening reception at the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club this past weekend. The outgoing Commodore, a former Olympic sailing champion, began with an announcement that the scheduled race for that day had been canceled due to “lack of wind”. It would run tomorrow, he said.

What is “lack of wind” I pondered? And how interesting that only a day earlier I had had a session with a business coach on this very subject.

The coach has senior execs, entrepreneurs and athletes as clients (some of whom he has helped make a come back after serious injury). During our session I was feeling frustrated because while most things seemed to be in place in my business, I was having trouble due to a “lack of wind”. “How are you defining wind Elizabeth?” he asked. This was a very interesting question and I examined my sailing roots for the answer.

When I was young every Saturday morning in the summer my father would wake my brother and I for the sailing race at the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club; “feet on the floor” he would bellow and my brother and I would groan. It took an hour to ready the Lightning (that was the class of boat we sailed in those days) and 45 minutes to tow it to the Yacht Club. We would untangle the halyards, fold all the sails, and bail the boat (every drop had to be sponged out as my father inspected). Some days there appeared to be no wind but to my father this was a light wind day and to him that was an advantage since he had a “light wind crew”. I can remember on one occasion a dozen Lightnings lined up with their crews on the starting line when there was no wind. My father whispered to my brother and I “wait for it….ah there’s a puff” as we drifted another couple of feet. My brother rolled his eyes in absolute boredom because as far as he was concerned my father was making up “the puff” and we were in for a long race.

It occurred to me that to the successful Olympic sailor who has sailed and competed in high winds and to the accomplished entrepreneur who has battled a competitive marketplace and won, starting again in either career can be difficult as the vision that once provided competitive advantage no longer serves as an advantage in a re-start. The problem is in the definition of “wind”. This needs to change.

To my father the “lack of wind” was not important. In fact he never even noticed it. It was all about being in the sailboat, being in the race, and being a sailor. That is what mattered. You see a sailor sails, just as an entrepreneur creates a business. The important thing is that you are in the game and ready for when the real winds of opportunity come because if you think there’s not enough wind to start you might never get started. And, if you never get started you will indeed remain in the doldrums.

On Thursday I was an invited speaker at the EO (Entrepreneurs Organization)Toronto hosted event “Lessons from the Edge”. Prior to my speech a group of us scaled The Edge of the CN Tower Cat Walk. The event is called The Edge Walk.  It was a fantastic experience to look down on the expanse of Lake Ontario and the vibrant city of Toronto from 356 meters above.

As Lady Gaga said “The Edge is the Moment of Truth” and indeed it is. It is also where darkness becomes light, where we step from one paradigm to the next and where we step from blindness to discover who we really are. For me the whole “Lessons from the Edge” event was cathartic. It was the perfect venue from which to officially launch into my new life. And while I don’t have all the answers yet, the one thing I have discovered is that when you are on The Edge the most important thing you need is faith and to believe in yourself. I have also discovered that as human beings we are blessed with a remarkable gift, an ability to solve any issue we face in life by going within.

Faith, belief in self, and perseverance is the heart of entrepreneurism. Of course being a crazy risk taker isn’t for the faint of heart.  At one point our guide had us walking on The Edge on tippy-toes. Whoa!