10 MORE Commandments for Women in Business

It can be difficult to survive in the cutthroat world of business – don’t go about all on your own! We here at MACs Women have compiled 10 MORE commandments for women in business to follow! These tips will help you to create a thriving business or to grow the one you already have. Find the first 10 here!

1.    Be a cheapskate.
This can be applied to any business at any period, but is especially important for new businesses. If you are in your first year of starting a business, your budget should be zero or close to zero. Offer your skills or product in exchange for something you need. Work from home at first instead of spending money on an office. Call in favors from anyone you know. If people agree to help you, offer them a discount on your product or service.

2.    Spread the word.
Talk about your business to as many people who will listen, and make sure you’re talking about it enthusiastically. Talking about your business doesn’t cost anything except your time, and it’s well worth it. Sometimes word of mouth is the best way to spread ideas.

3.    Be able to concisely talk about your business.
You don’t want to be that person who can’t articulate their business plan. Ideally, keep the description for your business short and sweet – one sentence is perfect. If you can’t do this, you have some more planning to do. This makes elevator pitches a lot easier as well!

4.    Draw up contracts when borrowing money.
This is extremely important. It doesn’t matter whether you are borrowing from your best friend, your coworker, or your sibling. It’s not to say you are going to never pay back the loan, but having it on paper makes everything easier. No one wants to have an awkward conversation about whether or not you owe $150 from 3 months ago.

5.    Reinvest your profits.
Don’t spend your profits as soon as they appear. Put those profit back into your business by investing in a new product or improving your marketing campaign. The growth of your business is the most important thing.

6.    Remember that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers.
No matter if this makes you happy or not, it is true for most business. This means that early in the game, you need to learn who those customers are and work hard to keep them satisfied with your business. If they are happy, they’ll keep buying!

7.    The customer is always right.
There’s a reason why this saying is so famous. A business is not a business without customers. So if you alienate people because of minor disagreements, they could bring down your whole business through negative commentary. Customers are not the people you want to argue or compete with. Just keep them happy as best you can.

8.    Calculate your risks.
Risk-taking is good – it spurs innovation. But never take a risk without first doing research and calculations. Only risk money you can afford to lose, and take risks that have minimum impact if they don't work out, and maximum effect if they do.

9.    Have a scalable start-up plan.
If you want to eventually grow our business, you need to start with a small business plan that will grow with you. This can include anything from buying equipment that will meet you needs as you grow or not signing a long-term lease on a smaller office space if you plan to move soon.

10. Your idea doesn’t have to be new to work.
In the business world, there is nothing wrong with finding a concept you admire and creating your business to improve upon it. Many large and famous companies followed this and became successful because of their new spin on an old idea.

We hope these 10 more commandments of business will help you with growing and expanding your business to the best it can be! If you want to learn more about women in business and network with other women entrepreneurs, sign up for the annual MACs Women Connect Summit, which will be held in October in Westchester, NY.