With the death of Helen Gurley Brown on Monday at the age of 90, the world lost one of its most recognized and influential female business icons as well as a role model for women everywhere. Editor of Cosmopolitan for over 30 years and with a background in business, she and her husband, David, went on to establish The David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation.
While Helen’s ideas and business savvy led the way for generations of women entrepreneurs, her thoughts on what was most important when running a business are still true today.
Trust yourself. Don’t let someone else’s attitude make you second guess your ideas and your way of implementing them.
Focus on the important things. Do one thing at a time and do it to the best of your ability. That’s all you can ask of yourself and at the end of each day, you’ll know when the job has been well done.
Do your research. The best business strategies involve knowing everything you can about upcoming events and applying new ideas to your business. Don’t be afraid to take risks.
Hire quality help. As your business expands and you have less time for administrative duties, hire a top rate virtual team to take over additional tasks. Outsourcing has helped many small businesses grow into much larger companies.
Have confidence in your abilities. You’ll be meeting many people as your business grows and speaking with even more. Hold your head up high and don’t be afraid to look people in the eye when discussing your business ideas.
Never stop learning. Business practises are always changing. Keep up on the latest. Take classes and also look to a mentor to help you stay on track.
Be innovative. Improve on what you already provide. Make things happen by changing your attitude toward your business and your customers. Get to know and understand your customers by putting yourself in their place.
Combine your life with your job or vice versa. If at all possible, run your business from your home. Creating a routine that works for you will help with this. Stay flexible and organized while keeping things as simplified as possible.
Benefit from technology. Since your small business will be competing with those which are much larger, keep up on the newest tech news. Your response time will be much quicker than a business with many employees and you can use this to your advantage.
Look after yourself. Pay attention to areas where you feel there is something missing. Focus on your life as a whole and try not to let work time overcome play time.
“What you have to do is work with the raw material you have, namely you, and never let up.” ~ Helen Gurley Brown
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image courtesy of The New Yorker
