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Like many girls in the '90s, I was socialized to be pretty, pleasing and secondary to males. Growing up, I was shy and accommodating — not exactly traits that suggested I had a future in entrepreneurship.
I made up for what I lacked in entrepreneurial qualities like assertiveness and risk-seeking with hard work and tenacity. My strong work ethic was instilled in me by my mother. An engineer who fled Iran after the fall of the Shah, my mom taught me the values of determination, recognizing opportunities and maintaining a positive mindset in the face of setbacks.
My knack for solving problems, empathy, and a talent for rallying others led me to take on leadership roles in school projects and activities. Eventually, these qualities would help me start up a company valued at over $100 million. It's one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States and the fourth fastest-growing business in Central Texas.
Are you an aspiring business owner who doesn't fit the traditional mold? Don't let a lack of stereotypical leadership qualities keep you from taking the head seat at the table. Learn from my experiences and mistakes, and check out my fundamental tips for unconventional budding entrepreneurs:
1. Eliminate unnecessary risks
Any entrepreneur worth their salt will tell you that starting a business requires taking risks. However, you can improve your odds of succeeding by eliminating the unnecessary ones.
For my part, I decided to remove the variable I found scariest: running out of funding. I spent 10 years skipping vacations and forgoing fancy dinners until I had saved $150,000 to devote to building my company. Armed with capital, I felt more confident taking a leap of faith.
Related: How Taking Calculated Risks Can Grow Your Business
2. Uncover the unknown unknowns
In the early days of starting my global company, I quickly discovered how mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Setting up an entity is tricky in your own country, and even more so in a country where you're not proficient in the language or familiar with the currency or culture. My limited understanding of requirements for things like paid time off meant I didn't ask the right questions or budget accordingly. Because I was bootstrapping my brand, this misstep cost me thousands out of pocket.
Painful as it was, my oversight taught me a powerful lesson: the importance of uncovering "unknown unknowns" (a term made famous in 2002 by then-US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld). The most dangerous errors are often completely unexpected because you never know how to look for them.
To reveal your unknowns, seek advice from those with firsthand experiences. Imagine a project that has failed and try to determine the possible causes. Question your assumptions and — above all — stay humble.
3. Identify a problem
My company was born after I spotted a rare opportunity to tackle a real-world problem. Drawing from my experience working with tech companies, I identified a critical talent shortage and built a business connecting U.S. companies with Latin American software developers.
Working to solve a personal problem I'd experienced firsthand was uniquely fulfilling and motivated me when times got tough. However, pulling from personal experience isn't the only way to hunt down problems — you can also conduct customer feedback, perform industry analysis and brainstorm with others to generate ideas.
Related: 3 Pieces of Advice From One Black Woman Founder to Another
4. Understand your audience
My years as a salesperson taught me to understand my audience's needs. This laid the groundwork for my guiding approach to business: solving real problems for real people.
As a founder, you set yourself up for success by gaining an intimate knowledge of your target customer base. Understanding your audience helps you learn their wants, requirements, and frustrations and determine how best to connect and cater to them.
You should be able to sell your business or solution better than anyone. Remember — this is your baby — and you should know it even more intimately than your Chief Technology Officer, Product Manager, Head of Sales, or any other experts you hire.
5. Get comfortable with rejection
Here's a true story: After graduating college at the height of the 2008 recession, I applied to (quite literally) hundreds of financial institutions without ever getting an interview. It took 19 months of slogging through applications and shouldering rejection before I landed a job.
Rejection is painful. The way you respond to it matters. Considering how 90% of startups fail, bouncing back after rejection and failures lets you move on to bigger, better endeavors. Every disappointment yields lessons and growth if you have the resilience, courage and humility to embrace it.
Related: How to Use Rejection as a Tool For Success
6. Believe in your idea
I started a company because I believed I could make an impact — on our clients, the U.S. economy and communities in Latin America. My deeply held vision propelled me forward in times of uncertainty, loss and change. I had so much faith in my business that I let clients out of contracts almost instantly—after all, cancellations can be incredible gifts that reveal areas for growth.
As a startup founder, you have to deal with setbacks daily. Having a firm belief in your product makes it easier.
Need help finding a business idea you believe in? Ask yourself: What communities matter to me, and what problems do I feel passionate about solving?
7. Team up
After founding my company solo, I quickly realized I needed a counterpart — someone with equal determination and skill who could fill the gaps in my knowledge and experience. I teamed up with a colleague who complements my strengths, compensates for my weaknesses and has my back.
American culture lionizes independence, convincing many young entrepreneurs that they must go it alone. Don't fall into this trap. Particularly if you are a first-time entrepreneur, seeking help from people with experience is essential. Your co-founder, teammates and mentors can help you with the ins and outs of starting a business — from the logistics of setting up a company to the marketing tactics you'll need to get your startup off the ground — and contribute new perspectives and unbiased advice.
8. Celebrate unconventional strengths
Leadership is often associated with stereotypically masculine qualities like dominance, independence and assertiveness. However, in today's rapidly evolving business landscape, feminine qualities — like empathy, good listening, emotional intelligence, inclusion and patience — are gaining recognition as a mighty force for fueling innovation, collaboration and creativity.
It's not that one leadership style trumps the other — both are needed in a well-rounded founder. Entrepreneurs who can fuse traditionally masculine and feminine traits will be better at problem-solving, decision-making, empathizing with clients and employees and identifying growth opportunities.
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