Black Female Entrepreneurs, Team Up for Rapid Business Growth

I know, I know – You got this! You’re one of those savvy, go-getter-type Black female entrepreneurs on a mission. You have a vision for your dream business, and you know that your smarts, your passion, and your experience will get you there. So you’re charging full speed ahead on your solo journey to make that dream happen. That’s what I’m talking about!

But like Beyonce said: hold up, Sis.

Consider the many ways that individual, peer or group coaching can accelerate your efforts. I know you’re going to get there, but what can help you get faster, smarter, better results? Sistahpreneurs is all about teaming up to win in business. We have a series of programs designed to help Black female entrepreneurs increase revenues and grow their businesses significantly in just one year – by working together. Here are four elements of teaming for business development that can help you take your business to the next level:

• Accountability:

  When setting goals for small business growth (or any goals for that matter), it’s important to have an accountability system in place for your action plan. Your system should include routines and people who encourage and remind you of your goals and purpose. Your accountability process should raise probing questions that help you think smarter about your efforts to increase revenues. It should also help you problem-solve past barriers. When you’re juggling demands and wearing many hats, having a “business bestie” can help provide this accountability structure for you. But be aware: you have to be willing to reflect and be held accountable. Our Business Besties program is designed to help two Black female entrepreneurs come together to provide this sort of accountability to each other.

• Team Learning:

  Learning how to design, grow and market your small business in a group allows you to be both a mentor and a learner. You can give and receive valuable insights and resources. Furthermore, teaching others reinforces both your own learning and results. It also creates a space for brainstorming and creativity where others can build on ideas that you have. This means your good ideas can become great ideas that turn into money-makers and steady profits. The Sistahpreneurs Mastermind program brings 3-5 women together for a year-long business acceleration program where team learning is a key element.

• Motivation:

  Resetting, or getting back on track when you get overwhelmed or burned out, is critical when managing goals, especially in small business improvement. The knowing-doing gap can widen if you don’t reset. This gap is when you know what to do but you don’t actually do it. Having a group to provide motivation, encouragement, and constant resetting helps you stay on track and meet deadlines. Besides, entrepreneurship is more like a marathon than a sprint. You need other Black female entrepreneurs running beside you to keep you going. Our Project Teams are 6-week teams that work together on a similar short-term goal, like launching a website. The teams motivate each other to stay the course and finish on time. 

• Rapid Improvement and Feedback:

  Continuous improvement is arguably the best-kept secret in business success. Too often small business owners produce something but then they sit it on the shelf and move on to the next thing. Failing to improve your products, services, systems and strategies quickly is a great disservice to your bottom line and a gross overestimation of your understanding of what customers want. You need to test out ideas in a small circle and then keep making the product better based on customer feedback. Having a close network of sistahpreneurs, or a business bestie offers easy access to a “lab space” for your prototypes. This just means that you have other Black female entrepreneurs nearby to give you feedback so that your products improve faster and make more money, more quickly.

I’m a fierce advocate for recycling the Black dollar, and supporting minority-owned businesses. Sistahpreneurs is a place for us to network, work together, grow together and build our empires. Together forward.