Finding Your Path – Women In Business
If you are like most in the world, you found yourself graduating from high school or college without the faintest idea of what you wanted to do for a career. At the time, you found work that was available and perhaps settled into that particular job or industry as life began to happen. As the years went by, you developed new passions and found inspiration in places that a younger version of you did not know existed. Now, you are versed in the ways of the world and the passion for your hobby has become so powerful that thoughts of tuning it into a full-time job creep into your mind. Here are a few examples of hobbies that make great businesses:
Health and Beauty
The health and beauty sector is booming. In 2017, the industry reached over $17 Billion in sales, which was a 6% increase over 2016. Additionally, over 82% of women surveyed believe that social media is the primary influencer of health and beauty trends. Due to these statistics, there has been a rapidly increasing number of private distributors that have emerged to sell your favorite product direct from the manufacturer. The days of the Avon Lady are back! The keys to success as an entrepreneur in this space are to be passionate about the product and make it your full-time commitment. In this industry, if you give a 10% effort, you will get a 10% result.
Fitness/Wellness
Fitness and wellness continue to be a rapidly growing market. Whether it is a large-scale gym or small scale personal training center, new businesses are born every week. Many people who get into these businesses do it in steps. Perhaps, you go to a spin class on a daily basis and then after a year, the instructor asks if you would be interested in leading the class. Since spin has become your passion, you oblige and collect a small fee or discount for the service you provide. You then see there is an opportunity to take your passion to the next level and decide to invest in your own studio. The key to success in this industry is that you must be hands on and ready to do the work to make the business thrive.
Design
The rise of Pinterest has given birth to a whole new segment of DIY designers. Perhaps you have taken your creative passion to the internet and have received requests for more of your creations. Whether your passion is creative design or tangible design, businesses are calling for freelance designers on a daily basis. Sites like elance, sortfolio, upwork and freelancer are excellent places to display your work and find contract work. Based on your availability, this can become a full -time job without the constraints of an office setting.
Childcare/Education
Statistics say that there is a major shortage of child care professionals in the workforce today. If you have created a passion around early child development, there are many ways to turn this passion into a business. Whether you decide to get into daycare, tutoring, mentoring, para-education or teaching, you have the ability to start a business in this segment. The key to success in this segment is to ensure that you have all of the necessary legal and paperwork complete prior to starting your endeavor. Once these are complete, find the segment that is of interest to you and start to learn the ropes with an established business or mentor.
Women in Business series authored By Diedre Barret – Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Guaranty Bank.