Coming Down the Home Stretch on The Female Maverick Manifesto

You wanted more. More than your current corporate gig can give you. More than the numbness of working toward someone else’s dream. More than the status quo. Above all, you wanted to be your own boss, chase your own vision and change your (financial) life.

We did, too. In case you haven’t been following along, we’re Beth and Victoria, work wives, besties and business partners. Both kids of entrepreneurs and frequently accused of being Type A by friends and foes alike. Along the way to entrepreneurial success, we stepped in more than one pile of sh*t. We made a LOT of mistakes. And a few brilliant decisions. We learned critical lessons and, most importantly, we narrowed down the right set of rules that, when faithfully followed, success followed, too.

We just wrapped Rule Three: Don’t Sacrifice Growth for a Good Night’s Sleep last week, but started by helping you Prioritize the Right Idea over your Passion and Build your Kitchen Cabinet. Next up…Rule Four: Start Before the Gun Goes Off.

But while you wait, let’s walk through the takeaways we can’t live without.

• Stress test, road test and litmus test your idea’s market size and demand drivers until it cries uncle. Whether you are in the dreaming stages, pitching an idea to friends over brunch, or in a hot and heavy funding round, a compelling elevator pitch has to begin and end with a “can’t miss” market opportunity supported by explosive growth stats.

• Prepare your kitchen cabinet for a lot of late-night phone calls. Running a new business idea is usually just that, running. Forging ahead works great, until it doesn’t. You hit an obstacle that can’t be overcome using the old playbook, and as a woman, our first response is to bang our heads against the wall even harder. But there’s a better and much less painful way. Like every successful entrepreneur before you, you need an informal posse of close confidants and advisors who know things you don’t and are willing to answer your calls or DMs at (almost) any hour of the day or night.

• Get comfortable with a little (or a lot of) discomfort. Despite solid ambition, some Female Mavericks struggle with the mindset needed to be an entrepreneur. We remain too conservative about making investments, less likely to look for early financing and more likely to bootstrap our business. Like it or not, you’re going to have to take some risks that aren’t always going to feel good if you want to be successful at launching and growing a business. Believe in yourself, your network and, most importantly, your personal reasons for taking this leap.

What’s Next?

We created The Female Maverick because we truly believe women with a few years of corporate experience can do exactly what we did – and faster with fewer mistakes if they take the time to learn from the missteps we’ve already made. So get out of your own heads, get out there, and get get sh*t done! Next week, get ready for Rule Four: Start Before the Gun Goes Off. Don’t miss it!