WBN Book Finalists in the National Business Book Awards 2024
We are delighted to share with you that our WBN book collaboration The Women’s Business Network Guide to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur is shortlisted in the Start Up Scale Up category in the Business Book Awards 2024. There were 100s of books entered and the criteria was that the book had been published during 2023. Our book was published in October 2023 and reached Amazon no1 Best Seller status for Home Business.
Twenty of our Womens Business Network members came together and all penned a chapter or two in this fantastic guide for new startup businesses and existing businesses looking to scale. Such is the vast array of knowledge and expertise in our group that we wanted to be able to share this for the benefit of others by “paying it forward” to our future generations and aspiring entrepreneurs. This book was written by women for women.
The Women’s Business Network Guide to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur is in 2 sections Starting out and getting the right foundations in place and Striving and Thriving in business and how you can secure a bright future in business.
Part 1 Starting Out
So, if you are wondering whether entrepreneurship could be for you, and you are searching for business ideas this handy guide will get you start you on the process. We cover ‘your business idea’ in Chapter 1.
We then take you through all key areas of business we start with Planning. You may be familiar with the Benjamin Franklin quote “If you fail to plan you are planning to Fail”.
Without a plan our goals and dreams are merely a wish. We need an action plan to help us get started. This does not just relate to starting your business journey either. At every stage of business – planning combined with taking action is the key to success. Chapter 2 covers the importance of having a business plan at all stages in business.
In chapters 3 to 6 we address the important and not always spoken about topic of ‘money’. Starting in business requires a financial investment, set up costs and potentially borrowing money to get started. We also cover our beliefs and experience of money. Our relationship with money often comes from learnt behaviour from childhood. Do these sayings sound familiar “money doesn’t grow on trees” or “you have to work hard for money”.
We talk about having multiple streams of income, income from various sources. It may be from rental income, 2nd business or other branded products that compliment your offering. By securing income for different revenue streams secures your future. If one revenue stream stops then you still have others to fall back on. If you haven’t ever considered multiple revenue streams this chapter will give you something to consider and an example of what can happen if you “put all your eggs in one basket.”
As women we find it difficult often to charge our true value, we price our products and services too low. Rather than creating a demand we can deter our ideal customers from buying from us because they feel we are too cheap so can’t offer the level of service/product quality they desire. We talk all about how to price your offering to match its true value in this chapter.
We now move into branding. Your personal brand and how to stand out from the crowd. In chapters 7 and 8 we look at ‘what is a personal brand’, how you discover your personal brand and the important impact it has on your business. We need to learn how to stand out from our competitors too. To determine what makes us different to others and how to show up and shine at networking and industry related events.
In chapters 9 and 10 we investigate where you will work from. Most small business start working from home, a home office or spare bedroom. Many huge organisations have started out working from home Jeff Bezos from Amazon being one of those. In this chapter we look at the pros and cons of working from home. The difference between renting a room/office on a temporary basis by the day. To the benefits of having a place away from your home environment that is set up permanently for you to focus on running your business.
We move onto the technology you need to run your business, and, in this chapter, we look at all the tech options with excellent advice and tips especially for those ‘non techies’ who feel this is a total minefield to them. We cover hardware like laptops and pcs to email systems, websites, domains names and backups. All important aspects of keeping your business running smoothly.
Chapters 11 and 12 we look at multi-level marketing think of Utility Warehouse, Forever Living, Tropic Skincare. These types of businesses have long had a bad rap saying they are pyramid schemes. This is so untrue pyramid schemes are illegal. If you have thought about starting a business but been afraid to enter the MLM world these two chapters will shed much more positive light on the great benefits including first class training and development and a readymade business with minimal startup costs.
We have members in WBN who have this business model and Nicky shares her experiences and what she has learnt from running an MLM and all the benefits she has received from it.
Chapter 13 we start to get serious about business and this chapter is all about setting your business up correctly so that you can comply with your responsibilities as a business owner and ensure you are keeping accurate records so that you meet your income tax obligations. This chapter gives you valuable advice on accounts, bookkeeping and ensuring that you get paid for the work you do. Ensuring you have good credit control processes in place so that you have sufficient cashflow in your business.
The last chapter of part 1 of this book covers Networking. For small business owners networking plays a crucial part in your marketing strategy. Networking is a low-cost high value way to build brand awareness, meet new clients, collaboration opportunities and a huge source of knowledge and support for you and your business. This chapter covers the many advantages and few disadvantages of networking.
Part 2 of our book is all about:
Striving and Thriving in Business
Chapters 15 to 21 are all about ways to market your business and ensure you get a return on your time and money invested.
Chapter 15 we look at the importance of getting regular enquiries in your business. Too many people fall into the trap of getting busy and stopping their marketing efforts as they feel they have enough clients and work to last for the near future. This is short sighted as things can change very quickly. Look at what happened during COVID there was a huge panic for businesses who had to find different ways of working and attract a new client base.
Chapter 16 we dig deeper into networking your business and how by being strategic and setting goals for yourself you will ensure that your time and money is well spent and you are seeing a return for your investment. People often see networking as low cost and it is, but it is also time heavy and if you are not seeing a return, it makes you question whether your time could be better spent elsewhere.
Chapter 17 we talk about making marketing manageable. There is no doubt there are 100s of ways you can market your business. A new social channel seems to pop up daily and if you try and be on all of them it can become very overwhelming. Most small businesses market themselves and can’t outsource these tasks so they can be a huge drain on your time. This chapter offers you tips and advice on how to make marketing work for you.
Chapter 18 is all about the power of storytelling. Written by accomplished author and book mentor Shelley Wilson who has written and published over 20 books and she was instrumental in the publishing of our book. Shelley shares the power of being able to use stories in your marketing to make your content unique to you. This helps build trust with your ideal clients and helps them to invest in you and your products and services.
Chapter 19 we talk about AI Artificial Intelligence which has become very widely known over recent years. AI can save you hours in research and content creation however a cautious approach is recommended. It is important that content for your business should be true and authentic to you and your business. Don’t forget it is a computer that is generating the content and not a human being. When used efficiently AI can be a great asset and support but as we say tread carefully and check for accuracy on information given.
Chapter 20 we look at SEO Search Engine Optimisation. So many of us avoid this like the plague but it is important if you want your ideal clients to find you on the web. We go out looking for clients but when we can set ourselves up, so our clients can easily find us then we have a whole new resource of revenue coming to us. This chapter gives you tips on what you can do to help your clients find you on the web.
Chapter 21 we are talking all about social media and tips for how to get more from your efforts on social media. Social media marketing for business can be a minefield with what to post, when to post, how to get your posts seen and who they reach. This chapter covers setting goals and objectives, prioritising the platforms you post to, content creation and posting. If social media feels like a minefield the tips and advice here should help you feel more confident to try it.
Chapter 22 we look at Outsourcing tasks in your business. In the early days of entrepreneurship this may feel impossible. The extra expense may just not be possible. However, don’t rule it out because the cost of outsourcing compared to your own hourly rate could mean that it is advantageous to pay someone to do the tasks in your business that you are either no good at or don’t like to do. Don’t forget an expert can do the work quicker than you too so outsourcing you gain time back in your business. This chapter will give you more to think about and consider whether outsourcing could be the answer to your time management.
We didn’t want to just bombard you with business knowledge we also wanted to factor in your role in the business. Running a business is hard we are not going to sugar coat it. You need so many skills to be a business owner and they are not just business skills they are personal and life skills too. Resilience is a significant factor in running a business. Unbelievably the journey to becoming a business owner is far from a straight road.
Left unmanaged juggling your business alongside your other life commitments can be stressful. In Chapter 23 we give you tips on managing stress and the importance self-care plays in your business journey too. You can’t continue to grow a successful business if you aren’t looking after yourself properly. As we all know extremely well left unmanaged it can lead to burn out and exhaustion and none of us want to see that happen to anyone.
Along with managing stress the way you think and feel about yourself and your business plays a huge role too. Our mindset, the inner dialogue we all have with ourselves, is far too often negative. We struggle often to see ourselves in the same light that other see us and this leads to imposter syndrome. Our negative thoughts and our limiting beliefs play a huge role in the way we show up and run our businesses. This chapter is peppered with case studies and comments from our WBN members about their own challenges with their mindset.
A way we can manage our inner dialogue is by getting those thoughts that swim around in our heads out and onto paper. The feeling of relief you get when you list down everything that you were holding inside can be extremely therapeutic and enlightening. Journalling is an excellent way of turning those negative thoughts into positives by reframing them and recognising the gratitude that can so often be found despite feelings of negativity. Chapter 25 helps you to get into journalling. If this is something new to you, try it.
As our book draws to a close, we take time in Chapter 26 to Reflect, Reframe and Reset. As women we are often guilty of charging ahead on our goals and plans without taking the time to step back and appreciate just how far we have come. Often as we have said before the road is not a straight one and things may not have gone as we originally planned. It is important that we learn to be flexible in our approach and open to change. Reframe any feelings of failure as they are lessons learnt rather than any failing. Between our members we have 100s of years of business experience between us and every one of us has experience in everything that you may be feeling, have experienced or will go on to do. Every day is a chance to reset and start over set daily, monthly, annual goals and visit them regularly and make changes whenever you need to.
Our last chapter covers lessons learnt in business by Jules White. She is incredibly open in her chapter sharing with you her own personal journey which features Jules being accepted to pitch to the Dragons on Dragons Den in 2005. Securing investment from Peter Jones and how her hugely successful business disappeared and the impact it had upon her. We will leave the rest for you to read in the book, but it is a true story of resilience and strength.
The whole experience of collaborating to create this book has been wonderful. The support received from Shelley Wilson to get from our original idea through to publishing was no mean feat and took many hours, days, and weeks to get to the finished product. I have to say it was so worthwhile and is a legacy for WBN to share with generations to come.
To have been recognised and shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2024 amongst so many other inspiring authors and publishing companies is a true honour. We are so excited to be attending the Presentation Awards Evening in London on 19th September so wish us luck and we will let you know how we got on.
I hope we have inspired you to pick up your copy of our book The Womens Business Network Guide to Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur. It is available to buy on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback version – buy your copy here
What is our next collaboration?
We are currently recording a series of online bootcamps to accompany our Best selling book which will cover many of the topics in the book. We will be sharing more valuable knowledge, tips and strategies that you can implement in your business straight away with support on hand.
Look out for our WBN Bootcamp coming soon – keen to hear more as it happens Sign up for updates here
