Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago

Entrepreneur
Dictionary meaning – a person who organizes and manages a commercial undertaking.

As a single female entrepreneur , I’ve been forced to learn the skills of integrating management of business affairs with my personal life. Such a Herculean task has taught me some of the pros and cons for a woman in business, and more so, a single business owner.

Time - Sure, being in control of your time is one of the biggest pluses of entrepreneurship, yet it could prove disastrous if time is not managed and planned in detail. As the captain of the ship, and your own ship at that, time management on a day-to-day basis is important and critical. A day’s list of things to do could very well include a trip to the bank (hopefully for deposits), PTA meetings at school, bill payments, grocery and pharmaceutical shopping, dental and doctor’s appointments etc. But it must also include business goals - plans and strategies - short term and long term. What does not get done in a day’s list must be carried over to the next.

Another factor for all entrepreneurs is longer working hours, and for women in business, burning the midnight oil can only be done successfully once our home affairs are in order; dinner is available for the ones at home, uniforms are ironed, lunch kit items are ready and at hand. It is never just a matter of ‘working late’. It is always a matter of working late and knowing all is well on the home front.

Decision-making, success and failure – For a woman to be able to make her own decisions, business or otherwise, is truly a blessing! Most businesswomen will tell you of their colleagues and mentors with whom they discuss things and get opinions before they themselves come up with a decision. When a decision turns into a success, the sense of accomplishment felt can create a “I’m jumping up and down, yahoo!!!” kind of scenario. Our success stories lend so much to our self-esteem, self-worth and motivation that they probably are ‘the most’ important factor for a woman in business…

…but hold on. Let us remember the downside of decision-making, which is making a ‘wrong’ decision. Failure. When personal or business failure seems to be creeping up and the only apparent option, , an entrepreneur must have a support system in place to quickly eradicate it and bolster the spirit!

Support Systems: Women entrepreneurs in Trinidad & Tobago have AFETT (Association of Female Executives of Trinidad & Tobago) to which to turn. AFETT gives all 118 of its members that support should they need it and reach out for it. The women of AFETT have the opportunity to openly discuss business and personal ‘hiccups’ (failure is not a word that lasts long in our vocabulary). It’s a support system, a pool of resources, knowledge and experience. There is seldom an experience that has not been experienced before and the testimonials relate how these women turned their situations around and potential failure into opportunity.

So make your diary your bible (AFETT has a 2005 diary for sale), use your colleagues and mentors well and have a support system in place. At the end of the day, with all its ups and downs, owning and managing your business just HAS to be the most exhilarating life experience!

Cre@tively yours,
Elise Farrell © 2005