Today we are joined by author Karin Abarbanel, who has just released a wonderful new how-to book. Karin, thank you for joining us.
Your new book, “Birthing the Elephant,” is targeted to women who want to start their own businesses. I’m curious why you wrote a book specifically geared to women. What are the hurdles a woman will face as opposed to a man who wants to start his own business?
Great question! Actually, some of the very positive reviews we’ve received for Birthing the Elephant are from men launchers who are finding it very helpful. I think this underscores the fact that many start-up challenges are the same for everyone.
However, I do believe there are some important differences. First, there’s the emotional aspect of a launch. While most start-up guides focus on the 3 Ms: money, marketing, and management, “Birthing the Elephant” zeroes in on a 4th M: Motivation, which is largely ignored. But emotional staying power – and managing emotional obstacles — are really at the heart of business survival. Women totally understand the importance of emotional factors like fear, image anxiety, and isolation to their start-up success – and they are willing to talk about them and to reach out for help to manage them. Men have a harder time responding to these issues.
Second, women are generally under-funded during their start-ups relative to men, so many of the challenges we tackle in the book are related to this, such as substituting brains for bucks, understanding your personal money style, and pitfalls to avoid.
And finally, women are launching new businesses at a faster rate than any other group in America – to the tune of 2.5 million new ventures a year. With this huge audience of launchers, it made great sense to gear the book to women.
On your site, you talk about mastering the “small business mind game.” What is that and how does it come into play as we seek success?
The “mind game” we talk about in the book really refers to making the transition from employee to entrepreneur. In many ways, this is one of the toughest work shifts to make: you’re not just changing a job or changing a career, you’re changing your identity. As an entrepreneur, you have to think and act very proactively: you have to substitute creativity for cash, you have to market, you have to innovate your way out of tough situations, and you have to have the persistence of a Sherman tank! This is a very different mind set from that of a “paycheck player,” which is what most of us were before starting our own ventures.
While this book is targeted to small businesses, does it also contain information for those whose businesses are larger?
While our main goal is to give small businesses a boost, I believe that “Birthing the Elephant” offers lots of practical advice that will be helpful to larger businesses as well. It’s really focuses on the first twenty-two months of a start-up when every decision counts and every mistake looms large. Many of the launch issues you face are the same, whether you’re a solo entrepreneur working from home or you are producing a product with full-time employees.
I noticed on your web site that you are offering a free start-up kit. What does that contain?
The “kit” consists of a launch road map that highlights the four stages of a launch, a report on five big start-up mistakes to avoid, and a free Ace Your Start-Up ezine I’m starting.
What would you say is the biggest mistake that a new business can make?
In “Birthing the Elephant” we pinpoint ten pitfalls that can sabotage your start-up. Picking the biggest is tough! However, I’d have to say that the frontrunner for me is overspending due to image anxiety. Many launchers tend to go invest too much in their infrastructure early on. They get carried away with buying the latest computer equipment and building a web site with all the latest bells and whistles, instead of focusing on delivering service and results, which is what customers really want. It’s best to start really lean and then build as you go – otherwise you can pour precious dollars into building your image when they’d be better spent on finding clients and marketing.
This is all great information, Karin. Thank you for sharing it with us.
If you’d like more information about Karin or her book, visit her website here.
Related Blogs:
So, You Have an Idea for a Business, Now What?
How Long Until You Start to Make Money?