Despite this, female entrepreneurs continue to turn them into opportunities, displaying resilience, determination and innovation. Here, Amy Knight, founder of Must Have Ideas, one of the UK’s fastest growing e-commerce companies in the UK, gives her insight on how to run a successful business.
Motherhood
Balancing motherhood and running a successful business can be a monumental task, with the responsibilities of raising children and a running a business colliding and a balance of time, energy, and focus is crucial. Guilt is an all-too common emotion that mothers face when pursuing their careers or professional dreams, so try not to let it hold you back from achieving your goals. Remind yourself that by pursuing your own career goals you’re setting a fantastic example to your children, showing that with hard work, determination and courage, anything is possible.
Gender bias
Often a constant hurdle for women in business, gender bias will almost certainly present itself at some stage. Facing scepticism, prejudice and underestimation, women often need to work harder than their male counterparts to succeed. Overall, in my career so far, I’ve had things relatively straightforward, having worked for a few companies before launching Must Have Ideas, but I know that each woman’s individual journey is different. However, I have experienced gender bias first hand on a number of occasions, with people being surprised that I am the correct person to speak to or people asking me if they can speak to someone more senior. The best way to deal with these situations is to remain confident, courteous, professional and, unfortunately, try not to be overly surprised when it happens.
Working with a spouse
Launching Must Have Ideas with my husband Rob, having previously worked together for two years has proved extremely rewarding. While we don’t find it challenging to work together (in fact, we really enjoy it), realistically, some couples may have to work that little bit harder to make things work.
In reality, it’s simply a case of that until you’ve tried it, you won’t know how it’s going to work out. So, if the going gets tough, it’s important to be realistic and to look at ways to resolve the issues.
If Rob and I didn’t get on well at work, we simply couldn’t run the business, so it’s vital we share the same vision and mutual goals to make it work. That’s not to say our professional lives don’t require boundaries. It takes good communication and most importantly of all, mutual respect – which is necessary for anyone considering a joint business venture.
Having our respective roles within the business means that some of our working days are spent apart. We will of course report to each other and our other co-founder during regular meetings. This means always maintaining a professional relationship at work while still advocating a relaxed, friendly culture for the whole team, which for us, is especially important.
Transforming challenges into opportunities
Many female entrepreneurs have turned personal adversity into a business opportunity, for example Jo Malone, the perfume designer, used her personal battle with cancer as a source of inspiration to create a new line of perfumes.
So far throughout my journey I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid experiencing anything too detrimental, however, I’m often asked why I chose e-commerce over a secure career in Law. While this was never an obstacle as such, I found myself having to repeatedly explain my choice of career, particularly in the early days. My answer has always remained the same: that the world of e-commerce is exciting and challenging.
When I first started, I didn’t know how to advertise on Meta, so rather than viewing this as a barrier, I saw it an opportunity to learn – as it’s what I’m passionate about. Learning how to share our products (and what they can do), to thousands of people daily gave me a real buzz, and still does today.
Similarly, starting with an investment of just £3,000 could have been a stumbling block, but instead, I embraced it. With a lot of hard work and a lot of determination we’ve managed to turn £3,000 into one of the UK’s fastest growing e-commerce businesses and that is something I am extremely proud of.
