Business Plan and Business Ownership Skills: Midwives need BOTH

When starting a private practice, there should be just as much research and planning for the midwifery business plan as there is your personal business ownership improvement of skills. There is so much not talk about owning a business versus working for someone else. It isn’t just about figuring out overhead costs, policies, birth center location, and services to offer. It is about professional development as a leader, mental resilience, and people skills.

There will be times when revenues streams will be up and down. There will be a start up phase where many hours of work are committed with minimal initial financial return on investment. There will be times that staff hired don’t get along and look to you as the leader to solve the personality challenges happening among the team. Having a strong business and leadership development training as well as business planning needs to thought about. We can have the best business plan in the world, but if the midwives implementing that plan doesn’t have great business ownership skills, it will fail within the first few years.

When I do consulting services for women wanting to start midwifery practices, we do just as much business planning analysis and personal development skills. I want strong business owners running these phenomenal midwifery practices. It takes time to learn about to develop the traits of a successful business owner and leader. There are many great books out there to read for strengthening your already natural talents and improve the parts of your personality that may make things harder to be a leader for others to follow. We want good work ethics, good communication skills, humble, and positive, creative mindset. By taking care of yourself with exercise, good nutrition, rest, work/life boundaries, and mental strength will leaps and bounds set an image to team what your standards are and what is expected of them: nothing be excellence. When you lead by example with vacations, breaks, taking care of yourself, kindness, and listening skills, your staff will have the same following attitude.

As a small business owner, you know that running a business is hard work. A good owner is the backbone of a small business and crucial to its success. Knowing the characteristics of small business owners that set them apart from others can help you identify your strongest areas and how you can use those qualities to the benefit of your business. Below are the 6 most important characteristics of small business owners.

1. Confident

Confidence comes from knowing yourself and your abilities. Where arrogance makes you blind to your weaknesses, confidence accepts and acknowledges those weaknesses. As a confident small business owner, you understand both your best skills and biggest areas of improvement. You can use this confidence to bravely take your business outside of your comfort zone without acting rash.

If you have confidence in yourself and your business, business goals become much more attainable. You won’t be held back by fear of making the next move for your company. On the other hand, you’ll be able to see your limitations and will be less likely to make a silly mistake when managing your business. Another added bonus of being confident is the perception of your employees, vendors or potential lenders. You’ll become a respected leader. People trust you and your confidence is likely to rub off on your employees.

2. Persistent

Running a business doesn’t always go as planned. Whether it’s a setback on a project timeline or a rejection for financing from a traditional lender, you have to be persistent to make it work. Every time something goes wrong with the business you, as a persistent business owner, look for solutions to the problem. Sometimes this means pushing forward through barriers until you get through and sometimes it means finding a completely new route to the goal.

Your business is going to face problems. As one of the main positive characteristics of small business owners, persistence helps you get through these problems and come out more determined than before. When you face a setback, such as being denied funding for your next project, you jump straight in and find a solution.

3. Goal-Oriented

You need to know what your customers want from your business and have a plan to achieve those goals. Being goal-oriented works directly with persistence to keep your business heading towards success. Creating goals, however, includes more than just the final outcome. If you’re a good goal-setter, you know that achievable goals come from careful planning, research and honest communication with everyone involved. Even with the main goal in mind, it’s important to focus on each step to reaching that goal by creating micro-goals along the way.

4. Budget Conscious

Planning, setting and sticking to a budget is one of your most important jobs as a business owner. Most success metrics for businesses are measured by financials. Being budget conscious can help grow your business from barely staying afloat to a successful and established brand. As a financially savvy business owner, you recognize that setting a budget is only the first step. You’re always keeping an eye on where business financials are headed in the future. You can use a financial checkup to help make sure you’re on track.

5. Personable

Likeability is often taken for granted. A positive attitude and approachable personality make it easier for your employees, other professionals and even customers to be open and honest with you. In the long run, being personable can bring positive results to your bottom line. Engaging with customers and building a relationship leads to repeat business and word of mouth recommendations. A friendly personality can also help relieve a stressed customer or employee when something goes wrong.

6. Passionate

You might think of your business as your baby. You’re not alone! Many entrepreneurs and small business owners see the businesses they’ve built in this way. This mindset is really no surprise when you consider the time, resources and finances most business owners put into their businesses. Your employees and customers will be able to see your passion as a business owner. This passion can help excite new employees or gain the confidence of a potential client.

Getting the Resources You Need

Running a successful business starts with a great business owner. As a small business owner, it’s important to recognize both your good and bad qualities to make your business a success. These characteristics of small business owners help businesses grow and overcome difficult challenges. One of the biggest issues faced by a small business owner is securing financing. You can use your best small business owner characteristics to help you get the funds you need for your business.

Business plans are really important for a successful midwifery business, but I feel the personal traits of the business owner themselves get forgotten when talking about the chances of success. Spend just as much time doing a market analysis, budgets, and negotiating fee schedules for your wonderful services as hiring a business coach, self analysis of your strengths and weakness for being a strong business owner. We are only as good as the weakest person on our team. Goal is you are the strongest on the team and know how to find those amazing traits in others while interviewing candidates to also exemplify the midwifery brand you are trying to create!

https://www.nationalfunding.com/blog/small-business-owner-characteristics/