I recently attended the 50th Anniversary Business Conference for the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), of which I am a member of the Greater Raleigh Chapter. Attending the NAWBO Women’s Business Conference in Washington, D.C. was nothing short of exhilarating. It was also empowering, uplifting, and eye opening.

The weekend kicked off with a powerful day of advocacy on Capitol Hill. Alongside fellow women business owners, I had the opportunity to visit the offices of members congress on both sides of the aisle to advocate for changes in federal policy that directly impact women entrepreneurs. It was empowering to sit across from lawmakers and share real stories—our challenges, our growth, and what we need to thrive. I was reminded that this work didn’t start with us. Women have been showing up, speaking out, and fighting for change for decades, and NAWBO has been leading the way for over 50 years. They’ve been a tireless advocate for women business owners, helping shape policy and build a community that supports leadership, growth, and resilience.

Throughout the conference, I met women who had built a wide range of businesses—some leading a single employee, others managing teams of hundreds. They were running everything from small startups to large enterprises. Some were succeeding, others were rebuilding after setbacks, and many were somewhere in between. Hearing the stories of these fellow women business owners was incredibly powerful. They shared both their wins and their failures. They opened up about their struggles—stories I could instantly relate to. No one glossed over the hard parts. They talked about betrayal, starting over from nothing, and the emotional toll entrepreneurship can take. And yet, here they were: leading companies, serving on boards, and mentoring the next generation.

Finally, there was the dancing. I loved the dancing. It was such a beautiful reminder that joy is part of the journey too. To watch a room full of strong, accomplished women let loose, laughing, spinning, celebrating each other was exactly what I needed. Sometimes we get so caught up in fighting to be taken seriously, to push forward, to rebuild, that we forget how important it is to just have fun. That joy is just as radical as resilience.

Being part of this community of bold, driven women gave me energy and reminded me of the importance of developing community, advocacy for ourselves and our community of women business owners, and of remembering to have fun along the way.

Entrepreneurship is about starting a business. When entrepreneurs are asked to put together a business plan, they are asked a series of questions to determine if their idea has merit. 

Figure out your arena:

First you want to figure out the world you’ll be working in, a great analogy here for those of you who play sports, is the “playing field”. This includes you as the company, your customers, your competitors and collaborators (people who might help a company be successful). For electrologists, the company is the Electrologist herself. Is she qualified? Where did she train? Can she do the job properly and safely? Since you are starting a new Electrology clinic, you clearly believe the answer is yes. For the customers, you as the Electrologist need to decide who your customers could be in order to decide who you will choose to target. Your competitors will matter as well. First of all, who are they? Other Electrologists? Laser hair removal clinics? Most likely before starting your clinic you checked to see where or if other electrologists are around. Setting up an Electrologist clinic right next to another Electrologist would likely not be as successful as setting up somewhere with a dearth of electrologists. As you set up your clinic, you also need to think about people or businesses that can help you grow your business, such as the local community group, or a salon that can refer clients to your clinic. 

Before you started your Electrology services you thought about all these questions to ensure you would be successful in your business. Welcome to entrepreneurship!

Find your audience

Once you decided where to start the clinic, and what type of clinic you would have, you had to think about how to target your selected customer base. In order to decide which customer base to target, you had to segment all possible electrolysis customers into groups and decide who to go after as customers. Did you want to focus on female clients? Clients going through the transgender process? Male clients? Young or old? Local to your town or wider? People from your own community/culture or from all cultures? These decisions are made by electrologists whether actively or subconsciously as these decisions determine the positioning you decide for your clinic. Do you show images of young or older people in the advertisements? Do you show flags supporting clients going through the transgender process in your clinic? Do you have images as part of your marketing that are broadly welcoming or only welcoming to a subset of the community? 

Once you have decide who to target out of the segments you have divided potential clients into, and have decided how to position or clinic within the selected segments, then you have to decide what services to offer (ie what products or services), how to price them, where to advertise, and how to promote services via advertising, promotions and branding. 

Determine pricing

Pricing is a key aspect of developing a new business. For an electrologist, the hourly rate is the first pricing decision you make. The second pricing decision is how to break up pricing for shorter or longer chunks. If one hour is $100, is a half hour $50? Or is it $60? Is 15 minutes, $25 or $40? The pricing strategy can help guide the length of clients sessions. Pricing and positioning also play a role in what add ons are sold in the store. Is the client base able to afford a $30 product? Or a $60 product?  Finally, as an electrologist, you have to decide how and where to advertise. On instagram? Facebook? The local newspaper, whether digital or in paper. Flyers? Are the flyers sent to a mailbox or posted on the windows of local businesses. Are they shared in a business group such as a chamber of commerce. 

All of these decisions went into your decision on where and how to open your clinic. Did you consciously think through the above details? Maybe not, but all of these questions affected your choices in starting your business, and the decisions you made still affect you today. As you move forward with your business, as an entrepreneur, remember to periodically check to see if the assumptions and determinations you made when you first started your business may have changed.