We attended the Women’s Inspire Network conference in Galway a few weeks ago, and as we spoke to some of the amazing women in business, we were reminded of the challenges we can face while setting up a business. This could be in terms of finance, stepping online and a range of other issues, including the challenges we face within ourselves. If you are struggling with certain things while trying to get your business off the ground, just remember: you’re not alone.
Olive O’Connor
CEO of MediStori
International healthcare speaker
Twitter @OliveBlogs @MediStori
Olive is CEO of MediStori, the personal health organiser designed to keep all your medical appointments, medications and medical history in one place. This is inspired by her family’s number of health conditions, which can be hard to keep track of without MediStori. She is a wife, and also a mother to 4 children.
“My biggest inward challenge was to pass the mental block; to pass the fear of ‘can I do it? Is it worth the risk?’.”
Tackling your own challenges mentally can be the hardest. We must assess the situation and be honest with ourselves, all the while thinking ‘it’s better to take the leap and find out if it works, than to never try at all’.
“Another equally big challenge was restructuring and marketing my story in different ways to different people, all the while keeping it accurate and relevant. I had to know my core message very clearly while knowing what way to talk about it.”
Presenting your business idea to different people can come with a lot of work. Not everyone wants the same thing from a business. Find your USPs (unique selling points). A good idea to test your business idea is to talk to other people. Beware of who you talk to. Family and friends are often motivated by support for you or fear for you, rather than the validity of your business idea. Try to find people whose opinion is not clouded by emotional support.
Find out more about MediStori on the website, www.medistori.com.
Keep an eye on our social media for the next part of our series coming next week.