Dorothy Enriquez has her business to success. However, she didn’t do it without help or resources. In the beginning, Dorothy mentioned that when she was in business full-time first starting, she was the only one who had a company full time in her circle.
Her friends may have had side hustles, but that’s not the same as being full-time in a business. However, even if she didn’t have friends doing full-time companies, she did have friends who could relate to the ups and the downs, especially if they’re in the same industry.
Dorothy knows that some industries are super cutthroat, and nobody helps each other, but if you can find some friends doing something similar to you, you can see that you have a tribe where all of you can commiserate and convene and discuss the things that impact that space that all of you are in.
Friends are one way you can get moral support because, in the beginning, everything is tough, and getting your business off the ground can be challenging.
Leaders Read A lot.
Supposedly, in the early days of Buffett’s investment career, he would read 600-1000 pages in a single day. Nowadays, he still dedicates 80% of his day to reading around 500 pages every day.
Dorothy recommends that every leader read to grow. This is a fundamental habit that every leader considers if they want to learn frequently consistently. A study I was reading talks about how reading increases emotional intelligence, your career outlook and helps reduce mental decline in old age by up to 32%.
Dorothy strongly suggests people read The Culture Code or anything to level up. She reads a lot, and she believes people should be empowered to have all of their information together. If you don’t like reading, just listen to the audiobook and get everything that you need. Work on your leadership. Even if you are just a powerhouse of one, you still need to work on your leadership development because nobody is ever building a business to be a powerhouse of one forever.
Go Through Business Accelerators
If you’re going to be a business owner, you need to complete accelerators. I would say, depending on where you are, what your goals are. Maybe in the first five years, try to participate in two or three accelerators so that you can learn the ABCs of business.
We all want to be able not just to be great at what we do but also to have the business sense to back it up and make the money we deserve. Dorothy says the average black female entrepreneur makes about 43K a year. She states that you can’t create a legacy at 43,000 annually.
Read everything, get your hands-on business and leadership books, put everything into your skill, and figure out what you need to do to ignite and bring your business to life. During the accelerators, you’ll learn that you shouldn’t be mixing personal finances with business, you should have an elevator pitch and be able to describe what you do in 7 words.
Dorothy states that we need accelerators to have some of those critical conversations and not have to feel bad that we don’t know. If somebody comes after you, they could take everything you own. So Dorothy is huge when it comes to protecting yourself, but we need to be in a space where it’s all just us so that we can have those crucial conversations. After you’ve finished one accelerator, move on to the next. Some accelerators have an income requirement but it’s not always part of the qualification process. You can look at what’s in your city that doesn’t have an income requirement but you want to join because it will help you elevate and go to the next level.
