A family history of entrepreneurship set the stage for Janet’s future. “My father was an entrepreneur, and his father before him, and they never worked for the corporate world,” says Janet. “Through that experience, I knew that I wanted to pursue the life of a successful entrepreneur. My journey started at a young age, and I sold everything from cosmetics to plastic wear. Some businesses were successful, and some were not. While struggling to find my passion, I decided to get a ‘real’ job and held several corporate positions. When the software industry sent their call centers overseas, I job-hopped and experienced many layoffs. Knowing all along that the corporate world was not for me, I studied and passed my life insurance test and the California real estate exam, then used my financial knowledge and customer service skills to help many people live a life of financial abundance. Although I was a financial success, I was missing something.”

Janet found her passion after rediscovering her true calling. “What I finally realized was that I missed my computer software roots,” recalls Janet, “and deep in my heart I was a ‘geek’! I dove head first into Internet marketing and social media and started my new business in 2005, this time with a clear vision. I love to see my clients succeed with the least amount of stress and financial strain. When they follow a plan that shows them how to create multiple income streams through social media marketing, they enjoy more time and financial freedom. The greatest reward has been to see my clients businesses grow using my social media strategy.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com, Janet discovered that she is a Jane Dough “The assessment results were amazing!” says Janet. “Jane Dough is me – exactly! My focus is definitely growth and operations and I am moving forward! The first step has been to hire a team, including a personal assistant, so I can take on more business. Sometimes I strive for balance, and have been a Go Jane Go in the past. When I work weekends and evenings, I often feel guilty.”

What is Janet’s advice for her fellow Jane Doughs? “Don’t be timid. If you believe in what you are doing and are passionate about it, you have to share it with the world! The one thing that made a huge difference for me was to let go of what others thought of me. I am putting my business out there knowing that I am offering a top-notch service for my clients and I feel confident.”

Initially, Kimberly wanted to reach as many people as possible to support them in realizing their results, which required going out on her own. “While I gained so much experience while working within organizations both here and abroad,” reflects Kimberly, “I was limited to only eliminating organizational dysfunction within a narrow scope – namely those leaders and their teams within the company where I worked. Owning my own business allows me the freedom to broaden my scope of influence and make changes that make a difference in multiple businesses. In turn, I’m creating a better place for others to work.”

For Kimberly, there are many rewards stemming from business ownership, including seeing her clients experience results beyond what they imagined and working with them as partners. “Personally,” says Kimberly, “the greatest reward is my ability to work when I want and be able to do the things I love, which entails traveling the world with my family.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com, Kimberly discovered that she is a Jane Dough. “I come from a family of business owners and always ‘knew’ that I was destined to own my own business,” said Kimberly. “I get so much energy from knowing that this is my business to make thrive and making the choices that lead to success. I love growing the business through connections, collaborations and partnerships and am now ready to take the business to the next level. I think at one time or another I have been many Janes. Certainly when I started this business, I was a Tenacity Jane, venturing into a brand new market with no contacts and no support. In the beginning, I struggled with cash flow, but I had passion and a vision for what I knew was possible. My business plan and financial back up helped me make it through the tough times – I guess that’s my Jane Dough coming out!”

Kimberly has one key piece of advice for other Jane Doughs. “One of the lessons that I have learned is to focus, focus, focus,” stresses Kimberly. “Often in our businesses we get caught up in what I call the Shiny Red Shoe syndrome – so many possibilities (the shiny red shoes), and so little time. When we aren’t focused and aligned on our values, our goals and our priorities, we we grab at any shiny red shoe that is most attractive to us at the moment – even though it may not be the best choice to grow our business! Focus, Focus, Focus is a lesson that I use daily to keep my priorities in order and only take on those shiny red shoes that lead me to where I want to go.”

Laura started her company to provide what she observed as needed service to business owners. “Business owners have a hard enough time running their day to day operation. My services give them the freedom to keep running their business and not worry about the rest,” says Laura.

When asked to state what the biggest reward is for owning her own business, Laura creates quite a visual. “I love to see the look on my clients face or hear them breathe a sigh of relief when working with them on their business needs and offering them solutions. I can save them both time and money while protecting their business assets, and that is rewarding in itself, but best of all ,they realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and they garner new tools to permanently raise their bottom line.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com, Laura discovered that she is a Jane Dough. “Jane Dough fits me,” asserts Laura. “I do enjoy running my business and I am very comfortable with selling and marketing. It is very satisfying running my own business and putting the longer hours because it is an investment that is well worth it. Team members at Virtual Business Solutions have 25+ years of experience, which makes our team a great asset for any business owner to work with. Masterminding with the team on viable solutions for businesses that need our help makes for great ideas and business solutions.” Many Jane Doughs envision creating a legacy-based business, and Laura is a prime example. “My son will be attending college this fall and will be majoring in Digital Media and Marketing so some day passing this business on to my son or having him become a team member is something that keeps me energized to keep growing my business.”

Laura offers some sound advice for other Jane Dough. “If you are just graduating college and starting your road to business success, my advice would be to spend your energy on YOUR business goals FIRST and then work on other businesses along the way. That would be a lesson I learned later in my business career and I wish I would have set my business boundaries sooner.

I would say in the beginning of my career I would have been the Go Jane Go. Not knowing when to say ‘NO.’ I now teach a Business Boundaries class to help other Jane’s know how to SAY NO.”

Accidental Jane
Accidental Jane has her own mug!

Let her tell you about accidentally starting a business.

Jane’s Got a Bag
See Jane Succeed – all the Janes got together to feature a tote! You can be green use it for groceries or for any big project you need to carry.

Tenacity Jane
Tenacity Jane has her own mug!

Let her tell you what makes her so tenacious about her business.

Go Jane Go
Go Jane Go has her own mug!

Let her tell you about her drive.

Jane Dough
Jane Dough has her own mug!

Let her tell you about her vision for her business.

Merry Jane
Merry Jane has her own mug!

Let her tell you why she merrily is a business owner.

See Jane Succeed Mug
See Jane Succeed – all of the Janes together on one mug!

Now this is teamwork and networking at its finest.

A recent study from Jane Out of the Box, an authority on female entrepreneurs, reveals there are five distinct types of women in business. Based on professional market research of more than 2,500 women in business, this study shows that each type of business owner has a unique approach to running a business and therefore each one has a unique combination of needs. This article outlines three of the five types and provides tips for tracking performance metrics and using the information to create future success.

Jane Dough is an entrepreneur who enjoys running her business and generally, she makes a nice living. She is comfortable and determined in buying and selling, which may be why she’s five times more likely than the average female business owner to hit the million dollar mark. Jane Dough is clear in her priorities and may be intentionally and actively growing an asset-based or legacy business. It is estimated that 18% of women entrepreneurs fall in the category of Jane Dough.

Because Jane Dough-run businesses often produce a large income, Jane Dough business owners are more likely than others to make large investments in their businesses. By tracking key performance metrics, then, Jane Dough can determine whether her investments are paying off – and if they aren’t, she can decide how to shift those investments so they do so.

Given the success of her business, Jane Dough is likely to use advertising systems, such as “pay per click” campaigns on Google or print and radio advertisements. These traditional advertising systems provide relatively simple tracking mechanisms by which Jane Dough can determine how her advertisements are working. For example, “pay per click” advertising allows a business owner to keep track of how many people clicked on her advertisement, based on a certain set of keywords, which she chooses. Jane Dough can figure out how many people visited her web site based on a specific set of keywords – and then she can figure out whether that “pay per click” campaign was worth the investment. Print or radio advertisements in certain markets can include special offers – based on how many people mention those special offers (whether they mention them during a phone call or while filling out an application or customer form of so me kind), and Jane Dough will know whether those ads are driving traffic to her business. For Jane Dough, diligence in tracking metrics provides a solid understanding of the company, and a good opportunity for refining goals, educating team members and selecting even more powerful strategies for growth.

Merry Jane. This entrepreneur is usually building a part-time or “flexible time” business that gives her a creative outlet (whether she’s an ad agency consultant or she makes beautiful artwork) which she can manage within specific constraints around her schedule. She may have a day-job, or need to be fully present for family or other pursuits. She realizes she could make more money by working longer hours, but she’s happy with the tradeoff she has made because her business gives her tremendous freedom to work how and when she wants, around her other commitments.

Because Merry Jane needs to remain flexible so she is able to meet her various obligations and responsibilities, she doesn’t have much time to invest in tracking her company’s performance. Nevertheless, tracking performance will assist Merry Jane in establishing where her time is best spent – so it’s a critical investment. A few suggestions to consider on this information-gathering mission:

Studying existing customer relationships provides an excellent venue for Merry Jane to discover what is working. Usually, Merry Jane doesn’t have a large number of customers (and she prefers it that way!). It will be quite simple, then, to tally the results of an Internet survey, an e-mail questionnaire, or even a personal phone call or visit. A Merry Jane business owner can ask existing customers how they found out about her business, what attracted them to her business, and what they believe are the biggest benefits of the business’ products or services. By analyzing this data, Merry Jane can figure out what’s working. For example, if she advertises in three different magazines, but customers mention only two of them, perhaps she might stop advertising in the third. If she sells books, games and toys, and customers list the unique books and games as benefits, maybe she should cut her toy inventory and increase her book and game inventory ac cordingly.

Go Jane Go is passionate about her work and provides excellent service, so she has plenty of clients – so much so, she’s struggling to keep up with demand. She may be a classic overachiever, taking on volunteer opportunities as well, because she’s eager to make an impact on the world and she often struggles to say no. Because she wants to say yes to so many people, she may even be in denial about how many hours she actually works during the course of a week. As a result, she may be running herself ragged and feeling guilty about neglecting herself and others who are important to her.

Because Go Jane Go is wildly successful in business (she has so many clients she struggles to keep up with demand), it may seem as though she doesn’t need to track performance metrics. However, one of Go Jane Go’s challenges is that she takes her work personally. Her work is a reflection of herself, and as a result, she goes above and beyond to ensure the message her work sends is a positive one. Tracking key performance metrics, then, is essential for Go Jane Go’s personal well-being because it provides her an opportunity to see what is working and what isn’t from a purely business perspective.

Already overcommitted and overwhelmed, Go Jane Go’s most practical choice for handling the measuring of performance metrics may be to hire an individual or a firm to do it. From measuring whether an ad campaign is working to interviewing customers and completing market research, professionals can take care of every aspect of performance measuring and then give Go Jane Go a report she can use to determine her best next steps. Although she sometimes has difficulty handing work to someone else, (for fear that person may not meet her exacting standards), most Go Jane Go business owners don’t have the time to perform in-depth research. She can alleviate the fear of delegating this task by getting references. By hiring someone to tackle this time consuming endeavor, Go Jane Go can focus on the work she loves. Once she gets the report, she can determine whether her energy is in the right place.

Determining which strategies are working is critical in creating a business’ path to success. Measuring performance metrics not only reveals whether resources are being spent as wisely as possible, it also reveals a path for the future.

“I became an entrepreneur over 20 years ago out of a need,” said Joy. “I was working as a business and marketing director in the healthcare industry. Tied to a yearly salary, I was informed by my boss at the time that I was not going to be getting any more pay raises. With a strong desire to earn more income to do more in life, I needed to earn more than the job’s confines allowed so I started my own business in the marketing industry part time to earn extra income. Over the next 12 years, that business grew to be wildly successful, however it involved a lot of travel and when I became a first time mom at the age of 40, I began to lose my ‘spark’ for that business. After taking a hiatus to decide what was next for me, five years ago, I gave birth to Smart Women Smart Solutions which feeds the passion I have for helping women entrepreneurs.”

When asked to name the rewards of owning her own business, Joy replied, “There have been so many! Navigating the course of my life through business ownership has been a wonderful reward. It’s also given me great insight into how creative I am. Until I became an entrepreneur, I never realized how creative I was. The fact that I can design and create programs to help women is exciting and rewarding for me.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com, Joy discovered that she is a Jane Dough. “When I took the assessment and learned that I was Jane Dough, it made sense to me right away,” reflects Joy. “I’ve been very focused over the last 18 – 24 months on creating a bigger vision for Smart Women Smart Solutions. My mindset has been focused on creating a plan that not only supports women entrepreneurs but allows my business to reach the next level of success. My team of support has grown in order for me to reach the goals I’ve set for the company. Because I love the work, the challenge is always the same; integrating my passionate work with the love I have for my family. I am married and have two children under the age of 10 so it’s busy in my life!”

Joy offers 3 pieces of advice for Jane Dough’s.

1. Stay connected to a mastermind group or coach to help you navigate new territory along the way.
2. Get plenty of alone time. It’s important for women entrepreneurs working at this level to retreat and get plenty of rest.
3. Enjoy the ride! We can become so focused on the end result that we can forget to enjoy the Journey along the way and it’s a fabulous journey!

We asked Joy if she had been another Jane Type in her “past life” Joy replied, “Yes! When I started my first business over 20 years ago, I was Accidental Jane. When I birthed Smart Women Smart Solutions, I was Go Jane Go in the early stages with one toddler and an infant in a baby carrier. I progressed from there into Tenacity Jane and became Jane Dough within the last 18 months.”

Joy assists Jane Out of the Box as a coach for the Tenacity Jane teleclass series. “My mission is to support women in accomplishing their passion through their business, so the relationship with Jane Out of the Box is a natural!”

A recent study from Jane Out of the Box, an authority on female entrepreneurs, reveals there are five distinct types of women in business. Based on professional market research of more than 2,500 women in business, this study shows that each type of business owner has a unique approach to running a business – and therefore each one has a unique combination of needs. This article outlines two of the five types and provides tips for time management that ensure success as the various types of entrepreneurs define it.

Go Jane Go is passionate about her work and provides excellent service, so she has plenty of clients – so much so, she’s struggling to keep up with demand. She may be a classic overachiever, taking on volunteer opportunities as well, because she’s eager to make an impact on the world and she often struggles to say no. Because she wants to say yes to so many people, she may even be in denial about how many hours she actually works during the course of a week. As a result, she may be running herself ragged and feeling guilty about neglecting herself and others who are important to her.

Of all the types of business owners, Go Jane Go is most in need of improved time management systems. She strives to give her all in doing the right thing and being a good person. She loves what she does and believes strongly in being of service to others while being the best at what she does. Often, Go Jane Go business owners are in denial about the amount of hours they actually work; for example, some reported working only 40 hours per week but still feeling overwhelmed and a bit frazzled. When we questioned them about it, they admitted that they worked only 40 billable hours per week but put in significantly more hours on other business-related tasks. Her desire to help others, coupled with her reluctance to turn down most requests leaves her feeling stressed and overcommitted much of the time. How can she rectify that?

• Park It. By creating a “parking lot” for goals of every type, Go Jane Go can stop worrying about what she hasn’t accomplished and set a schedule for accomplishing it. Create two lists. The first should include immediate goals and should be kept visible. The second should include more long-term goals and should be filed away and viewed every month to 6 months, to determine where goals stand periodically. By writing down goals, large and small, business and personal, this parking lot takes the weight off Go Jane Go’s shoulders – she won’t forget any of these important goals, and she won’t have to worry constantly about them, either.
• Overlap. It’s essential that Go Jane Go prioritize – after all, she has so much going on, she has to know where to start so she can check tasks off her long to-do list. Once she’s prioritized, Go Jane Go can make a game of finding ways to fit her priorities together. For example, if meaningful relationships, family time, helping others and managing time by hiring someone to do her less favorite tasks are priorities, Go Jane Go may consider hiring a family member to do some of the work she doesn’t enjoy as well. In this way, she gets to spend time with that family member, help that family member by providing a job, and work on the activities she enjoys.
• Accept Help. Go Jane Go doesn’t want to burden others and will take on loathsome burdens to avoid doing so. However, by asking for help, Go Jane Go may feel less overwhelmed and provide an opportunity for loved ones to return favors she’s done for them. She can ask her husband to pick up the kids or make dinner, or she can ask a friend to listen while she vents about a work problem. Getting help in completing even small tasks can significantly lighten Go Jane Go’s load.

Jane Dough is an entrepreneur who enjoys running her business. Generally, she makes a nice living. She is comfortable and determined in buying and selling, which may be why she’s five times more likely than the average female business owner to hit the million dollar mark. Jane Dough is clear in her priorities and may be intentionally and actively growing an asset-based or legacy business. It is estimated that 18% of women entrepreneurs fall in the category of Jane Dough.

Like Go Jane Go, Jane Dough runs a successful business and takes home a large personal income. Unlike Go Jane Go, though, Jane Dough is adept at time management and sometimes delegates too much rather than not enough. Jane Dough moves quickly and decisively, and runs her business like a “natural-born entrepreneur,” meeting traditional standards of success, while striking a great work-life balance. Even with so much success, this type of business owner can improve her business’ efficiency and its productivity by keeping a few suggestions in mind.

• Document. System documentation maximizes efficiency because it reveals every step of every system, therefore revealing steps that may be obsolete or repetitive, and therefore unnecessary. It also provides a system by which a new employee can learn the ins and outs of his or her job in the case that a seasoned employee leaves the company. This will reduce learning and training time.
• Track Performance. By carefully keeping track of key performance metrics, Jane Dough can determine whether the efforts she’s putting into various aspects of her business are paying off. If they’re not, she can spend less time there and more time on aspects that are productive. For example, let’s consider a Jane Dough who has spent a considerable amount of non-billable time on developing a new web site. She tracks visitors and purchases, and discovers that although her site is receiving a lot of traffic, people aren’t buying after visiting it. On the other hand, she’s getting tons of calls from people mentioning a radio ad she placed, which promised listeners a discount if they mentioned the ad. By putting in place tracking systems (software for the web site and a discount on the radio ad), this Jane Dough will learn where her resources are best spent.

Managing time appropriately is absolutely critical in striking a satisfactory work-life balance, and in growing a business. Every type of entrepreneur can improve her time management skills, whether it’s to find more personal time or to maximize a company’s efficiency.

Eve’s entrepreneurial spirit was kindled by happenstance. “Firstly, I met the person to start Go 360 with,” recalls Eve. “My business partner came into my life through an odd set of circumstances that were fated. We shared a vision, a passion, a way of communicating and a respect for our differences in culture, personality and the lives we had lead. We wanted to change the world, make people well and have a vehicle that enabled us to ‘walk the walk.’”

One of Eve’s greatest rewards is, “Seeing people healed, well, laughing and going on in life to achieve greatness. We have created a place for people to come and be healed emotionally, mentally and physically.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com, Eve discovered that she is a Jane Dough. “It’s me in a nutshell!!” asserts Eve. “I love running the business; sales and marketing are my disciplines. I work in the evenings to learn and challenge myself, reading reports from the Internet, getting up to speed with social media, networking online, blogging etc. My goal in 2010 is to build my reputation, increase my profile in New Zealand and that of the business to leverage my own personal growth. I also want to franchise the business so I will need funding, support and mentoring.” Eve knows that she has been several Jane Types in the past. “I was a Go Jane Go and a Tenacity Jane when running other peoples’ businesses. After taking steps to better understanding myself, the Go Jane Go is now firmly under control; she is better channeled and she sleeps more! The Tenacity Jane is coming to grips with cash flow and how to manage that as an operation, not a problem!!”

Eve has tons of advice for her fellow Jane Doughs:

• A challenge is always time. You need to manage yourself to maximize the time you have. I am a morning and evening person so I use the afternoon to walk, exercise, play with the dogs, socialize and refuel.
• Now that I know I am a Jane Dough, I can use the profile and Michele’s guidance to create the money to fulfill my dreams. You can too! I want to heal my friends and family, and yours as well.
• Learn to be and know yourself.
• Learn to set boundaries and ask yourself, ‘am I on or off,’ ‘awake or asleep.’ For years I’ve been told to slow down, take time out and chill, but that’s not me. I am fed by energy derived from reading, learning, and growing my mind.
• Be true to yourself and realize that you can achieve anything and you don’t have to do so alone. Being in business with a like mind is invigorating, inspiration and fun. Try it! My partner and I feed off each other’s energy; we balance each other’s skill, are open to sharing, and are not ashamed when we don’t know the answer to something — we watch each other’s back.
• Never be afraid of not knowing. Use it to learn something new and meet new people. I use New Zealand’s free mentoring service to link in with potential mentors and ask for advice when I need it.
• A Jane Dough is not always a detail person (I am not!) so employ a 2IC that is, or get things outsourced.
• Don’t compromise professionalism and don’t worry — we Jane Doughs cannot be everything to everyone!

Charlotte started her business as a second career after 25 years at Hewlett Packard. “After retirement from Hewlett Packard as a Project Manager in product development,” remembers Charlotte, “I felt I had a skill set that could help other professionals. The greatest reward I get from being a business owner is hearing the words ‘thank you.’”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com, Charlotte discovered that she is a Jane Dough. Charlotte is certain that she has been all Jane Types in the past and believes that if we learn from the events that made us who we are, then our history is “a glorious gift and truly, a blessing.” Jane Dough fits her present situation perfectly. “I am blessed with the experience of people management along with project management” said Charlotte. “I was successful at both. And because of that experience, I’m determined to be successful again in a different environment and in a different industry.”

Charlotte has some straight talk for other Jane Doughs. “First and foremost – If you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all. And secondly, just do what makes sense. Use your gift of intuition.”

Liz started her business when her oldest daughter went off to college. “I needed something more than just being a stay-at-home mom,” remembers Liz. “The idea for Wickedly Chic had been brewing in my mind for quite some time. It did not seem to matter in which city or state I resided, the same big-box stores prevailed. There was a clear need for a representation of smaller shops and venues. Being an at-home mom, you get spoiled in creating your own routine. I wanted to be able to do the same with a business.”

“One of the greatest rewards in running Wickedly Chic has been that people want to read what I write,” said Liz. “There’s an even bigger interest in focusing on small shops than I anticipated, and I’m right at the heart of that movement. My world would be much narrower without Wickdly Chic. I have met so many wonderful people and I am amazed at how my world continues to grow every day.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com , Liz discovered that she is a Jane Dough. “Originally, I planned on running Wickedly Chic on a small scale,” mused Liz. “But the more that I’ve delved into it, I see more opportunity for my vision to grow greater than I ever imagined. I spend more time working than I estimated in the beginning, especially thinking, planning and strategizing. I believe in what I am doing and am passionate about businesses that I market and promote. I need to stop and give myself more credit. Initially, I thought that Wickedly Chic was simply an idealistic dream. But I’ve managed to grow and develop the concept over the past three years and sell the idea to other women, both customers and advertisers. Over that period, I’ve been Tenacity Jane and Accidental Jane, but now I’m most positively moving down the Jane Dough path.”

What’s Liz’s advice for other Jane Doughs? “Keep reminding yourself of how far you’ve come and pat yourself on the back. It’s like being a full-time mom. There is no boss following you around to tell you what an outstanding job you are doing. Be your own cheerleader and surround yourself with other business women. Shout, ‘Yay Me!,” when it’s appropriate. It’s not bragging to let others know what is happening in your business. If you don’t toot your own horn, who’s going to toot it for you?”