Women entrepreneurs often ask me what is the one piece of advice I can give when they are trying to take their business to the next level - and my advice is almost always the same. You need a good sounding board, someone who is experienced in business building, someone neutral but interested in what you are doing and who can ultimately help you to test your ideas before you take those all important decisions. At key times on my own personal entrepreneurial journey, I have always found it incredibly useful to take a step back from the day-to-day operational details and to brainstorm new ideas with another person. I find it so useful to see their initial reaction and then to get their more detailed feedback. It is all too easy to get caught up in the small details of our businesses and lose sight of the big picture - so the process of explaining our ideas to someone objective can help in getting clarity. A sounding board is like market testing your ideas without the risk of actually launching them to your consumers. Just brace yourself for some very honest feedback that you might not be expecting!

Have yourself an inspired entrepreneurial day! — Melanie

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