First, let me say, I only write from personal experience so, YES, I had the opportunity to go into prison and listen to and question two male prisoners. The takeaways can help all entrepreneurs be more successful in business and life. But, women entrepreneurs, particularly, should pay close attention because in our minds we might be more like inmates than we want to admit. 
Let me explain what I mean by this. Every survey done on women entrepreneurs indicates that the number one issue holding them back is the feeling of isolation. You learn very quickly by talking to an inmate that although he is surrounded day in and day out by hundreds (actually more than 1000 others), he believes its 'kill or be killed'. In other words, he thinks it is completely up to him to use his own resources to survive - mentally and physically.
Another comparison inmates and women entrepreneurs have is their feeling of separation from the norm. Both may talk a good game, but beneath it all each feels like they are faking it until they make it - or in the case of the inmate, faking it until he gets released. Feeling like an outsider can be strength for an entrepreneur, but for men behind bars it is a chip on the shoulder that grows into a cancer.
But, on to the three lessons learned:
(1) Patience. As an entrepreneur, I know that patience is something I am always doing my best to grasp. But, when I have an idea my type 'A' personality pushes me into overdrive until I see my concept fully developed. Time is something most entrepreneurs believe they don't have enough of. Inmates, on the other hand, have nothing but time. The men I met both were doing ten to twenty, and probably more. If talking to me (and the others visiting with me) got 2 hours shaved off their sentence, they were willing to take the time.
When I asked one of the prison guards if there had ever been an escape he explained in great detail how two prisoners back in 2002 had been successful. First working days (or months) to make the utensil needed to cut through the metal clips at the top of the fencing and collecting enough Vaseline to smear over the non-moveable (at that time) camera lens. And then waiting for just the right weather and perfect night to stage the escape so that the guards counted them in their beds and didn't realize they were gone until someone heard footsteps on the roof. The part of the escape they hadn't planned was where to go once they left the prison grounds. Yes, every plan needs a beginning, middle and end. So, even when you possess patience and are willing to see your plan play out, inmate or entrepreneur, you must see it through right to the end.
(2) Creativity. There is nothing creative about getting yourself into jail, but once there inmate's creative juices flow beyond the imaginable. I have always been interested as to how so many drugs get into our prisons. Finally, I had the chance to ask this puzzling question. First, I learned that every hole and crease in the human body has been used to smuggle drugs into jail. Most of the time, it is found before it is distributed either by search or by sniffing dogs. But then I learned that the drug suboxone (buprenorphine) can be hidden in what I can only describe best as looking like a teeth-whitening strip and is smuggled in on the seal of an envelope or as a slick film over pictures in a book both sent through the mail. Of course, all mail is searched and only mail from lawyers must be opened in front of the inmate and not read, but the imagination used to get by even the most impenetrable measures is jaw dropping. If every entrepreneur used her creativity even half as much as inmates securing drugs from the outside she would no doubt be successful.
Seriously, in my experience working with entrepreneurs, creativity too often is a last resort. The thinking 'out of the box' approach rather than 'that's what we did last year' technique separates the woman entrepreneur who meets her numbers from the one who scales her business. Your definition of entrepreneur must scream creativity because the moment you lose yours your business will suffer. The lesson you can learn from men behind bars is that if you want something badly enough there is a way to get it.
(3) Resources. Use whatever resources you have available. No one gets into prison without being searched. Nothing is allowed beyond the waiting area: gum, keys, money, wallet, earrings, glasses, cell phone, mental of any kind etc. Everyone goes through a metal detector before being allowed in. So how do inmates create the most imaginable weapons you have ever seen?
The guard showed us a ball the size and weight of a croquet ball - heavy enough to smash a man's head in. The weapon was made by slowly covering the wall surface (paint) with moisture on the hand and peeling off one layer of paint at a time and roling it into a ball. Eventually that ball of paint becomes a weapon that could potentially kill. Several other weapons shown were created out of the slight arm of a pair of reading glasses with the metal tips shaved into spikes. Clearly, when an inmate has little to work with and all the time in the world on his hands, he is capable of using whatever resources are available to protect him from those who want to hurt or control him.
As a business coach, I always work with my clients to look closely at the resources they have to build their businesses before looking beyond. There are hundreds of successful businesses that were built on a shoestring budget. Entrepreneurs who spend all their time fundraising don't always end up with building successful businesses. As a matter of fact, most venture-backed businesses end up replacing the entrepreneur. Why? Because the skills required to operate a business aren't necessarily the skills used in raising money.
Other resources that are often overlooked are those right under the entrepreneur's nose. Rather than saving money by looking to new vendors try renegotiating with current vendors. Rather than paying search firms to recruit your new talent get your current employees involved. They should know their competition and what it would take to bring them over to your team. Marketing and branding can often be done on the cheap for some businesses by bringing in a teen or college-aged relative or friend to set up social media sites to jump start your buzz.
The point is take a laser focused look at the resources you have on hand before automatically turning outside for what will cost you time, money and may not work anyway.
In conclusion, women entrepreneurs must be patient, creative and utilize all their resources because unlike most inmates their business needs a successful exit strategy.
