Too many women entrepreneurs are great impersonators. Somewhere they heard the expression "fake it 'til you make it' and decided this was the strategy to use when starting their businesses. I ask my women entrepreneur clients to look in the mirror and ask, "Am I an actress playing a role, a frighten little girl not willing to admit I'm over my head, or a woman who acknowledges she is a work in progress?

The fact is no entrepreneur, female or male, can know exactly what to expect in launching a business even if (s)he has carefully crafted a business plan, done intense marketing research, and created a detailed budget. But, I can promise you the 'what you don't know won't hurt you' mentality will guarantee your failure as an entrepreneur.

Starting a business is scary as there will always be unknowns. For example, no matter what business you launch you must assume there will be someone who wants to buy what you are selling. The actress entrepreneur foolishly believes that there is a buyer for everything - after all, she has seen it everywhere she shops and on TV. But without some market research how can she know there is a need. She spends all her financial resources on marketing materials and business accommodations suitable for her impersonator lifestyle only to learn that looking the part doesn't cut it in business.

I know an entrepreneur who after years of selling gift baskets during the holidays decided to lease a retail space to offer her baskets all year round. The problem, she realized a little too late, was her clients weren't interested in buying gifts at any time other than the holidays. Of course, she attracted a few new customers in need of gifts throughout the year, but not enough to pay the bills. Unfortunately, this frighten little girl not willing to admit she was way over her head lost almost everything her family had paying rent for three years and working more than 60-hour work weeks. She eventually closed the store and stopped making gift baskets as she was in debt to her vendors.

The woman entrepreneur who goes into her business expecting ups and downs knows she can learn by doing - as long as she never makes the same mistake twice. She is well prepared with a business plan that lays out a step by step plan to execute the launch. The business plan is there to fall back on when things don't go as planned - as they never do. She can review the plan and rework it at any time making sure the mission and vision of her business emerges with the changes. She has done her market research and knows who her buyer is. She has made assumptions as to how long it will take the business to become cash positive and she is ready with a plan B if necessary. Most important, she has a guesstimate as to where and how her financial resources will be spent and when, if necessary, she will need to look for more funding. Having done her homework, she knows that most new businesses are not profitable in year one and she has the necessary funds, if all goes according to plan, to get her business into year two before requiring an infusion of cash. She makes decisions knowing that even if she makes the wrong decision she is moving forward and can tweek any misstep.

She understands being an entrepreneur is a work in progress. But, it is not enough to learn by doing. She is prepared in every aspect of her business knowing exactly what each employee is responsible for, who every vendor's competition is, and every customer's reason for using her company.

If being an entrepreneur was easy everyone would be one. As the SBA states on its website:

Small business is BIG!

• The 23 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. sales.

• Small businesses provide 55% of all jobs and 66% of all net new jobs since the 1970s.

• The 600,000 plus franchised small businesses in the U.S. account for 40% of all retail sales and provide jobs for some 8 million people.

• The small business sector in America occupies 30-50% of all commercial space, an estimated 20-34 billion square feet.

So, please take a look in the mirror and honestly assess your attitude as a woman entrepreneur. There is still time to become a work in progress.