There is an old saying that goes 'in life only one thing is certain apart from death and taxes - no matter how hard you try, no matter how good your intentions are, you are going to make mistakes.' Women entrepreneurs know this from experience, but can lessen the severity of mistakes by taking three lessons into consideration. 

The fact is operating a small business is challenging for all entrepreneurs. There are no guarantees no matter how focused you are in dotting all the 'i's' and crossing all the 't's'. Women entrepreneurs are particularly susceptible to problems if they are not careful to consider one very important element in their business decision making - personal timing. Now, before you jump all over this statement because you want to tell me that men and women have personal responsibilities and business timing should be no more difficult for a woman than a man let me tell you exactly what I mean.

Women and men in our society still have very different sets of burdens. Studies show that women are the major care givers for elderly parents and children. Although parenting has certainly become more balanced in recent years, women still perform the majority of childrearing tasks. With this in mind, personal timing for business decisions, particularly for women entrepreneurs, must be considered in the pros and cons equation.

For example, a few months ago a potential new client asked me to coach her as she launched a new business. As I always do, I asked a lot of questions before accepting her as a client. One of the first things I learned was that she was pregnant with her first child. I explained that no matter how organized she thought she would be after the birth, she was talking about giving birth to two babies simultaneously - a child and a business - neither of which she had any previous experience with. I asked her to wait until the baby was born and then contact me to move forward on launching the business. Needless to say, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, took her three months of maternity time and then returned to her job where she had more control over her time.

Personal timing is critical in your decision making. Whether you are starting, expanding, or selling a business your success may depend as much on your personal timing as it does on any other element. Don't fool yourself in thinking that if your personal life is in a mess putting all your energy into your business will guarantee your business success. As a business coach, I have never seen this to be the case.

Market timing is the second lesson every woman and male entrepreneur must look to. If the market doesn't want what you are selling than it doesn't matter how good you are at sales or how wonderful your product or service is. For example, I was called in to coach a business in the child play arena. The location of the business was in an almost deserted mall which is the reason the rent was so inexpensive. The mall had at one time been busy but now the market timing for this location was past. The business had been opened for four months and the entrepreneur was almost out of money because very few customers had frequented the establishment. Again, I asked a lot of questions regarding the entrepreneur's market research before choosing the location and before I was willing to sign on as a coach. I learned that the mall was going out of business and that the rent had been so desirable the entrepreneur didn't bother to do a market study. The mall location in question had no children stores and quite honestly felt eerie. When I expressed my surprise the entrepreneur stated, "I thought if I built it they would come." This statement has gotten more entrepreneurs in trouble than probably any other. Without doing appropriate market research and having the right market timing even a great business idea can end up failing.

Finally, the third lesson every woman entrepreneur needs to learn is to believe in their own power to win. An entrepreneur must get up every day knowing that there will be decisions to be made and that not every one will be the right one, but that learning by experience is the only way to succeed. Sheer will, determination and confidence in oneself are very powerful forces that when combined with opportune market and personal timing lead to lucrative businesses.

Yes, there is a right time and a wrong time and a right place and a wrong place and a good market and a bad market to launch, expand and/or grow your business. Be honest with yourself as to how ready you are and how ready the market is before you risk it all.