In January, Danielle Tate released her first book, “Elegant Entrepreneur: The Female Founder’s Guide to Starting & Growing Your First Company.” The idea for the book came about as she was starting up her successful business, a website that makes the often painstaking process of legally changing your name, simple. Back then in 2007 as a 25-year-old startup founder, she would have truly appreciated a companion like “The Females Founder’s Guide” to accompany her through the journey.
Tate’s mission is to get more women to start-up. “My hope is that women will better understand the benefits of being a female founder and use the advice within my book to gain the confidence they need to build an idea into a first company. This is the how-to book I wish was available when I founded my first company,” she said.
Referring to herself as an “accidental entrepreneur,” Tate was thrown into the deep end of business after being inspired by her own experience when changing her last name after her wedding. She took a day off from work to complete the paperwork at the registry of motor vehicles and after waiting for hours, was unable to complete the process because of a misunderstanding with the paperwork that was needed. After being extremely frustrated from waiting so long and ultimately missing a day of work for nothing, Tate decided she wanted to make this process easier for other women, therefore creating MissNowMrs.com.
“We need to have the idea and talk about it. People are afraid that people will steal their ideas but the advice you get from people and friends is very worthwhile. You won’t be laughed at for the beginning idea, if it is a bad idea, people will tell you and you can fix it. It’s better to ask questions and learn, than not ask and watch the company fall apart,” said Tate.
On Goodreads.com, The Female Founder’s Guide was voted the number one book for personal development for entrepreneurs and named number one non-fiction book for women in their 20s. According to The Washington Post, the site earned its first million in revenue in 2013 and since then has hired at least four staff members, not including a number of subcontractors working with MissNowMrs.
Currently living just outside of Washington D.C. with her husband and son, Tate has already completed her second book and is at work on a few other literary projects. One of Tate’s favorite quotes from her new book is, “answers are free, mistakes are costly,” so if there is one lesson to learn from this remarkable entrepreneur and author, it is to not be afraid to get started.
Three of our favorite takeaways from “Elegant Entrepreneur: The Female Founder’s Guide to Starting & Growing Your First Company”:
- “Answers are free, mistakes are costly.”
Discussing the importance of asking questions and not feeling dumb for doing it. Tate discusses how pretending to know all of the answers can end up backfiring because if you are wrong, it can cost a lot of money. She discusses how those who aren’t afraid to ask questions when they are conflicted are more successful as entrepreneurs.
- “Have a good idea daily.”
Although your one great idea may get you to start your company, in order to keep it successful you have to create new ideas daily (minimum of 1). In this chapter Tate gives ideas about what questions you can ask yourself in order to get those ideas rolling.
- “Don’t fall in love before holding your idea accountable.”
In this part of the book, Tate compares owning a business to being married. She explains that not many people would just marry someone and put all of your financial and emotional resources into it without knowing if they were a good person or not. Tate suggests that before putting your all into the business, get to fully know your startup.
Evelyn Fiske is a junior, English major, at Western New England University. She loves tackling each day with a positive attitude and lots of coffee. Evelyn hopes to one day teach English in another country, with her biggest goal being to positively effect everyone she meets.
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