As an entrepreneur, it's easy to get caught up in numbers or the "bigger is better" view of success. But today's leading lady, Adelaide Lancaster, suggests another measure: Success is about satisfaction, she says, not size. Instead of compromising things that are important to you just to make your business a little bigger, Adelaide encourages entrepreneurs to start with their needs and build the business to suit. To her, this approach takes advantage of one of the best opportunities of entrepreneurship: doing meaningful work on your terms — not someone else's.
Adelaide should know. After earning two graduate degrees in psychology from Columbia University, she couldn't find the job she wanted. So, she and partner Amy Abrams, launched a consulting practice focused on women business owners and women in career transition. Then, when their clients repeatedly voiced their struggles with isolation, the duo responded with In Good Company, a community for women business owners ripe with learning opportunities and a physical co-working space where women could come to work, meet and learn.
Adelaide is also the co-author of "The Big Enough Company: Creating a Business that Works for You," writes "The Big Enough Company" column on Forbes.com and is a contributor to The Huffington Post and Daily Muse.