Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs
I’ve been fortunate in my entrepreneurial career to have other women entrepreneurs willing to share their business advice with me. Last week, three women who run million dollar companies shared some of the following advice with other women business owners struggling with running their companies. The information was so important, I wanted to share it with our friends connected to our blog today. I hope it brings you some wisdom, advice and inspiration to keep running your companies.
A special thank you to Theresa Slater of Empire Interpreting Service, JoBeth Dellinger of Artist Pianos, Eileen Brophy of Brophy Services and Joan Powers of the Small Business Development Center for their time and wisdom.
Wisdom from Theresa Slater, Empire Interpreting Service
Don’t become complacent if your business is doing really well. It’s important to remain diligent through profitable corporate times so you don’t overspend and expand to quickly.
Continue to ask yourself these questions:
1. Is there still a market for my business?
2. Is running my business fun for me anymore or has it become extremely difficult to enjoy?
3. Am I making a profit each year?
Warning signs that your business is in trouble:
1. The business is open and operating with credit cards.
2. You stop paying taxes to run your business.
3. You take out a second mortgage on your house to keep the business afloat.
4. You are becoming emotionally or physically depressed
5. You go to loan sharks.
Wisdom from Eileen Brophy, Brophy Services
1. Ask for help when you need it! Consider joining groups like the SBA’s Mentor/Protégé program, Centerstate CEO’s Excecutive Dialog, or organizations like Women TIES to be surrounded by other business owners. “Reach out to everyone and anyone to help you be more successful.”
2. You must look at your Profit and Loss statements to keep your company healthy.
3. Seek a line of credit from a bank before you need one so you have access to cash when you might need it.
4. Consider hiring an Executive Coach (and Women TIES has a lot of them) to help you plan and lead your company.
5. Find your profit holes – these are small expenses within your business that when added up can make you less profitable. You’ll find them in your Profit and Loss Statements.
Wisdom from Jo Beth Dellinger, Artist Pianos
We all have “attics” – places in our businesses that aren’t going well. In real life, we hide our bad, old or useless items in the attic because they aren’t doing us any good anymore. Make sure you analyze what part of your business feels like it should be up in the attic.
It is always easier to begin something, then to end something, but in business endings are essential for ultimate success. Learn to embrace ending a bad business relationship, getting rid of a unprofitable portion of your company, or letting go employees you don’t need.
One part of your business will suffer when you work too hard on another part of your business too long trying to keep it afloat. Don’t lose sight of the ripple effects of waiting too long to make a hard decision because it could affect another successful part of your company at the same time.
Wisdom from Joan Powers, Small Business Development Center at OCC
Clients who have survived hard times have done these things well:
1. They watched every single penny they spent.
2. They went back to guerrilla marketing like face-to-face appointments and sales calls to strengthen their revenue.
3. They analyzed their Profit and Loss Statements to make sure they were profitable.
4. They did a business plan and were persistent about seeking funding from banks. If they were turned down for a loan, they kept tweaking their plan and returned to the bank repeatedly until they received the loan they needed to grow.
Joan also stated it is essential to have a 3 year business plan – with the most important part of it being the marketing and financial portions. Find time to update your plan or create one if you don’t have one already. The SBDC at OCC can help you put one together at charge.
For more information about these women and their companies, go to the Women TIES directory at this link.
Business Success Strategies: Sealing Profit Holes
Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners
As I listened to a woman entrepreneur who runs a million dollar in sales company talk about ways to keep a business afloat in difficult economic times, the word “profit holes” was introduced to my vocabulary.
The speaker discussed how small businesses are threatened by profits holes that undermine their business by sucking out hard-earned profits. Most business owners can identify large profit holes and stop them pretty quickly because they create a lot of attention that cause an obvious impact on the survival of the business.
But most companies can’t or don’t identify small profit holes or money that trickles out every month. Taken individually, none of the small holes have a tremendous impact on the business, but collectively, they amount to a small fortune.
No matter if you want to double your profits or at least starting making a profit, identifying and plugging little profit holes within your enterprise will help you greatly. Here are some suggestions for identifying and dealing with profit holes:
* Produce a monthly Profit & Lost Statement which shows every dollar spent within the month. Make sure to analyze spent money within the business. Compare monthly P&L statements to make sure costs aren’t rising. Make adjustments where necessary. Ex: In 2012, I spent $8,000 on roses for my events. Never realizing how much money they were costing me, I have adjusted my floral selection and quantity to significantly reduce that cost without getting rid of the expense completely.
* Challenge yourself to find opportunities to increase pricing; even if it takes you a little bit out of your comfort zone. Consider raising prices to afford specific profit holes. Most entrepreneurs are fearful of raising prices. Even a small 3% increase in price might be enough to make your company more profit.
* Set new revenue savings goals while you are plugging profit holes. Remember every single dollar in reduced expense equals a dollar for dollar increase in your profit. Savings can carry over year-to-year which further compounds the return on your investment.
By dedicating time, focus and control over your expenses should increase your company’s profit and value. Make it a priority starting today.
The Important Bottom Line for Women Entrepreneurs
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small business owners
As May unfolds, our communities become full again with bright college students returning from their studies. The fresh faces of twenty year olds fill familiar places bringing a different dynamic to our culture. For some of us lucky enough to have college aged children, we know they also bring a familiar dynamic to our households and lives.
As I was struggling with a business decision a few days ago, my smart Boston College son decided to weigh in on the assessment. Never minding a second opinion, I laid the pros and cons of my decision in front of him. Without an air of emotion, he said, “Mom you have to base your decision on what’s best for the bottom line in your business. I know that might be hard but it’s what you should do.” He was able to wipe away the emotional perspective I had and cleared my vision in making the right decision.
Yesterday as I listened to 3 successful women entrepreneurs talk about how they have adapted to the rough economy in 2008 and recently again in 2013, their words echoed my son’s words. “I had one branch store that simply wasn’t profitable for 5 years for no good reason. It’s hard to love something that’s not consistent or stable. So I cut the branch loose and it was the best decision I ever made for my company,” said JoBeth Dellinger of Artist Pianos. “Sometimes in business you can do your very best, and sometimes you fail at something. It’s okay to make the decision to walk away,” she continued.
If there was one suggestion I heard from all of the speakers yesterday was the fact that they all pay very close attention to their Profit & Loss statements, check their financial position constantly throughout the year and scrutinize their bottom line in order to remain successful. Focusing on the bottom line can take the emotional weight out of a hard decision.
Today’s blog post is to encourage you to pay more attention to your financial statements all year long. Set a time at the beginning, middle or end of each month to see where you stand. Tweak your spending if you need to or budget more money in areas that yield stronger financial returns. If you need help, hire an accountant, bookkeeper or accountant. Knowing your numbers and making decisions based on your numbers can make hard decisions easier.
Sometimes the perspective of another person – another woman entrepreneur, an accountant and even a 21 year old college student – can give you clarity in making better business decisions to help your bottom line and make you more financially successful.
The following post is longer than our typical posts but it is meant to inspire any woman entrepreneur working today who is battling with the choice of being a working mom. This is a story published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms edition written about my equal love and passion for mothering two sons while having an entrepreneurial career that promotes women entrepreneurs. I hope it inspires any woman reading it this week.
It’s 5 a.m. on a typical school day. I rise from bed to do my daily yoga regimen. The house is enveloped in darkness until I turn on my television to hear my instructor tell me in her calming voice to open up my heart to the energy of the morning. I feel my soul breathe in the peacefulness of a new day. As I finish the invigorating workout the room begins to brighten with a glow of early light. A new day has started and I feel blessed.
As I walk up the stairs to my sons’ room, I feel the same rush of emotion I did when I checked on them as babies sleeping in their cribs. Except now my oldest son’s six foot three inch body dangles off this bed and my youngest son’s mop of long brown hair hides his face. As I gently kiss them good morning, they roll over and sigh contently knowing they have a few more minutes of peace before their school day begins. As I open up their window blinds, their room becomes illuminated with a golden glow that warms and energizes my soul.
The morning soon becomes chaotic as these big lumbering bodies rush around the house trying to make the school bus stop on time. As they run out the door, the soft colors of early morning are gone and replaced by the clear light of day. They are off to school and I settle down at my home office to run my business.
Gracing my desk are three sentimental objects – an American eagle award given to me as a United States Small Business Administration Women in Business Champion, a photograph of me holding a lacrosse stick with my oldest son and his teenage lacrosse friends, and a photograph of me with my two sons. All three items remind me every day how powerful my choice was to become a woman entrepreneur.
They say women are more likely to become entrepreneurs if they had female role models. I fit that statistic perfectly. My mother owned a clothing boutique as well as a ski shop with my father. My aunt owned restaurants and a real estate company. I remember how happy they were running their businesses while finding time to spend with their families. For the late 1960s, they were pioneering women balancing work and family for the first time in generations. Their independence and zest for a more modern life then women before them must have sparked an entrepreneurial spirit in my soul that lay dormant until I became a mother.
One early morning I started to awaken my sons with my morning kiss, when something deep inside of me awakened too. I realized I didn’t want to rush my sons out of bed anymore to bring them to a day care center just to rush to my events management job, and wish my day away because I wanted to be with them. I also knew I loved my profession. In that moment, I flashed back to my mother and aunt working in their businesses. In that golden glow of morning, the dormant entrepreneurial spirit awoke in me. I looked at the rising sun and knew I was going to start my own event management company. It was a dawning of a new day in my career and in my life.
Starting a business can be exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I knew I could count on my eight years of event planning experience, education, female role models and passion for my profession to provide a solid foundation to launch my company. My first clients were individuals who worked with me before and trusted my abilities. Their confidence combined with a strong purpose and determination gave me all I needed to begin. I knew I couldn’t let this golden opportunity pass me by. I knew I could create the life I desired.
Shortly after becoming a woman entrepreneur, I realized I needed to surround myself with women who were taking the same risks. I discovered an organization of women, who met monthly to discuss the pros and cons of being business owners. Open communication, exchange of ideas, and unshakable support from these women ignited my early business success. One year later I had developed a deep passion for aiding and inspiring other women entrepreneurs and became the organization’s leader.
One of my favorite members in the group was a boisterous, older female who once said, “To be a smart woman entrepreneur, you must set a course for your business, but if the road starts to naturally bend in another direction, you must follow the curve and see where it leads you.” After ten years of running my company and nine years as the leader of this growing organization for women business owners, I remembered her words and created my second company dedicated to promoting women entrepreneurship all over New York State. I launched the news at a gathering of 500 women at an event which celebrates and applauds women for taking chances. This was my chance, my chance to help even more women make the same choice I made looking out my sons’ window one golden morning.
The eagle statue on my desk reminds me every day that I work on behalf of women entrepreneurs everywhere helping them to move towards their own bright entrepreneurial future. It also represents a strong belief by the business community that I have, and will continue to make, a positive impact on women entrepreneurship in the future.
The photograph of me holding the lacrosse stick with my sixteen year old son and his West Genesee lacrosse friends was taken after they challenged me to a lacrosse contest with their junior varsity goalie. I was wearing my favorite pink shirt that stated, “Well behaved women rarely make history.” The photo is a token of the challenge I took on with these young men, hoping they would see that girls and women can do anything boys and men can do. I wore it proudly even though I lost the contest but won their respect.
The photograph of my two sons reminds me that I will never regret the personal and professional decisions I have made to be the best mother I can be while being the best woman I can be. When my life is over, I hope a sun is rising on the eastern horizon, more women are achieving business success because of my dedication to them and their companies, and my two wonderful sons appreciate the power of women to make the right choices for their lives. Important choices that create a ripple effect that change the world.
As another day ends and the glow of the setting sun now shines on my desk, I look out the window and feel peaceful knowing tomorrow brings another golden opportunity for me to awaken my sons to a glorious new day and to shine more rays of inspiration and hope to women entrepreneurs everywhere. Life is golden.
Another day has ended and I feel blessed.
Doing Good Is Good Business for A lot of Reasons
It doesn’t take much effort to help others. Not only does doing good for other business owners or non-profit organizations just feel good, it’s good for many reasons.
Every quarter I support a local or regional fundraising event in my community that is typically associated with one of my members. I use my vast marketing power to display, link, promote and market the event to other women entrepreneurs hoping they will in return support the event in some way. The only cost I incur is the small amount of time to post and market the event. What I also incur, is an overwhelming feeling of goodness in doing so.
Business owners should think beyond self-promoting and narcissistic views sometimes to do good for someone else. Here’s what the return on investment can be:
* Being known in the business community as a giving entity helps to increase your company’s brand name and likability. Good feelings towards a company is priceless. Good corporate deeds usually get shared by many people.
* In most cases, a benefactor of your generosity will repay it with cross promotion. A logo, link or small description about your company could get posted on their website or social media marketing sites helping your visibility to a new audience. Don’t be afraid to ask for that support if you feel you are giving a lot to someone. They should reciprocate if they have the means.
* If you are asked to volunteer or attend an event you are promoting, take them up on the offer. Say “Yes.” You might just meet some amazing new contacts, prospects or clients in the process. New economic connections might easily be made through your generous act.
I suggest you try the rest of 2013 to support one non-profit event a quarter and see how doing good is truly good for your business..and soul.
Revisiting Your Niche Market
Yesterday in the swirl of homemade cupcakes, brightly colored tulips and a beautiful ballroom, I was inspired to concrate on the main focus on my business from a passionate and honest woman who admitted to a crowd of 50 that she had lost her way in the midst of growing her company only to rediscover it again with much relief.
I think a major challenge in growing a successful company once its established is veering too far away from its original focus. In most cases in order to grow a company, women feel motivated to creatively add new revenue streams, add-on new products or services, or neglect getting rid of ineffective parts of their business. I remember a member telling me once, “Women make the mistake of feeling like their business is a child, an extension of themselves they can’t ever walk away from if times get bad. But a business isn’t a child; it’s an entity we’ve created. It is possible to make logical, sensible, hard changes to sustain success.”
As yesterday’s gleeful woman entrepreneur spoke of her current successes and the struggles she endured to regain control of her life and a business that had become unruly due to losing focus of her main core business purpose, the air filled with potential for all of us listening to her as we contemplated our own company’s direction. We were inspirationally challenged to revisit the reason we started our companies, analyze whether we were happy with our personal and business lives and motivated to relook at our unique niche within the market to go back to it, improve it or change it.
Today’s post is meant for you to consider these questions – are you running your business or is your business running you? Are you successful because you have a deep, rich niche or are you too spread out and unfocused in too many service or product areas? Should you revisit your initial corporate intent in order to take back control of your corporate direction? Will doing all these things lead to more financial success?
Sometimes it takes another woman entrepreneur who shares her challenging business story to shed light on our own situation and motivate us to make the essential changes we need to make to become more successful again. What do you need to be doing differently now to recapture the essence of your business?
Surviving Serious Business Situations
Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
As I drove back from Boston on Saturday, after living through the lock down that resulted from the Boston Marathon bombings, I was overwhelmed with relief, gratitude and exhaustion from the experience. The decision to visit my son after our Women TIES Albany event just made sense. Boston wasn’t too far away and I knew I would have peace of mind making sure he was okay. Little did I know we would be staying in a hotel 5 minutes from Watertown that went into lock down with the rest of the Greater Boston area.
After my return, it took the weekend to catch my breath and settle my thoughts. It’s amazing how tense situations grip our mind, spirit, and body so strongly. I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck until Monday morning.
As soon as the work week began, I found myself on the phone with a couple women entrepreneurs who admitted to me their businesses have been struggling. They are seriously contemplating whether they should close shop or keep going. I sensed the same exhaustion in their voices. Both of them have been in business for more than 8 years but the overall economy, New York State taxes and reduced customer spending is truly affecting the earnings they are making.
My sense is they are not alone. Many women don’t make enough money to keep their businesses going but like the strong Boston people are determined to rise from the ashes and keep trying time and time again. These women are seeking a conversation with other business owners to discuss how they feel and plausible ideas for the future. In times of crisis, whether it’s a global crisis, national incident or local community problem, people want to talk to others to share their thoughts and concepts in order to make a plan. I intend to host a special Women TIES program in May to do just that for women who are looking for some answers and a place to discuss their deepest business concerns.
Today’s post is to encourage you to stop shouldering serious situations on your own. There is a multitude of professional, personal and business advisors willing to listen, discuss and help you plan your next move. By involving others in your decision, you open up new opportunities to think about your problem and see creative solutions you might not have seen before.
If the Boston Marathon bombings taught everyone experiencing it or watching it something , it is we are never alone. We are in the midst of wonderful, caring individuals who are there to lend a hand, their ear or heart in dire situations. Rely on the goodness of other people to help you make tough business decisions.
Business Advice for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
After visiting my son at Boston College last Thursday and Friday during the manhunt for the Boston Marathon Bombing suspects, I walked away from this great city with a new found respect for the organizations, institutions and politicians who delivered exceptional communication in the wake of the terror.
The stellar communication came in the form of multiple, up-to-date notices from Boston College to students and parents notifying them of emergency measures taken to keep students safe and their property secure. The frequent new conferences by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Police Chief Ed Davis kept a worried city informed and calm. The news media covered the story so well the streets of Boston were in fact empty when I left there late Friday afternoon. People heeded the stay inside warnings and it worked tremendously well.
Entrepreneurs faced with their own business crisis, even if the crisis isn’t as dire as the Boston Marathon Bombing incident, can take away a few valuable strategies from the actions of these individuals and organizations communicating public information during Boston’s crisis. Here are a few suggestions:
* Appoint a person within your business to be the point person to contact and answer media questions when emergencies arise. Identify the person before any incident occurs. Discuss what the position will entail and the corporate protocol the company will conduct and adhere to.
* Create an emergency communication policy. The policy should include specific methods to inform employees, customers, board members and other important individuals when an emergency or important situation arises that needs to shared. Create a contact list with phone numbers and email addresses of important individuals in advance so it is available as soon as a crisis occurs.
* Remember frequently updating your constituents and the public about an ongoing crisis is important. In a world where people look for and expect information immediately and consistently, it’s important to create a timetable for sending out communication on a regular basis during any crisis.
Experimenting with Facebook Advertising
Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners
I couldn’t ignore it any longer, I was too intrigued. I said to myself, “What do you have to lose except $10.00 a day?” So I finally clicked on the enticing “See Your Ad” here button on the Women TIES Facebook page. I have seen the ads and wondered if they could work. I wanted to experiment with it so I could share my findings with my Wednesday Wisdom followers. So last Wednesday I created a “Promoting Women TIES” ad and experimented with this new marketing tool.
For the last week, I have opened my Facebook page to see daily statistics including new likes, reach and impressions. I must admit being a marketing enthusiast I have loved seeing the numbers increase every inviting new people every day to my Women TIES Facebook page used to promote our events and members.
In traditional marketing, experts state a short campaign of one advertisement just one time in one place is not enough to be noticed. It takes repeating an ad over a lengthy period in the same medium for consumers to notice you. I’ve noticed the longer I let the ad run, the higher the statistics have gone, proving in a small part that theory.
It’s only been seven days since I started the ad campaign. If I follow what traditional marketing suggests, I should let the ad longer. But I also know there are social media marketing experts in our organization who might have more educated marketing advice for me now that I’m tried advertising the page for a week. Like any smart business woman, I intend to contact them to see if they can shed more light on my Facebook experiment.
Today’s blog post is to encourage you to experiment with some new marketing mediums. You may or may not want to follow my Facebook experiment. But what I suggest you do is keep testing out new marketing outreach to increase your brand name. It might mean sponsoring an event, obtaining a yearly ad in a magazine, or putting your face on a billboard.
With a budget in mind and a willing spirit, you might just find a new marketing method that promotes your company well.
Being Prepared Turns Profits
Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
I walked inside the car dealership for the second meeting hoping I could work a deal to purchase my favorite car. In my hand was a folder with a valuable marketing proposal I wanted to offer the dealership in exchange for hitting the price I needed on the car. I walked in confident and said, “I would love to be the poster girl for your car dealership, here is a three page proposal for you to consider.”
Within the three page proposal was a cover letter highlighting my request to lower the payment for the car in exchange for marketing exposure through my company Women TIES, a detailed list of marketing benefits and a summarization of the demographic I serve. I left the proposal with them as I test drove the car one more time – giving them extra time to look at my offer before negotiating the final sales price.
It only took one more quick meeting about budget and what I was willing to offer. Ten minutes later I heard, “Tracy, you have the deal you want.”
I hope some of my bargaining advice helps you today:
* Do not underestimate the value you and your company bring to the bargaining table when you are negotiating anything. But in order to bargain, you must know what your value is and then write it down and present it during the negotiation process.
*Offer something in exchange for what you are pitching to have donated, discounted or given to you. Don’t be narcissistic in your approach. Go to the bargaining table with a list of what you are willing to offer in exchange for what you want.
*Have a clear understanding of the monetary value of what you are offering. Create a concise list of what you can offer another company in exchange for what they give you. By being prepared and presenting the information professionally, you land the exact deal you want.
Everyone thinks people with a lot of money have power. I believe entrepreneurs who have stellar businesses with expertise in services or excellent products have just as much power. Be prepared the next time you are pitching a deal and then find yourself walking away with a profitable outcome for both parties.
And by the way, I am very happy with my new Lexus thanks to Burdick Lexus at Driver’s Village. If you go there ask for Liz. .
Women TIES 