Telling Your Story
So what is your story? How did you create your business? Where were you? How did you come up with your idea? What is your history?
Potential clients who know more about your story are likely to buy from you. Women entrepreneurs should ask themselves the following questions to help them create their own story to hightlight the beginnings of their companies and the reason they are in business.
* Did your idea come to you in a dream? While you were walking? While you were reading? While you were running? While you were sailing? While you were on vacation?
* Did you have a loved one who suffered because they didn’t know something or have something and you wanted to save someone else from the same pain?
* Did your idea gain speed and mass over the years as you accumulated observations and then a pivotal event compelled you to share it with others?
* Did you observe individuals doing something counterproductive and you knew you could show them an easier way?
* Did you design a tool because the normal one was clumsy and uncomforable to use?
* Did you believe so passionately in your idea you simply couldn’t rest until you made it a reality?
Make sure you document your beginnings, passions, and reasons for starting a business into your business plan and marketing. It is an essential ingredient to success in business.
Adding On A Second Business
In the past few months a number of women entrepreneurs with pretty established companies have asked me if starting a second, non-related business could help them generate new revenue. It’s a great question to ask when sales are dropping due to this economic period.Four years ago I started this second business which was different than my first one, an event management company called Five Star Events (which is still in existence today). I learned starting a second company required exactly what it took with my first company – extensive planning, investigation, research and time. Any woman entrepreneur interested in starting a second company, must do the essential planning first followed by the same amount of marketing, selling and networking they did with the first one. A second company also requires a woman to split her time between both enterprises so time management become extremely important.
Now more than ever before, I’ve witnessed women entrepreneurs experimenting with a multitude of solutions to sustain themselves. As business owners they understand new risks can produce new rewards. Starting a second business could bring in the extra revenue they need but I caution them to move forward carefully.
Remember sometimes it takes three years before a business is successful (even if you are an experienced entrepreneur). Make sure it wouldn’t be smarter and more productive to increase revenue with your existing company first.
Shooting for the Spotlight
Well good things do happen to women entrepreneurs who work hard, create the right product and shoot for the stars. Next week at the Women TIES Syracuse luncheon, a woman business owner from my hometown of Rome, New York will detail how her unrelenting belief in her product, her deep desire to sell to national chains and on national airwaves, has landed her exciting opportunities and recent big success! She’ll uncover the type of vision and determination it takes to go big, really big along with some practical strategies. Attendees will walk away remembering why big risks lead to big rewards.
I’ll also share some exciting national news of my own which will be giving Women TIES some permanent national attention. It wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t believe I could achieve it and didn’t shoot for my own star. I also believe my mother’s influence to have me dance on stage, create plays in my garage, and perform in school concerts, made me comfortable standing in the spotlight and eventually shooting for national media attention.
There’s Luck in Networking
In the current Oprah magazine, there is a fascinating article on “How to Get Lucky in Life.” As I was reading it, there was a direct correlation between luck and networking which could help you become more successful in 2009!
Many times meeting someone new is based on chance, a fluke or luck. But new scientific research shows that individuals can truly influence their own destiny and increases their luck by being prepared. All it takes is thinking about what you want, what you imagine situtations to produce, and opening your eyes to seize the opportunity.
When it comes to business networking, luck can play a role in creating more opportunities. Consider this thought today:
“A typical person knows about 300 people on a first-name basis. So when you are at an event and meet someone new, you’re only two handshakes away from 300 times 300 people; that’s 90,000 new possibilities for a new opportunity, just by saying hello. By the same logic, if you meet 50 new people at a conference, you’re just a couple of introductions away from 4.5 million opportunities to change your future.”
Shaking hands at a networking event is just one way to increase your chances of meeting someone who can alter your life in positive ways. 80% of people who try to increase their chances of being in the right place, at the right time, to meet the right person do succeed.
For the next month, try to increase your opportunities for yourself and your business by setting a goal in your mind, giving yourself as many networking opportunities as you can, and relaxing to let luck help you. In this new year, anything is possible if you put yourself in the right places.
Core Principles From A Multi-Million Dollar Company
My husband has been fortunate to work for this exceptional company for the past twenty years. I have always been impressed with their honest approach to business, their loyalty and promotion of dedicated staff, their excellent customer service policies, and their expert knowledge of their industry. After reading an article in a national trade publication about their company and their core principals, I was even more moved by what they do and plan to do this year to remain successful in the tough housing market.
· Make sure you have a diversified product offering.
· If you offer the same products as another business, but offer exceptional service, you’ll always stand above your competition.
· Invest in your employees; promote from within; don’t let well trained staff leave before you do all you can to retain them. Make sure you provide opportunities for those seeking advancement.
· Create great relationships with your key vendors. Meet with them annually to discuss your business relationship and then work out special product pricing. Sometimes special product pricing can make all the difference in a business’ profit margin.
· If you are a product business, look at inventory as an “investment” instead of an expense.
· Create an internal service department if your company is growing fast and you need to handle complaints and resolve problems quicker.
· Hire smart, honest, good personality staff who truly care about your customers.
· Arm your staff with all the tools they need to expedite sales and sell in a shorter period of time (for example: phones, vehicles, promotional materials).
· If you have good staff, make sure you use them or you’ll lose them.
· Donate back to the community; share the wealth
· Thank your customers and staff since they are the lifeblood of your company.
When Times Are Tough, Women Entrepreneurs Keep Going
Mornings like this one, with the sun shining and warm temperatures arriving this afternoon, make us feel like we can do anything. Hope springs eternal on mornings like today.
As I listened to Good Morning America an hour ago, Robin Roberts was interviewing Dave Ramsey host of The Dave Ramsey Show, a nationally syndicated radio program that offers life-changing financial advice. She asked him for one piece of good news about business today. His comment was, “93% of people are still employed, but the ones who have lost their jobs are starting their own businesses. Some of today’s strongest businesses were born out of past recessions. There is tremendous opportunity right now for small businesses to succeed and shine.”
For the past month and a half, I have seen women entrepreneurs working even harder to make their businesses more successful. There is a new focus, a determination, and a tenacity, I sense in the air. As the popular saying goes, “When times get tough, the tough get going.” I’d like to rephrase that saying by stating, “When times get tough, women entrepreneurs get going.”
Women TIES was born for this time in history. We are positioned better than most organizations to help women survive and prosper during today’s economic situation because of our core mission. We have never been shy about our belief that women must buy from each other; must think out of the box and collaborate on products, services and events; must travel to other areas to open up the economic corridor; must push outside their comfort level to make more sales calls in order to create financial opportunities from women they meet at our events and through our website. I hear from women every day on how deeply they believe in what we stand for and have been more successful because of their affiliation with our company.
On this beautiful February day, I challenge you to do three things to help your business right now. First, pick up the phone and call five women in our network you want to connect with today. Second, order something from someone who has taken the time to post a special to increase their sales this month; and third perform a public relations activity to give your business extra promotion to increase your visibility to future consumers. Today is the day, let’s get going!
Negotiating Contracts
A few days ago I was with one of my long time female clients who is an expert at negotiating contracts. The key to getting what she wants is her ability to be non-emotional, frank and unwavering in her request. She doesn’t take no for an answer. She works hard to seal the deal. She is motivated exclusively by her bottom line. In the end, she might not be the most pleasant person to do business with, but she gets what she asks for and her operation is financially successful.
I’ve learned what makes her so good at getting the best deal for her company is her forthright negotiating skills. She has no problem putting what she wants on the table or walking away from a deal if her expectations are not met. Most women entrepreneurs don’t operate this way but there could be a lesson to learn from her approach.
If it’s been a while since you reviewed your own negotiating skills, take an inventory of how you make deals with clients, vendors and associates. This year every contract is important, so make sure your negotiating skills are up to par. If they aren’t, educate or train yourself on improving them. Remember there is nothing wrong in asking for what you need. It’s vital to keeping your business strong and successful.
First Quarter Sales
A number of women in my New York State organization of women entrepreneurs have asked me, “As we face an uncertain economy, how do I plan for first quarter sales?”
I told them, a couple years ago, Pat Laino from the Upstate Women’s Business Center in Utica, New York, spoke about successful businesses creating multiple revenue streams to increase sales and cash flow. She said, “Think of your business as a wheel with spokes and each spoke as a revenue stream. Make sure you offer more than one service or product to keep revenue flowing and sales increasing.”
During economic uncertainty, I would suggest women entrepreneurs look at their business “wheel” and see if you have enough revenue producing spokes. You might be able to create and market some new complimentary services and increase your product line without too much time and expense. Use your current customers as guides. What additional services have they asked you to perform? What other products seems to be needed? Are there similar needs in the Central New York marketplace?
Review customer comments and analyze your current service and product line. Create some new opportunities, inform your current clients, and promote new business options to the general public. If you do this timely, you could help raise first quarter sales and even sales into the middle of 2009.
Creativity 101
When Women TIES was created in 2005, one of our first presenters was Erin McKenna Nowak of Bride Design (http://www.bridedesign.com). She shared success strategies on using creativity to grow a business. It was one of the most memorable presentations Women TIES has had over the past three years.
Erin challenged women entrepreneurs in the audience to take half a day to create 100 ideas for their business. It was an excerise I tried myself and found very worth my while. The hard part about the challenge is the fact you get to idea number 40 and get stuck. The creativity that develops coming up with ideas 41- 100 is where some of the best, “out of the box” business ideas come from. If you find one or two of those ideas in your business each quarter, you are guaranteed at discovering a new revenue source for your enterprise.
In the audience was Jen Comfort of She Takes the Cake (http://www.shetakesthecake.com. After the presentation, Jen and Erin met and created their own edible invitation which was launced this past year. Not only are they creating and selling their new product, they are blogging about it with much success. Tomorrow Erin and Jen will be in Martha Stewart’s audience with bloggers from around the country. If I guess correctly, Jen and Erin will slip Martha Stewart’s producers a taste of their products from Sweet Talk Boutique (http://www.sweettalkboutique.com).
Women entrepreneurs should follow the example of Erin and Jen and use creativity to propel their businesses forward with new products, collaboration and cross promotion. Entrepreneurial possibilities are unlimited.
Leadership Lessons
As I think back on 9/11, I realize what strikes me most during and after the emergencies unfolded, were the individuals who showed great leadership in the face of heart wrenching adversity. The passengers on Flight 93, the firefighters and policeman, managers in the World Trade Center buildings, and even ordinary citizens; they each had to make tough leadership decisions to save the lives of other people and themselves.
As women entrepreneurs we are seldom faced with such desperate circumstances in our own leadership roles. But sometimes on clear blue sunny mornings, we know as corporate leaders we might have to fire staff, walk away from clients, head our business in a different direction, borrow money, or handle countless other scenarios that require tough decisions.
Sometimes what helps us to be better leaders is witnessing or learning from other great leaders. Today’s headlines will be filled with stories of heroism, people who demonstrated clarity and wisdom in the throes of extreme situations, and individuals who made smart decisions that saved lives. Be inspired by them to lead stronger today.
Today I send my warmest thoughts to all of you who suffered any losses on that tragic day. In honor of my good friend Dan Brandhorst, who was on the fateful second flight that hit the World Trade Center, I will choose to lead stronger today in his memory.
Women TIES 