Collaborative Events
A recent entrepreneur asked me this question, “More businesses seem to be creating collaborative partnerships, events and programs to generate more revenue for their companies. Have collaborative partnerships worked for you? What are some of the benefits?”
I believe very strongly in collaborative partnerships between businesses, especially regarding events, in order to increase opportunities for corporate visibility and sales for both companies. This is a practice I suggest to women entrepreneurs through Women TIES. In fact two other women and I are collaborating on an event in a few weeks which benefits all three businesses.
Creating collaborative events with complimentary companies provides valuable marketing to potential new customers, creates additional revenue, and splits expenses between participating businesses. Creating a budget, marketing plan and management responsibilities is essential in establishing successful partnerships and events.
Make sure to seek out complimentary businesses with similar corporate images and ethics as yours. Make sure you clearly outline duties and monetary transactions. Create an informal agreement if you feel it is necessary. Set periodic meeting dates to review progress.
When you have the organization of one collaborative partnership under your belt, it will be easier to form similar productive and prosperous relationships with other businesses.
Developing a Niche Business
Developing a niche business means to find your place, forte and position in the marketplace. In business there is a natural evolution of a product or service.Over time an entrepreneur will discover their business has found a unique niche within its industry.
In order to be successful in business your inside intentions must be present in your business plans. Ask yourself these questions: What in my business gives me workability and ease in my life? What do I love? What lights me up? What are I committed to? Make sure you have a clear vision of your business by asking yourself these questions in order to give yourself a guideline to run, operate, and grow your business and its niche.
After you know internally what motivates your business “soul” make sure you know what your customers need. You must be curious, asking your clients what they want, in order to develop your niche. Have client conversations to discover what they like, what else they’d like you to produce, and what they don’t like. Client comments can help perfect your product or service which can help you define your niche even better.
Invent or reinvent your product or service as if no one has it. Sometimes the small things you change or create help to mark your niche in the marketplace. Don’t be afraid of failure in creation and change. Sometimes failure can help you make adjustments that must be made to improve your business. Embrace failure, evolution, and change.
The Value of a Recent Headshot
As a PR professional I have heard it all when I have asked my clients why they don’t have a professional headshot to accompany their press releases, use on their website, or send in for professional speaking engagements. Here are a few of my favorites:
* I always have a bad hair day.
* I’d rather use the photo of myself from ten years ago when I had less wrinkles on my face.
* I am always changing my hair color so it will never be current.
* I hate my smile and have a droopy jaw line.
* I need a face lift before having a photo taken.
I counter by asking this question,“When you see news in the paper, do you analyze the photo of the person you are reading about or do you read the news and wish you were getting the same kind of promotion they were getting?”
I tell my PR clients this phrase, “You are the face of your company whether you like it or not, so you must have the tools to promote yourself in order to promote your company.”
If one of those excuses has been your favorite reason for not having a recent headshot done, forget it and get smiling! It is essential you have a recent photo to email to media, use at conferences, and use on your print and web materials.
Being Prepared
At the beginning of every Women TIES event date, I think to myself, “Today is going to be a great day because I will be surrounded by 45 fabulous women all working hard to make their dreams a reality.” It doesn’t matter if the sun is shining, if some attendees leave early, or if there isn’t enough time to cover the whole business topic; there’s always enough positive energy in the room to surpass anything negative that could happen.
Early this morning when Carol Zenzel, our guest presenter, and I arrived, we discovered we both had major incidents that occurred to us the night before that could have set a bad tone for the day. My computer crashed right after finishing what I needed for the event. Due to a horrible evening storm, Carol was awaken by a different kind of crash in her house that kept her awake the rest of the night. Luckily none of our members crashed their cars on the way to the event, since ‘crash” was the popular verb of the morning.
Remember when the unexpected happens, and you aren’t prepared as you wish you were, there’s always the present moment to take action to ensure you are ready next time.
Renewing the Spirit
Recently an entrepreneurial magazine asked the question, “Where do you go to renew your spirit when business gets too tough?” It made me think about my own space I retreat to when I need to regroup.
I grew up in Central New York with beautiful, tall, century old maple trees in my yard. Our house was situated in the middle of a one acre parcel. I always felt safe, secure and peaceful sitting under these tall, majestic giants. When it came time to buy my first house, I found a two hundred year old house lined with six tall, century old maple trees and an acre of land. Whether its early Spring and the foliage is just budding, the middle of Summer when the leaves are in full bloom, early Fall when colorful leaves adorn the tree, and even in the dead of Winter when only the branches provide the cover, you’ll find me underneath one of our trees breathing in their strength, resilience, and beauty to settle my tired entrepreneurial soul so I can go back inside to my home office and send inspiration and wisdom to my other female entrepreneurial friends.
It is imperative women entrepreneurs have a place to relax and rejuvenate their tired minds. Entrepreneurship takes a lot of energy. Positive energy to keep us moving forward, and sometimes negative energy when things don’t go as we expected. It is essential to have a special place to go to regroup and refocus. Through quiet and reflection, entrepreneurial souls can be renewed, helping us to get back on our feet and moving us towards our dreams.
Resilience and Tenacity
A few months ago I got ready for work, I heard a news reporter say, “The women are keeping her in the race.” I turned around to see they were talking about Hillary Clinton’s run for the White House. As a true believer in women in all walks of life striving and succeeding in their dreams, I loved the comment. But right after that comment was the statement, “Why doesn’t she just make the decision to get out now since she is behind in delegates.” I can’t imagine how difficult it is to ponder the thought of walking away from such an incredible dream when you have worked so hard and are close to the finish line.
We might not all be in Hillary’s party but we’ve been in Hillary’s position sometime in our life. We see what we want. We work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year towards our dream. We strategize. We revise. We remain resilient. At times when we take one step backwards, we know tomorrow gives us the chance to take two steps forward. We don’t give up. We keep trying. We work hard. We remain confident.
At a recent Women TIES luncheon, guest speaker Carmen Munson of the company To Climb Higher (http://www.toclimbhigher.com) discussed how goal setting leads to entrepreneurial confidence. Women entrepreneurs must have goals to move confidently forward every day in their business. Munson said, “Your long term goal is your North Star, high in the sky, clearly in focus, guiding you. Your short term goals are your compass, setting you in the right direction to get to the North Star. You need both to achieve your highest aspirations.”
As you go through your work week, I hope you keep your North Star dream in your heart, your compass by your side and momentum to take two steps forward. Use Hillary’s resilience as an example of the deep seeded tenacity, passion and hard work women have when they have a goal in mind. We can do it by our own power and with “other women keeping us going.”
Rollercoaster Confidence
Recently a member told me being an entrepreneur is like riding a rollercoaster every day. There are exhilarating days when she advances her company to the top of its field, accomplishes hard goals, and wins big battles paramount to her company’s success. On other days she experiences the dropping feeling you get on a rollercoaster. Those are days when she loses a major client, has employee unrest, or discovers competitors have taken some market share. After thirteen years in business, I understand what she is talking about there are not many “flat” days when you are an entrepreneur.
Being confident as a business owner is paramount to withstanding the daily, weekly and yearly ups and downs of being in business. If we wanted more predictability, we would work for a company with a defined job description, set hours and steady pay. Our confidence level would be based on how well we did on our annual review or whether we received a raise from our boss.
But women entrepreneurs give up predictability when they venture out on their own. We relish the thought of unlimited income, undefined work hours, and unpredictability. But in order to succeed in this type of work environment, we must remain confident. Confidence in ourselves and our business is what gets us through the downhill drops which are inevitable in business and in life.
Branding Lessons
So when Starbucks expanded extensively last year many coffee drinkers who drove out of their way before to get a cup of Starbucks (I was one of them), suddenly had access to Starbucks in Target stores, in cafes, and on almost as many street corners as Dunkin’ Donuts. It seemed like heaven.
But this week’s headlines announcing Starbucks decision to close 600 stores, sent chills throughout the country. The Syracuse Post Standard had an excellent article in Sunday’s paper about the fall of Starbucks from the branding standpoint.
There are lessons to be learned from the collapse of this giant for women like us hoping to grow and expand our own businesses some day.
Success Leads to Competition: Leading experts stated in the article “There’s nothing like success to bring on competition. Nobody says you can have the whole market forever.” With that in mind, women entrepreneurs must always strive to be the best, do their service better than everyone else, and make the best products, but be prepared to know that your competition is watching you and will certainly follow any successful steps you make.
Stay True to Your Core Quality: When Starbucks started moving too far away from their coffee brand by introducing movies, books, cds and clothing in their stores, they took too many steps away from the core quality of their brand, which was the coffee-house experience, which they imported from Europe and turned into an American experience. Women entrepreneurs can diversify but never to the extent that they lose their core quality of their own brand.
Don’t Walk Away from Your Brand if You are Making Money: One of the biggest reasons Starbucks has failed is because they walked away from a successful brand that was making them money. If a company is making good money, it shouldn’t drastically change its look, products or appeal to make more money, it should instead hone in on what it does well and continue. Women entrepreneurs should remember this very vital point when considering adding new services or products. Are you already making good money at what you are offering? If so, do more of the same thing. If not, add and diversify.
Legal Counsel
There have been three distinct times in my fourteen year entrepreneurial career when I required an attorney. The first time was when I needed to create contractual documents for my new event planning company. The second time was after a client golf tournament when one of the volunteers had a golf cart accident and my client asked me what type of legal coverage I had to cover my company. The third time was when I formed Women TIES as a LLC. I learned early on to have a trusted legal advisor available in case of emergencies or for specific business transactions.
I have been lucky to only need legal counsel a handful of times. Being a small service business without real estate, staff or liability issues has helped to keep legal problems to a minimum. But I know other women have faced legal hardships regarding trademark issues, real estate contracts, non-paying clients and business formation changes. Women entrepreneurs with growing companies also need more legal advice as they expand operations to protect themselves and deal with more complex issues.
Women entrepreneurs should make sure they have legal counsel to turn to for routine business needs as well as for potential liability issues. Legal counsel brings both expertise and peace of mind.
Pioneering Women
This morning I took out a copy of the Woman’s Declaration of Independence, my son bought for me last summer in Philadelphia. I realized as he handed me the antique parchment with a glint in his eye, that at the tender age of 12, he understood the depth and breadth of my devotion to helping women succeed in business.
Elizabeth Cody Stanton was one of the pioneering women behind the declaration. After seeing how women where treated unjustly before the law, in the office of her father, Judge Cady, she vowed to change the laws one day. Together with other women by her side, she planned and executed the first Woman’s Right Convention in Seneca Falls, New York on July 19th and 20th, 1848.
As I read the declaration, I am thankful there were women who came before us willing to take a brave stand for women’s rights. Where would we be today if it wasn’t for these women? Frequently I am asked, usually by men, why I have been promoting women entrepreneurship so strongly for the past twelve years. They don’t understand there is a need for women to forge stronger economic connections with other women to increase our financial opportunities because they never faced this situation. Until national statistics show women equal men in earnings, corporate revenue and growth, I believe women should do business with other women whether it is in our own local communities, regionally or across the great state of New York.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton knew 150 years ago that with women by her side, she could change the world. Remember with women entrepreneurs side by side, we can change the world not only for ourselves, but for other women, our daughters and even our sons.
Women TIES 