Author Archive
2 helpful guidelines for your business
Posted by: | CommentsThe younger of my two daughters called this morning and told me about her excitement for the 2010 edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival to be held in April. According to their website, “…Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in the Americas.….” Her husband’s company handled the tech solutions for the 2009 festival which allowed her to attend many of the functions. During our conversation she told me about some interaction she’d had with the director this week and some ideas she had and I was impressed with her initiative taking. She talked about the importance of building relationships. After we said our “love yous” and “have a great days” I realized that two important ideas came out of our conversation that apply directly to entrepreneurs:
- taking initiative
- building good relationships
Initiative has within it the idea that you go with an idea. It is a “doing” word and means that you take action. Successful entrepreneurs are those who can start something new and follow through. In this time of economic downturn, more small and home-based businesses are starting up. For some, a job layoff is an opportunity to follow a personal passion by starting a home-based business. It takes initiative to:
It’s a wide world of Business and Industry
Posted by: | CommentsThey say to have the most enjoyment in deriving income is to either do what you love or do what you do best. In this difficult economy, however, that’s easier said than done. Sometimes to make ends meet people are starting home businesses by finding a need and filling it. Some people are using what innate skills they have and building a small business out of that. I’m always fascinated by the businesses that other people have and work that other people do.
*Yesterday on my own blog I wrote about the virtues of using old tried and true marketing methods like flyers, brochures and doorhangers. In my community these marketing pieces are being used to great effect by tiny businesses like lawn care businesses, house cleaning business, independent real estate agents, handyman services and even independent direct sellers like Avon reps. It’s kind of interesting however, the push me-pull you dance of these types of businesses…they are looking for homeowners in need of their services. When the economy is tough, these are the types of businesses that don’t take a lot of capital to start. However in a difficult economy it’s services like these that homeowners cut back on: lawn care-they’ll cut the lawn themselves; house cleaning-they’ll do their own cleaning; and purchasing cosmetics or other types of direct selling products, well discount chains’ products can fill the bill until the economy improves. Yet for a healthy economy, it takes consumers who purchase the goods and services that small businesses provide.
3 Rules for Business
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s a popular saying that goes, “Rules are meant to be broken!” After all, isn’t that how one breaks out of the proverbial “box?” How could you possibly think outside the box if you’re constantly following all the rules that demand you stay in the box?
In the art classes I’ve taught, many times students would ask me about the “rules.” The “you should always” things. My response to that is that there are no rules. Not in art. What there are are techniques and skills. Once you learn how to use your materials then throw away the rules and let your creativity fly. Experimentation is all about the “what if” factor:
- what if I were to paint on glass instead of canvas? How would the paint react and what would be the effect of light?
- what if I were to position the images at the far right of the canvas, totally unbalancing it visually? Is this “allowed?”
- what if I were to put all the cool colors in the foreground and the warm colors in the background?
In art there are rules to be broken in order for creativity to blossom.
Consistency is one part of a healthy business
Posted by: | CommentsWhat stands as the infrastructure of your business? If you are a solo-preneur, a home-based business owner or even just a small business with a partner, then the infrastructure isn’t an organizational structure, rather it’s how you do your business. Something holds your business together and keeps it going. I posit that one of the underlying structures for tiny businesses is consistency.
Consistency has as its meaning that of holding together, adhering, maintaining its shape – whatever “it” is. It has a nuance of harmonious agreement between elements of a thing. Thought of in terms of a business, consistency could apply to:
- a suite of services or products
- policies of customer care
- a business’ reputation
- the idea that our “walk” is in harmonious agreement with our “talk”
Is our business’ stated goal and vision in line with [consistent with] the products and services we offer? If my stated business is as a life coach, then my product offerings will not include workbooks about investing. If my stated business is as an insurance agent, then my product offerings will not include workbooks about self-improvement. This is a very simplified example, but to the point.
Being in Business is Risky Business
Posted by: | CommentsHaving a business of your own is a bit like being a creative writer. A creative writer loves to ask and answer the question: what would happen if….? What would happen if:
- the title character were a woman instead of a man
- the title character were 75 years old and slightly deaf
- the title character had a side-kick who was independently wealthy
- all the action took place over the course of 3 days
- the setting was ancient Egypt
- the setting was in the Dark Ages
- the setting was 10 years into the future
A creative writer doesn’t see the “what if” question as risky…rather she sees it as opening doors, possibilities and opportunities. Without the convention of the “what if” it would be difficult to posit the possible. The same is true in a business.
Having a business of your own often involves risk and wondering “what if?” What if:
- you decide to go it alone as a solo-preneur…what are the implications of that?
- you decide to go into business with a partner…what would that look like?
Everyone making predictions for 2010
Posted by: | CommentsEverywhere you look lately folks are making business predictions for the New Year 2010 and I’m going to chime right in. My topic is marketing.
First, however, I want to give you my definition for marketing – it is not quite what others might say.
Marketing is telling everyone, everywhere:
- what your business is, where it is, how to find it
- what your product/service is, what it can do for the consumer, why they need it, why they want it
- how your business differs from others that are similar – what your uniqueness’s are, what makes your business so very special
- why the consumer should/ought to exchange their precious dollars and cents for your product/service
Marketing is telling everyone, everywhere in every way that people can and do receive information:
- newspapers, magazines and direct mailers – the hard copy kind, the newsprint ink that smears on your fingers and the flyers, brochures and sales letters that come in the snail mail; AND the online versions: newspapers online, magazines online and email ads that come both solicited and unsolicited
- television ads, radio ads – both via traditional tv and radio vehicles and online versions
Think long-term solidity rather than short-term success
Posted by: | CommentsThere is no denying that this past year of 2009 has been tough economically for nearly everyone. In the U.S., 35 states were reported to have an unemployment rate of over 5% as reported for October on CNNMoney. That is a lot of people without jobs and income. My home state of California currently has an unemployment rate of 12.3% according to today’s CNNMoney report – even though the headline states, “The unemployment rate is falling!”
Forbes [dot com] on December 16 had a great article by John Zogby doing a bit of forecasting for 2010 – the highlights from his article:
- “…Look for sluggish consumer spending to continue-If you produce or market luxury retail products, the keywords should be high value, high quality and longevity
- The Misplaced Assumption: That the unemployment rate really reflects employment. It has always been a lousy number. It ignores people who have given up looking for work as well as part-timers. What we really need is an indicator of how people survive. Who are the potential entrepreneurs?…”
The Work that Women Choose to Do
Posted by: | CommentsThere was a time in my life when the work I did was work I could get…sometimes survival mode dictates our direction. I’ve worked as a waitress, a receptionist and file clerk to earn a paycheck. Those were not choices, those were positions available. And I almost didn’t get those because I was “over qualified.” In fact my first waitressing job I very nearly didn’t get simply because I had a college degree. But I was also a single mother with a tiny baby and no other choices at the time.
Looking back I’m grateful to past employers because it allowed me to feed my family, pay my bills and get on with living. And now I’m at a place in life where I do get to choose my work and it’s a great joy.
I love knowing what other women choose to do for their work. I have a friend, a true entrepreneur, who is both a painter and a gallery owner. She loves both sides of her life – the artistic creator who paints her fantastic surrealistic pieces, and the business woman who plans and markets and keeps the books. I have an aunt who, after the passing of her husband, has taken a huge role in the operations of his business…something she previously did not do – and she’s discovered she’s quite good at it.
What is it 30-somethings want?
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been a few years since I was 30. My younger daughter just celebrated her 30th birthday this past Monday. I do recall, however, that at age 30 I wasn’t thinking about retirement. In fact, at that age I believe I was working as a newspaper reporter and loving every minute of it.
The reason I bring this up is because I overheard two conversations while at lunch the other day. It’s not my practice to overhear what others are saying, but I was in a restaurant whose tables were somewhat close together. Also I was sitting in a greenhouse dining room of this eatery and the acoustics were such that you could clearly hear everything anyone anywhere in the room was saying. Now I was there to have a quiet, relaxing getaway lunch. It was actually a bit of a celebration for myself and this restaurant was close to my home and has a great menu.
There were two distinct conversations going on. One was between three young men two tables down and over. They were in a computer technical business and talking about the desire to start their own company because they had some kind of unique innovation. The other conversation was between a couple sitting at the table next to mine. They were talking about retirement. How do I know all these folks were 30-somethings? Because at some point I heard age mentioned at each table.
Is Speed of Service an Added Value?
Posted by: | CommentsCustomer service sometimes means how we approach our business…how we “do” our business. For our businesses to be profitable, we need customers and clients so we devote much time and attention to promotion and advertising. Another big percentage of our business is our interaction with our customers and clients in the buying and selling or product and service interface. A third percentage, just as large, is the after-the-sale time, the customer service time.
In defining our businesses we decide on what the added value elements will be. For instance, if you were to own a small hamburger franchise, your added value elements could be:
- restrooms that are always clean
- point-of-sale personnel who smile and use polite conventions such as “please” and “thank you” with every customer
- tables that are clean, floors that are clean and trash receptacles that are never overflowing
Another example might be a business consultant with her own practice. She might have as added value elements to her clients:
- passing along articles from journals that are relevant to their continuous improvement objectives
- remembering dates important to clients [everything from a wedding anniversary to the date they first opened their business]
