Ten tips for aspiring entrepreneurs
Recently I began attending a business development workshop hosted by Women 2.0. On our first class, we had the opportunity to speak with the intelligent and business savvy CEO of AllVoices.com, Amra Tareen. She happily answered our questions about starting a business, one of them being the need for finding the right people to collaborate and work with. She noted having gone through a couple of rounds of first employees and founders until she found the right ones. She also shared with us the reason for starting AllVoices, the technology behind the site, and other business development tips.
People always have great ideas, but ideas are a dime a dozen. Not all ideas will be profitable. When my brother and I first started thinking of building a business, we had something in mind but no idea how to execute it. We also made the mistake of not sharing our idea, which I believe ultimately kept us from proceeding in the proper manner. Another set back was that we wanted to launch a web business but didn’t have $$ to pay a developer. Since we didn’t want to tell anyone about our idea, we became stagnant as I tried to learn code for the web.
Here are a few things I’ve learned in the past couple of years about starting a business:
- If you have an idea, do research, find out who your competitors are and figure out what you are going to do that is better than your competitors.
- Find out if your idea has a market. Are you solving a problem? Are you creating a niche market? Interview people, find your first ten customers.
- Develop a marketing strategy. Once you have a product, will you expect people to just know you have one? How do you get them to visit your website? How will they know you exist?
- Write a business plan. Even if you aren’t looking for Venture capital or a bank loan, writing a business plan will help you figure out HOW YOU WILL MAKE $$$.
- Practice your elevator pitch. It needs to include: what your company is; what you are planning on doing and why it’s interesting; when will it launch; and how you plan to make $$, all in a matter of 30 seconds to one minute.
- Attend networking events, business seminars, conferences, trade shows, events at business incubators, subscribe to groups and answer questions on linkedin, join discussions on twitter; make your presence known in both the web and in your local communities.
- If you’re trying to find venture capital, participate in some business plan competitions, even if you don’t win, you’ll be able to get good feedback from the judges or other competitors.
- If you’re trying to launch a site, build a prototype first: venture capitalists want to see that your site is getting traffic.
- If you’re trying to manufacture a product, make some calls to different US manufacturers. Eventually you will find a company that will let you know how much it will cost you and what they will need from you to get started.
- Don’t give up in spite of setbacks. If you’re trying to start a bakery and your oven at home will not be repaired until two weeks later, don’t take that as a sign that things won’t work out; take it as a sign that success is difficult to achieve and when you get set back, you just have to find a new way to bake cookies!
I’m not a successful entrepreneur yet and will sometimes even forget my own advice or will get down when things don’t work out as planned. However, what will make us succeed will be our stamina, passion, and a supporting team.
If you’re interested in networking with other women or are a 50% women owned busines who is looking for resources, visit Women2.org.
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Fashion troubled post college women?
Right now I’m watching TLC’s “What not to Wear” and the theme seems to be consistent…women who transition from twenties to thirties are unsure how to dress. I have to confess that I am/was among the confused. And it’s hard because I feel compelled to buy something with funky designs at Hot Topic but remember I must dress age appropriate. But what’s wrong with wanting to dress funky? I guess you have to make it age appropriate. Ugghhh…growing pains.
One reason women aren’t able to dress “appropriately” is because our bodies change. When we’re in college, the first year we gain 10-15 lbs. But the next few years we get into the rythm of college and are able to integrate working out into our lives. However, when we graduate from college, we start a job and get so bogged down that we forget to work out. Our bodies change, grow muffin tops and as we get older, it’s not only harder to motivate ourselves to work out, but also to make time for it.
My solution, use all the tools out there to incorporate working out, it’s worth it. It not only releases stress but also helps you feel better about yourself and also helps put things in perspective sometimes. If you ever feel doubtful about a decision or can’t think because you’ve loaded your brain with information, take a walk.
Finally, follow some of the guidelines on “What not to wear” :
- Try things on before you write them off.
- Wear flattering jeans, not too tight, not too baggy.
- Get a few basics: white shirt, straight-leg trousers, pencil skirt, blazer, black pumps.
- If the blazer at a department store costs too much, buy one at your local goodwill, salvation army, or other thrift store.
- Mix neutrals with patterns, or have one neutral and one solid color shirt, since neutrals will go with mostly any shirt.
- Make it yours with accessories that enhance your look.
***Mega-money saving and earth friendly tip: Buy a blazer from a thrift store, then tailor it to fit you. If you buy one from the store, you might have to tailor it to fit you anyway. So if you buy it used, dry clean it, get it tailored, you just saved yourself some money.
Instead of supporting the mass production and shipment of clothing into the U.S., reuse and reduce.
Read MoreForget the garage, just play drums at the beach!
Drummer on a Santa Cruz Beach Cliff
July 27, 2009: On a walk by the surf museum in Santa Cruz, many people took pictures of the guy who decided to play his drums on the cliff, in spite of the tall railing blocking passage onto the cliff. I decided to take this pic even though I only had my phone on me because he did something different and unexpected and that’s rated highly in my book.
What are you doing to stand out from the crowd? Are you thinking outside the box, or in this case, the garage?
Read MoreThe use of Social Media by Social Entrepreneurs
This is from a guest blog post I wrote and which can be seen at twibes.com. I’ve re-posted it here to share the links.
Recently I have been researching social entrepreneurship and wanted to highlight how social entrepreneurs use social media to leverage support for their causes.
Well, according to some research I’ve been doing, I found that the best use of social media is by making it easy for others to contribute to your cause. There are many tools out there, but you have to figure out which works best. For instance, Everywun.com and bettertheworld.com make it easy to give, which requires little effort and no money. They have all kinds of ways for users to interact or support a cause. When users post a badge on their blog, facebook page, or website, they earn credits when someone signs up after clicking on their badge. Both sites feature their top supporters who have earned the most credits. This in turn provides funds for the charities the individual supports. In addition, Bettertheworld.com takes ideas from their users on what the organization can do to improve the user’s experience. Another organization, Social Earth, who set up the twibes group for social-entrepreneurs to connect, also has the most up to date content on social entrepreneurship. Beth’s blog has great guest posts about how to use social media to promote your social entrepreneurship or non-profit organization. Even good “old-fashioned” email has evolved to implement sharing tools.
In this economy, fundraisers are too expensive; social media comes at no cost. The success of your organization largely depends on the way you interact with your donors, and what tools you make available for your contributors to promote your organization for you. The more we allow our friends to feel like they are contributing, the more they are willing to spread the message, since people want to be a part of something that is good.
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