You have a dream of starting your own business, but, what if you want to start a business but you're a mother? Can you still do it? YES! Yes, you can! According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, there are 11 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. generating trillions of dollars worth of sales. Of those millions of women-owned businesses, 1 in 3 are … [Read more...]
Business Planning is a Business
Starting a business seems easy enough. Obtain a business license and do what you like forever all while making money. Sounds like a dream come true. That’s pretty much what I thought when I started my first business 10 years ago. No, I wasn’t quite that naive, but I did think it would be easy. It was far from. There were easy parts of course, building the website, marketing, … [Read more...]
Entrepreneurs: When Visualizing Leads to Visualizations
I spoke with a client recently about visualizing. I asked how she pictured seeing her business in 12 months time. “Gosh, I don’t have time for daydreaming,” was her response, fixing me with a confused look. This made me slightly concerned considering her desire to develop and grow her business. However, after I carefully outlined this process of enormous potential, she … [Read more...]
Building a Usable Vision Statement for Your Organization
Organizations that enjoy sustained success are built from the core values that remain foundational while their culture carefully adapts to changing business strategies and to a changing economic environment. Smart leaders take the time to identify the core values that are central to any organizational culture and then build strategies that are in alignment with these … [Read more...]
Are You too Hard on Yourself?
At the beginning of the year, I like to type out my game plan for the year. As time goes on, I can go back to that list and see how I’m doing. The other day I was thinking about something I wanted to get done. As I was looking through my files, I found my folder with the game plan. I hesitated to open it thinking maybe I hadn’t gotten nearly enough done on that … [Read more...]
Why a Business Plan is a Waste Of Time
Anyone who has ever mentioned starting their own company has been told that they need to start with a solid business plan. These plans, we are taught by business sages who spend more time in the classroom than in the boardroom, are essential. They help investors see why your idea is sound, how it will make money, and why people will buy what you are selling. Are business … [Read more...]
Business Planning and Social Media on The Social Marketing Hour with Susan Gunelius
On the most recent broadcast of my online talk show, The Social Marketing Hour with Susan Gunelius, playing on The Social Network Station, I spoke with serial entrepreneur, business planning expert, author, and marketing pro Tim Berry. During the discussion, Tim shared insights about business planning, marketing strategy, and social media marketing that you don't want to … [Read more...]
Ready, Set, GOals!
People with goals succeed because they know where they're going. —Earl Nightingale I don't typically start my day off on a mathematical note, but a date of 12/12/12 is hard to ignore. Add into the mix, the approaching season of resolutions and goal-setting, and suddenly 3, 6 & 9—all divisors of 12 and standard monthly intervals—popped into my head. From there it was an … [Read more...]