It takes an insane amount of courage and determination to be an entrepreneur. Our perspective is always eerily optimistic and we don’t always respond well to ‘feedback’. We are so busy fighting for the life of our businesses that sometimes we forget that we are the only ones who signed up for this life willingly. Everyone else has come along for the ride to support us or … [Read more...]
Why you need a female mentor
There will always be people that teach you things, but the real things you need to know will come from your female mentors. I may get a little cheesy here, but bear with me. These people are the ones who will help you build your foundation and who will understand the guilt you feel, when you have to leave your kid at the babysitter for another meeting. They get it, they … [Read more...]
Small Business, Big Tips
In honor of Women’s History Month, I want to give some nuggets about what business has taught me as a women. So here we go… Give yourself some credit As women, mothers, daughters, sisters and business owners we can’t give ourselves a break. We do a phenomenal job of wearing multiple hats, being the problem solver and the office counselor and yet when it … [Read more...]
What are we afraid of?
Small business owners this is a hard truth to admit, but in order to grow we have to be uncomfortable. So I will do it, I will incur the wrath of my small business brethren and ask ‘what are we scared of?’ I admit to being in a much different environment, federal contracting is a whole different beast but the fundamental principles are the same. Why are we scared to … [Read more...]
Oh My! At Look at Mayer’s Leadership
No one said Marissa Mayer’s journey into Yahoo would be easy, but there have been some controversial moves made by tech maven. A lot of articles are taking shots at Mayer left and right, but I believe that there’s a method to the madness. She is going for long-term survival. Here’s what small business can glean from this year of leadership challenges. Who you fire … [Read more...]
How Small Businesses Fail
I recently had a conversation with a colleague about the way we disadvantage ourselves in business. Now I know this is a touchy subject but hear me out, I have something to say about this. As a minority business owner it’s really easy for me to assign blame and scream that it’s not fair but there’s no education in that. While I am not going to pretend that everything if … [Read more...]
Managing Expectations
On any given day as an entrepreneur we are expected to navigate staff, money and business situations with little to no insight. How do we know what to do and what to expect? It all starts with understanding what you can expect and who you can expect it from. Here’s what I’ve learned. The only surefire way to fail is to fail to manage you expectations The thing about people … [Read more...]
The Secrets of Success
Running a small business can be the greatest thing you experience as an entrepreneur, to make sure that your business is successful concentrate on strategy. The best thing about strategy is that it creates a roadmap of actionable steps for building your empire, here’s how you start. Be Willful I’m a mom first so let me apologize that most of my advice will inevitably find its … [Read more...]
How Leadership Misses the Mark
Today I had an occasion to really explore something about myself that I already knew. I knew it, but I didn’t know what to do about it. You see I am nothing if not up front about what I like and don’t like, but I often skip conversations that are not productive. The end result is that the irritation builds and then you have a blow up. I learned that this is really passive … [Read more...]
The Big Dream of a Small Company
I had an interesting conversation today about strategy and growth. What was different about this conversation was that the tone of it just made sense. As my firm has grown and matured, things have changed. The stakes have become bigger, the rewards better and the disappointments more bitter. As I wondered aloud ‘am I dreaming too large’ these are the nuggets the conversation … [Read more...]