JPD Mom

Fancy Yourself and Entrepreneur Do You?

August 16, 2007

All of the business magazines talk about how being an entrepreneur is so "in vogue", it is now studied at the best universities, oh and us Mom's that want to run our own business, sista' pleeeze!  We are growing in leaps and bounds - they say that the numbers are too large to measure.  More times than not, when I meet someone and tell them what I do they go, "Oh my gawd I would love to do that."

So.....with the week I just had, I thought that I would tell you what it is really like to run your own business.  I would like you to think long and hard about what it takes to run a business.  See if you really want to do this:

"I would love to be in charge of my own destiny"

Really?  Ya, that is what I thought when I started JPD...in fact I like to say that when people start quoting self help books, Tony Robbins or any of that super age....cra........stuff.  Being in charge is great, however you are in CHARGE with a capital "C".  You have to decide what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.  You may have to figure out how to get sales, how to build a website, how to fix a printer, who to call when your garbage cans are stolen.  You and only you get to be in charge - I don't know about any of you out there but I am already in charge at home....sometimes I would like to NOT be in charge.  Some days it would be nice to let "the man" write me a check for my work, pat me on my head and send me home on Friday.  As an entrepreneur I don't REALLY leave work on Friday......ever.

"I would love to be the one who makes ALL the money"

Um......well who doesn't want that?  I mean, okay so that is NOT what it is all about, but for argument sake let me address this comment.  Unless your company is totally funded (and if your company IS, please tell me all about it, 'cause that is not the case with me) and you are taking home a HUGE salary you are going to make sacrifices - maybe not monetary ones, but sacrifices none the less.  Even IF you take a pay check, you will be working LONG hours and long hours equal.....about $2.45 an hour.  You do NOT get to work 9-5, you will not take long fun lunch breaks, you will NOT relax on vacation and you will NOT make tons of money while you are starting, growing or working IN your business.  You may make tons of money later on, but at what cost?  What sacrifices are you willing to make?  What  is your family willing to risk?  Willing to sacrifice?   Trust me, there will be sacrifices.....

" I would LOVE to come and go as a I please, you have SOOO much freedom"

Yes........that is right I just lolly-gag in around noon, take a long lunch at 1:00 p.m. then cut out early for a mani-pedi, golf lesson, massage, possibly a nap in the break room or gee a shopping spree at Neimans (is that what they call it?).  Okay, I do have the freedom to leave early, volunteer in my children's classroom, go on SOME (not all) field trips, and use the photo copier at my free will.  But, but, BUT....screw the however - I then make up for it ten-fold.  I work weekends, I work nights, I work mornings or I answer emails in traffic, I take my lap top on vacation, I check my blackberry when I am in bed with a 102 temperature, I check voice mail while driving to a field trip (okay not the driver, not the driver).  My freedom comes at a cost, and I am always attached to my business - you have to be. 

"Wow it must be so exciting and FUN, you are like famous!"

Pssstttrrfffoooooo........excuse me, while I spit my drink out all over the person that just said this to me.  First of all, publicity IS great, and it does help your business grow, but don't believe the hype.  In almost five years in business I have sort of found it just feeds the ego of the owner of the business.  It does validate the business, however it takes hard work and lots and lots of sales to put food on the table.  And let me address that FUN aspect, being in charge is not always so much fun.  I get to make the bad decisions too.  I get to decide when to let someone go, I get to decide when to not do something, and I get to decide to what to do next.  If I make a bad decision I get to own it, I have to be the one to explain myself, or uh fess up, or eat crow - I do not get to hide behind a manager - I do not HAVE one.  And if letting someone go is part of the day's agenda - guess who does that person's job?  Guess who cleans up the mess?  Guess who gets to be the bad guy......er gal.

This is not complaint or a rant post, or a "poor me" - this is MY life, and I chose it.  Running your own business and being run-ragged by your business are two different things.  I do not know who does NOT live in their business.  Though we did move it out of the house close to two years ago and that does change things a bit.  However, it is like the college student that left home, but still comes home to wash clothes, grab some food, sleep on the couch, get money for tuition, rent, books and then ask to borrow a $20.  That college student may weigh 175 pounds, be 6 ft tall and 23 years old, but he will always be my baby - no matter how far away he lives, or what he does.  That is my business - it is mine - and it will ALWAYS be a part of me.

So - does this still sound like fun to you?  Does this still sound like you want to roll up your sleeves and jump in?  Are you salivating at the mouth and saying, "sign me up!"?  If so - then good for you, that is great.  I have to say, I never knew that running my own business would be as hard as it has been.  I did not even think about these things.....I was that person that said those silly things to other entrepreneurs.  So, good luck - you GO girl!  Call me in about 4 years though, and tell me if I was right, okay?

When I was your age...

June 24, 2007.

The longer I am in the business the more I am amazed at all of the resources out there for women entrepreneurs (mothers especially) these days.  I happen to know that all these blogs, websites, organizations and books did not exist when I started my business.  The support system these days is amazing and unlike anything I have ever seen before.

Uh, I just re-read what I wrote and I know I am starting to sound a bit like a cranky old person...."when I was your age I walked to school, up hill, with no shoes.....bread cost only a nickel and children RESPECTED their elders...."  Okay, shhhh Nana don't get all upset, we understand, it's time for your medicine and Price is Right is on....

 Anyway being in a charitable mood and having taken my nap today (ya right), I thought I would share some great resources for any of you that may be running a small business, or thinking of starting one:

Start Up Princess  

Start Up Princess is an international network for women entrepreneurs to learn and support one another. They have members all over the USA, Canada, and even Australia. It is an online network with resources, blogs, advice and basically support for other women starting a business.

All Start Up Princesses as she calls them, or uh women entrepreneurs are invited to join the “kingdom” for FREE and you can receive email updates and announcements.  Start Up Princess has Profile pages, that feature successful and experienced entrepreneurs.  The Features section is by Invitation also.

Fairy Godmothers are experienced women entrepreneurs and women in business who write as guest bloggers, do teleseminars, and consulting for Start Up Princess.  Fairy Godmothers participate by invitation also.

Kelly King Anderson is the founder of Start Up Princess, while she was in grad school she participated in the Center for Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competitions with her Princess Sweet; business plan.  Following the competitions Kelly recognized the power of networking for entrepreneurs and created this site to help women have more opportunities to learn and connect.

Seth Godin

Not even sure where to begin - he is a marketing genius, guru - Mr. Guerilla Marketing is he.  His books are informative, his blog is addicting, entertaining and educational - especially if you do not have a Marketing Degree...like uh yours truly.  He is a a best selling author and entrepreneur.  He is the author of seven books, that have all been best sellers around the world.

Seth Godin was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, a direct marketing company that was acquired in 1998 by Yahoo!

Working Mother

This is a magazine and a website and has been around for..well a long time.  This is a great read and a great inspiration for us entrepreneurs and especially us Mom's.  The recipes are kid friendly, the articles are ALWAYS relevant to what I am going through.   

Start Up Nation

StartupNation is a free service founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. The Sloan brothers created this site to be the main place for entrepreneurial success.  Since it's conception StartupNation has grown to be the leading online content and community resource for entrepreneurs.

They have the belief that everyone can —and should—own a business, whether full-time or part-time. Their mission is to help you do just that!

The Start Up Nation site, you’ll find all the easy-to-follow, practical information you could ever need to start and grow your own successful business.

I wonder if these resources were readily available when I started I would have made the decisions or mistakes I made. I do know that having a community of entrpeneurs at my keyboard would have been helpful.  Alas, I just think of that saying, "If only I know then what I know now..."

All I do know is that it is nice to know there are others out there struggling, succeeding and just DOING it.   

Be Over Prepared

November 5, 2006.

So, I may have written about this before, but it is such an important aspect of being an Mom and an entrepreneur.  I would like to say that I am ALWAYS prepared....but I am not:

• Last week we ran out of tiles and had make an emergency order
• For three weeks we have been waiting for one color of ribbon that was back ordered
• We had no batteries for our camera to film my daughter's Halloween Parade
• When our Printer could not use the lay out for our new brochure I had to scramble and back track to get another Printer involved
• When presenting quotes for a new component of our websites I forgot to get two second quotes (Accounting demands three quotes)
• Painting flowers in my daughters NEW room take not one but at least five coats of paint due to the dark coloring of the walls....
• Had to have a clock and two pillows for daughters room shipped over night
• Finished my son's costume hours before a big Halloween Party

However, I am getting very prepared, even over-prepared for a first ever event, gulp, I am going to be interviewed for a local TV show.  The film crew is going to film my children's rooms (hence the expedited shipping) and apparently interviewing me about Jamie's Painting & Design.

I am almost prepared (I think) I still have a thousand things to do before the interview but this I have done:

• I have to talked myself while driving about what I think they may ask me <check>
• I had my husband video tape me (oh how painful to watch myself and hear my voice) <check>
• I know the show backwards and forwards (what TIVO is for) <check>
• The rooms are touched up, spiffed, pillows fluffed, vacuumed, adjusted to death <check>
• I have researched the interviewee <check>
• I have asked for advice from other entrepreneurs <check>
• Taken advice from our publicist (bold colors bad, dark colors good) <check>
• And I have started a mantra "s-p-e-a-k  s-l-o-w-ly" <check>

And if all else fails I will tell a knock knock joke my son taught me....no I am kidding.  I feel pretty confident about the interview, my stomach IS doing sumersaults as I write this though.  The last thing a friend said to me when we spoke on the phone last week keeps ringing in my ears, "DO-YOUR-HOMEWORK". <CHECK>

And it Always comes back...

October 31, 2006.

The irony of this post is how I started my day...I read my news in the morning on www.cnn.com every day.  I always quickly scan the articles before logging on to my check email.  Today an article about Oprah giving away $300,000.00 caught my eye so I read it.  Unless you live under a rock you probably heard she gave $1000 to 300 people (oh not to forget Bank of America sponsored it too) insisting they must do something charitable with it, and then document it on there new DVD recorder.  I thought it was a great idea, and am anxious to see the show...then went on with my day.

So....today I got not one but two emails back confirming we were in two articles regarding 'giving back'.  Being the media savvy entrepreneur I always reply to emails from journalists or magazines looking for information for an article, or just sending some company information to an editor.  So, I did not think twice of sending out two separate responses to two separate requests on charitable things we did.

Let me back up a second, and mention we give back to the community, to victims of Hurricane Katrina, terminally ill children, families on EMHE (another blog), church functions, charity events, sponsor sport teams, etc.  I feel as a business owner it is my duty to give back.  I also feel blessed, lucky to have such success and damn it it feels good to help people.

I am happy we did give back, and I am happy to get some free publicity - I actually  hope it inspires others to give back too.  And I do agree with Oprah, who said, "I can honestly say that every gift I've ever given has brought at least as much happiness to me as it has to the person I've given it to," (Amen, Oprah and psst.....call me!)

Tracking Visitors to Your site

October 18, 2006.

So, yesterday we had a big spike on our website, in fact it went up Monday and continued to go up on Tuesday.  Today we are going back down.  We had 12% of visitors to our site from Lafayette, California, and 34% were returning visitors from all over the United States.  In other parts of the world they are viewing our site also, London, Buenos Aires, Singapore and even Dubai!  Last week we had a record Monday with our biggest day ever of views to pages and almost all were new visitors, it was 3 times the average amount of viewers to our site.

So...how do I know this?  And if you have a company website YOU should know this too....

It's called Web Analytics, and there are many companies that do this...it's basically tracking activity and performance on your website.  Analytics measures whatever you want it to measure, effectiveness of a marketing campaign, measures traffic to a website, measures activity of a shopper - it's Big Brother for sure!

We use a free product from google (www.googleanalytics.com), and it gives us a glimpse at what our customer is doing.  Now, don't get me wrong I don't know exactly where they live, I don't know who they are, and I don't know what they are looking at.  And I believe it can be skewed....what if one person in Malaysia (not likely) looks at my site 45 times a day?  I am told it should be cookied and they will look at each user as a different visitor.

So, back to why the spike?  Our angel ornament was featured in Country Living's Holiday Gift Guide, however it hit newsstands back East over two weeks ago.  So, who knows?  We do not have a marketing campaign that we have been wanting to track, or an advertisement in a magazine.  We do PR and that is all we do.

Maybe some day I will be able to see you Jane Smith at 456 Elm Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan, looking at those Snowman ornaments over and over, and over again, tracking you as you explore our website.

Um, did I say loyal?

October 11, 2006.

I do consider myself a loyal business partner, and a loyal friend for that matter.  I have stood loyal by:

• Failing Sales Channels
• Companies that do not pay their bills on time
• Sales Representatives that do not 'represent' very well
• Contract Employees that were not working out
• Small companies that helped me develop my brand

That being said......I feel awful about something that happened today.  I have worked with a company for over three years.  It is a small business owner that has helped me in many ways.  I have gotten advice on computer programs, printers, color adjustments, paints to use, paper quality and weight, price cuts.  We have gotten free training, we have worked well together. 

However, we are now paying rent, we have an accountant, we have bills to pay.  So, for the first time ever I had to get multiple quotes, one from my friend, two others from strangers.  I got thee quotes and my loyal friend's quote was not the lowest.  We discussed it, I was honest and said I had to go with the lowest bid - I said it's business.

So, I gave the job to a new company, discussed the process and moved on.

Today, I got a call from my associate and he wanted to try to get a better price.  I reluctantly let him and assumed he could not match the price we had already established. Well, that's right he got a better price and he was asking us to go with his company.  To be honest, I was tempted to go with what I was familiar with and make my friend happy.  I almsot did, but then I thought about it for a few hours.

I had to go with my word, I gave my WORD to the other company and I had to stick with it.  I am nervous about branching out, I admit it.  I may get a raw deal, this is true.  However I have to stick with my word, even if others don't.

So, that being said I had to ask myself if i was loyal?  And yes, I still believe I am loyal, I will continue to use him and go to him for quotes, however I have to do what is best for my company.  It's not personal, it's business.  I have said THAT a number of times, so then why do I feel so crummy though?

Being Loyal in Business

October 2, 2006.

One of my favorite movies is The Godfather (1972) and the book is an incredible read also.  I have seen it numerous times and even did my final paper on it for a film class in college.  Yet, I did not realize how much I would re-use a quote from the movie after starting my own business:

Michael: Sonny...
Sonny: You're taking this very personal. Tom, this is business and this man is taking it very, very personal.
Michael: It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.

This is true 99% of the time, even for women business owners this is true.  It is NOT personal, it is business.  Yet one is it personal?  When do you decide to make it personal?  When do you decide that you need to bend the rules?  When do you decide that this time it IS personal? 

Well I decided to make it personal last week.

I started this business in late 2002, yet did not pursue the web until middle of the year 2003.  I can remember doing searches on the web for products like mine and for top children's boutiques.  I would look at them over and over, not quite brave enough to call them or submit my products.

Then one day I got my nerve up and I sent an email to one of the sites I had admired for so many weeks. I sent a nice email, with a few attachments of photos of my products.  The owner actually called me on my 'new' business line I had just put in.  She was very nice, very complimentary and she really showed me what to do with getting my products on line.  She became an advocate and a friend who was also honest about my prices, even telling me I was charging too little, where instead she could have just marked her prices up.

Long story short, almost four years we have worked together, she used to talk to me and confide in me and really help me when no one else would.  I really appreciated her honestly and willingness to help some one she did not even know.  At the time, she was one of our biggest accounts.  Now at over 150 channels and climbing,and some major companies, her company is not one of our biggest - but that does not make her channel any less important to me.

So after working together for about two years she asked me a favor, not a big one, but a favor.  I was very willing to help her out and I agreed.  It was one of those 'what if' scenarios, and I was happy to oblige her, I owed her and I was loyal.

Well, this past week, that favor came a knockin', and I remembered my promise.  I called back my friend, had asked her about our conversation over two years ago.  She was dumbfounded that I a. remembered and b. was willing to keep my promise.  I told her I was loyal, that no amount of money was worth that.

We don't talk as much as we used, back in the day when we weren't as busy we talked weekly.  I do have fond memories of one conversation though, I told her something about me being so new to the business and I was just a small company, a nobody.  She actually raised her voice at me, scolded me and said, "You are NOT a nobody, you are a somebody.  And mark my word, some day you will be very successful, I know this about you.  I know you will be very big some day and you are already a somebody.  Don't ever say that again."

I miss those conversations.....

Can Entrpreneurship be Taught?

March 16, 2006.

Can Entrepreneurship be Taught?  This question has been asked a lot lately and I am not sure it can be taught.  Fortune Small Business Magazine, latest cover story was about this topic.  The debate has been going on for 20 years.

I tend to think that the classes the top universities are offering would have helped me back in the day.  It would be better to make some business classes part of all majors - not just business majors.  I am earning my business degree the hard way, reading books, magazines and trial and error in my own business.  I'll be the first to admit I am no mathematician and I can not balance my checkbook - but a couple business classes would have helped.

I also think that Entrepreneurs are born, not taught in school.  My first entrepreneurial venture was making earrings in early nineties.  I made these huge glitter-infested, rhinestone covered bright big earrings.  I sold them in boutiques and craft fairs for about 4 years.  If I had known anything about business I may have succeed better.  Hence when the grunge style came, my business died down (truth be told though I was not interested in the product anymore).

I think if you  have the drive and if you have a great idea you will succeed.  The drive and ego are what keep you going, not anything else.  The drive gets you out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to work on new products....