Make Meaning and Money in Business

Today’s Magic Wand: Guy Kawasaki says that if you are out to do good with your business “make meaning”, “right a wrong”, “prevent the end of something good”, or otherwise make the world a better place, then that is the right reason to start a business…and then it is likely that your business will succeed…here’s a 2 minute clip of his lecture about this concept. This reminds me of Foundation for a Better Life and ThereBlogging. I couldn’t agree more fully with this purpose. If you don’t believe that what you do makes a difference why do it? Find a cause. Support a cause. eMomsAtHome’s Wendy Piersall recently wrote about how blogging can change the world…one person at a time. Be a part of the change. Tell us how you’re changing the world in your kingdom!

Inexperienced in Business? Attach Yourself to A Pro

Today’s Magic Wand: The Law of the Spider by Professor Gary Rhoads, BYU Marriot School of Management, Marketing Dept. says that if you don’t have the skills yourself, attach yourself to those who do! I’ve been doing this for 2 years. It works, I tell you. Surround yourself with those who “get it” who’ve “done it”, those who believe in you and will mentor you…and you’ll be in business soon enough. Gary says everyone can do this by getting a great, experienced Advisory Board. They don’t have legal obligations to your business so their advice can often be very truthful and helpful, not to mention their expertise can help your business get funding, press, sales, etc.

Do you have a good story to share about this principle?? Did someone else teach you a skill you need? Or did you outsource? Tell us your story of how you live “The Law of The Spider.”

“Today was My 3rd Birthday and All I Got Was This Lousy…”

Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease. Wouldn’t that be a LOVELY t-shirt? Well, I’m making one for my daughter today. Bummer!!! She’s been crying and absolutely MISERABLE for 2 days and not sleeping longer than 20 minutes and so we’re all crying and miserable. This is what I’ve learned from it so far:

• It’s hard to figure out what it is because it isn’t very common and I just thought she had a fever and really chapped hands from the cold…
• It’s extremely contagious for kids, not adults, (unless you’re pregnant it’s bad for the fetus!) Read more

Risk Calculations

 

Fairy Godmothers Carrie and Danielle share their wisdom: “Security is mostly superstition.”- Helen Keller

We recently met with a very successful business man for some advice about growing our company. The conversation quickly turned to perceptions of risk versus gain. “Early on in the company,” he told us, “I offered five employees lower salaries in exchange for stocks in the business. One of them took it, four of them declined.” (As it turns out, the four who declined were all women. They wanted more security.) That same company is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Today’s Magic Wand: Examine what feels scary, but invigorating to you…terrifying, but totally thrilling. Where do you pull back, when really, you’re longing to spread your wings? Now ask yourself: what would you be risking if you reached for the upside of that creative tension? We encourage you to peel that question like an onion. Ask it repeatedly, until what’s truly at risk becomes clear. We wager that fears associated with risk are rarely about money or physical comforts, and more often about how we’ll be perceived by others.

Exposure is the engine of risk. Sometimes what’s revealed is dramatic and sweeping, and sets huge effects in motion. And sometimes, a risk is the choice to share your idea, to live for the moment, or to let someone see you cry…or fly.

Win or lose, taking a risk will show you more of what you’re made of.

How to Get it Done

 

Fairy Godmother Cathy Gonsalves shares this wisdom:

Being a web designer, working from one contractu al agreement to the next, its imperative I not only get things done timely but, I get them done with the highest quality.

Here are some tips that work:

Plan

Before I start a project the customer and I both know exactly where we are going, we are committed to the same vision, and on the same timetable. Our plan is smart.

Implement

Execute the project staying organized, focused, disciplined, sticking to policy, and staying proactive always looking ahead. This is where you delegate where you can. Resolve issues that arise immediately. Allow short periods of brainstorming and tweaking till you get it right. Know when to stop; perfection can sometimes destroy the end result.

Evaluate

Evaluate shortcomings for quality control, improved efficiency, and progression. Take time to acknowledge success for use next time, and give yourself a pat on the back every now and then.

Should There Be MomEntrepreneur Reality TV?

With the wave of MomEntrepreneur recent media buzz here and here and elsewhere, don’t you think Donald Trump should feature one of us (not me!) for a TV show series on how Moms juggle biz and family? What do you think? I think if we have a lively discussion about it we can get some producers to notice. Don’t you? I feel that if the media focuses more on mom entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs then there will be more education, more resources, more funding, and more acceptance. Ben of Start Up Spark also agrees, I was pleased to see his post today on the subject.

Meditate, Get Inspired & Record Your Entrepreneur Experiences

Today’s Magic Wand: Start Up Princess Stephanie Peterson of Today’s Mama shares Michael Gerber’s (author of The E-Myth) article for finding inspiration as an entrepreneur. You’ll love “awakening the entrepreneur within” as he calls it.

Brief summary of Gerber’s exercises:
1. Spend time each day in meditation to help your creative juices flow
2. After you meditate, get a blank piece of paper and write down 2-3 words that come to your mind
3. Get a nice leather bound journal you love to record your entrepreneurial adventures, it’s all about keeping a history or it, recognizing where you’ve been and the progress you’ve made

Costco Wants Mompreneur Success Stories!

Today’s Magic Wand:

Calling All Mompreneurs

If you are a working mom who is running a home-based business so you can spend more time with your family? Perhaps your business idea came to you from an experience you had raising your children. If you started your own business after you became a mom, we’d love to hear from you.

Please write to us with information about your business at:

Mompreneurs
The Costco Connection
PO Box 34088
Seattle, WA 98124-1088

Fax: (425) 313-6718

Email: sponder at costco dot com

And as an added bonus read what HighTechMomClub says for how to get Costco to notice you!

BYU Marketing Wizard and Fairy Godmother Join Start Up Princess Team

The pitch went well…I didn’t have it perfectly presented (should have practiced more), but I feel that I conveyed the passion and main points of why I needed a Marketing Plan and Strategy for Start Up Princess.com.

Immediate results:

• 5 women joined Start Up Princess by giving me their email addresses and showing interest in our local events (not bad, I think there were 8 women in the class)
• A potential client/affiliate opportunity came up with another company that supports women entrepreneurs.
• 2 students (a Wizard and a Fairy Godmother) offered to work with us for their semester project!
• More exposure to Start Up Princess.com (and Sweet & Charming (formerly Princess Sweet), because I showed the class my video pitch )
• It felt great to get out of the house, dress up, present and share the vision of Start Up Princess.com!

Here’s Our Start Up Princess Pitch to BYU Marketing Wizards and Fairy Godmothers

This week I was a judge at the BYU Elevator Pitch competition and have written a bit this week about pitches, so it’s only fair that I share my latest pitch for BYU Marketing Students. Today I’m trying to recruit a few Marketing Wizards and Fairy Godmothers to help Start Up Princess.com evolve into the business it’s desined to become…I’d love to get any feedback on it as well since I’m always looking to improve, so please comment below.

The Pitch:

Good Morning Marketing Wizards and Fairy Godmothers. I’m here to see if a few of you would be willing to share your magic with my company Start Up Princess.com

You know the saying, “I wear many hats?”

Well, I’m a princess so I wear crowns, three of them.

The first crown I wear is as wife, mother of 3 young children. I have a undergraduate degree in Humanities and a graduate degree in Children’s Theatre here at BYU. While I was a grad student in 2005 I had an idea to start a children’s experience retail business called Princess Sweet.

That is when I started to wear my second crown as Founder of Princess Sweet (now called Sweet & Charming). Read more

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