Getting Your Business Started with UMPH!

Let’s say you are like most entrepreneurs. You have an idea. You think it’s brilliant. Your friends think it’s gonna make you a billionaire, and you are ready to do what you need to, to make this dream a reality. Before you quit your job and run headlong into this new adventure, stop. Get the following in order so you can give yourself a fighting chance.

• Put together a real business plan, wearing the CEO, COO and CFO hats. The plan should outline all the basics surrounding the cost of your operations, for at least one year. This includes, but is not limited to, purchasing office equipment (desk, filing cabinets, bookcases, phones, fax, printer, scanner, PC, cell phone and a laptop + the relevant operational and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software); rent, insurance, internet and phone services, marketing (we’ll cover this in more detail shortly), sales initiatives, gas, tolls, miscellaneous niche consultants, air and other travel expenses, entertaining, cost of producing your goods or delivering your service, admin help, IT person, lawyer, bookkeeper, accountant, and business filing fees, trade and other membership fees, printing and mailing charges.

• Assess the yearly & monthly costs of these. Add 25% – 50%.

• Create a separate marketing plan. Businesses that don’t take into account the cost and the time involved with getting the cash register ringing (read marketing, advertising and the process of selling) are planning to fail. A realistic marketing plan includes the cost of the following: figuring out your geographic footprint (local, regional, national, or global); best target markets – how and where you will engage them; developing a strong brand and the tools, a website and a suite of collateral materials that “speak” to your target market(s) – i.e. a business card, letterhead, brochure, website, oversized postcard(s), print ad, web ad, etc.; attending networking functions, sponsoring a local high school team, taking ads in industry or Chamber journals, sponsorships, internet marketing, direct mail campaigns, PR, attending trade shows and business expos, etc. The team you need to help you accomplish all these tasks should include: admin/sales help, marketing consultant, business consultant, graphic designer, webmaster, printer, and a marketing communications copywriter (SPECIAL NOTE about Copywriting: Getting an “A” in creative writing in college does not qualify you for this job! Being a staff reporter is not the right credential either. See “Making Sales with Authentic Copywriting” for more details).

• It’s a lot of hard work. Forget visions of lying on a beach somewhere in Hawaii. Newbie business owners who succeed live and breathe their business 24/7, and working incredibly long days for years! Fact is no matter how many people you know, creating trust (and generating sales) takes an organized, respectful process & time, lots of it.

• You don’t know everything. Smart entrepreneurs take the time to get educated as to all the hats (and their specific job functions) they have to manage, as well as the functions they need to outsource in the course of getting their business up and running quickly. I’ve interviewed scores of millionaires who admit that they would have made it to that “millionaire mark” sooner had they focused on what they did know how to do, versus leaving it up to chance, or worse, trying to juggle everything themselves long term. The ones that make it BIG all say the same thing — they hired or worked with an assortment of professionals who were specialists in a range of important areas — operations, systems, organization, marketing . . . and a marketing communications copywriter. Bottom line: most business owners who try to do everything over the long haul to “save money” usually end up treading water instead of sailing ahead.

(Special Note about Copywriting: Getting an “A” in creative writing in college does not qualify you for this job! Being a staff reporter is not the right credential either. Marketing copywriting is serious work, and a blend of art & science. See “Making Sales with Great Copywriting” for more details).

Old Habits Die Hard

Greetings!

As you can see it’s been awhile since I’ve added some thoughts here. Blogging was supposed to be a new activity that I would post to on a fairly regular basis … Yeah. Well, I had good intentions … which brings me to my topic.

The fact is, we are creatures of habit and changing a pattern of behavior is much easier said than done. We do lots of stuff by rote, without stopping for a second to think about anything. Take your morning routine, the place you stop in to get your coffee (or tea), and (for the ladies) how you apply your makeup. Putting on makeup, what’s the big deal, you say?? Trust me on this, it was ridiculous how long it took me to reverse my morning regimen once I got a new prescription . . .

My point – changing a rote pattern takes determination and concentration, and moments when we have to literally stop what we are doing and think about what the next step is before we make it. The process of implementing even the most simplest change (like the order of stuff that needs to be done when putting on makeup) is mildly annoying at the least and downright exasperating to the point of chucking the “better” way of doing things …

So – is it any wonder that we balk at changing systems, vendors, operations,or employees that are not cutting the mustard etc., in our businesses??

What a headache, right??

Fact is, change is necessary and for the most part lots of new thought processes, systems, vendors – whatever – can help our businesses run better and make our lives less stressful in the long term.

Once you make a plan of action, cut yourself a break in the implementation process. I intend on posting at least 3 times a week from now on, but that means I have to break my pattern of frittering away time (under the guise of doing research, keeping up-to-date with trends and resources; which I am, in fact, doing for very good reasons.) Realistically though it’s gonna take me about 3 weeks to go from the stop- and-start of breaking old habits, to creating new ones.

Bottom line: In order to accommodate the various new initiatives I’ve put on my 2006 to-do list (like blogging, writing my book, and podcasting) there are going to be a some bumps and glitches along the way, for about 21 days, before things start to go smoothly. If I don’t start now another month will go by and … Well, you get the picture. I’ll still be doing what I always did!

Wishing you the best of luck of on your re-patterning challenges!
Pattie

Kickin’ the New Year off Right!

Okay – so I, like most people, made some resolutions that haven’t quite kicked in yet! Here’s a sneak preview of my Top Ten goals for ‘06, in no particular order:

1. Get organized! (those paperwork piles are history!!)

2. Produce more TeleSeminars with a variety of experts

3. Get on radio and TV – a lot.

4. Write every day

5. Get my first book published

6. Reach out to other experts and develop unique, joint programming for corporate, non-profit and entrepreneurial sectors

7. Get my Business Success articles in more online venues

8. Produce at least 2 Entrepreneurial events at 2 colleges in the Northeast, with more national sponsors

9. Expand my feature writing from regional to national publications

10. Excercise more, and lose 20 pounds

Okay , so let’s face the facts. It’s the 11th and I’ve yet to get up earlier to exercise. My piles are multiplying as I write this, and I have NOT managed to write everyday. I am not abandoning my quest though, so want to share some great strategies that others have shared with me, as well as tips I give to my clients, that I need to implement myself!

First – Since life is so busy and it’s easy to get waylaid, I am gonna print out my Top Ten list and post it right near my computer screen. No way to wriggle out of it, if it’s in my face, right??

Next, I’m going to schedule my time to accommodate the various objectives I’ve set for myself. Now just looking over my list is enough to make anyone want to hyperventilate, but the secret here, according to Ellen Parlapiano, co- author of ” Mompreneurs(R): A Mother’s Step-by-Step Guide to Work-at-Home Success,” is thinking small. At first, I thought that was crazy! I have BIG goals, so that must mean I have to do it all, RIGHT NOW ( can you tell I’m a Type “A”??)

Anyway, it did not take me too long to discover how wise Ellen’s advice was. When you think small, things are not so overwhelming. As a group, these are YEAR LONG goals, and I will be able to accomplish them all ( and keep my sanity), by chipping away at them a little at a time.

I also thought about some feedback I got from a couple of my professional organizer contacts. Their advice will work for you too! All it takes is careful, coordinated planning. As Gayle M. Gruenberg, from Let’s Get Organized says, “live by your calendar, in pencil!” That means blocking out a bit of time here and there, in between my mentoring calls, my meetings, speaking engagements, and other work. The “in pencil” part makes it easier to be flexible, so there’s no excuse for not fitting in what I need to, to suit my own unique plan and ever-evolving schedule.

This is the key for me, cause otherwise the hours fly by and at the end of the day, well, I’m always wonderng what happened!?!?

Would love to hear feedback on how you deal with your time challenges, or any other entrepreneurial issues, as I hope this blog can become a forum that provides easy tips and solutions we can all benefit from!

Wishing you Success,
Pattie
President, Write-Communications
Founder, WomenCentric(TM) LLC

Ringing In the New Year with Gusto!

Greetings Fellow Success Enthusiasts!

From all that I’ve heard and seen at various networking functions, client meetings, training sessions and net spots, it’s been one heck of a year! Despite the wizardry of an increasing amount of “time-saving” techno-gadgets, almost everyone is still breathless at the end of the day…

Kinda ironic, don’t you think?

While I like most of the the “new-fangled” stuff, and begrudglingly admit that many of these widgets serve a purpose – it’s becoming a full-time job to keep up with it all! The lingo, the “Terms of Agreement,” the instruction manuals. . .

My suggestion to all – take a deep breath in 2006.

Get down to the nitty-gritty of what makes your business hum. It’s the people, the relationships, the shared glances of comraderie between peers when some goofball at a gathering acts out of place, the shoulder you offer when a client vents his or her frustration in a phone meeting … these moments are what are important. Your attention to these details are what make you stand apart from the competition.

Not the gadgets.
Not the gizmos.

They can actually hinder you (but that’s fodder for another post!) So – make it a Top Priority for 2006 to sweep away all the clutter, and boil your business down to the essense – start with turning your attention to three things:

-Determine what makes you valuable to your clients
-Haul away the garbage and do what you need to, to improve your performance and hence, your VALUE to your clients and prospects
-Take measured steps to insure that your employees help you achieve your goals

Set some simple, ACHIEVABLE goals within a sensible timeline; like “I’ll read more about what other industries are doing,once a week” or “I’ll get to one new networking thing a month,” or most importantly, “I’ll make the time to refresh, and encourage my employees to do the same.” You’ve heard it all before, but it’s worth repeating: some of my best ideas come to me when I’m NOT at my desk!

Like many, I’ve taken a lot on this past year, and will be doing what I can to trim and refine my initiatives, while balancing more “stuff to do” – like posting to this Blog, interacting with and producing new educational tools with more of my peers, publishing my first book, doing more radio & TV “Success Segments”. YIKES! It DOES sound like a lot, and I will post my progress (and setbacks) in smaller chunks in the New Year.

I’m wishing you all great success in the New Year, with more balance (I will NEVER give up my quest for that!!) and of course, personal and professional growth that helps you drive more business to your door!

Here’s to a Joyous Holiday Season,
Pattie