Hello 2010!
Today represents the first day of posting to Cardinal Rules in 2010. After a short break, I bring to you a continuation of my last post – my initiatives for 2010. Listed below are a few of my goals with limited detail. I am excited (and nervous) about each and the prospective results that will come of them.
1. Buy Local Program – I am exploring the creation of this program for my home city. There does not seem to be one here but it seems that one would do well here. Also, having a business directory like this would support our population much more beyond sourcing needs. I will have this proposal completed in first quarter 2010.
2. New Business Concept – I am developing a new concept for a drop-in child care facility. Again, there are not very many facilities dedicated to this service located in my home city. My parents used this concept when I was young and I thought it was really fun. In the last few years that I have been here, I have encountered many moms who desperately needed this type of service but had to find alternative means to care for their children (including bringing them to work). The closest center to my area of town is 20 minutes away.
I am very excited and committed to the drop-in child care center concept – it is finally my opportunity to utilize the learnings and advice I have provided for the last several years. I have such high hopes for the concept, I believe it is the beginning of the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for my family.
3. Grow as an Entrepreneurship Expert – I have assessed my activities of 2009 and realized lessons learned to take into 2010. I commit to do more networking, consistent blog posting, and promotion of my expertise in additional venues. For instance, I have been accepted as the Durham Small Business Examiner on Examiner.com – a great, paying opportunity. If you have an area of expertise and would like to apply to write for this news source, please go to http://www.examiner.com/refer and use my name Yolanda Brown and Examiner ID #34800 as your referral source.
4. Employment Opportunities – I have loved delving myself into everything entrepreneurship over the last several months. For personal reasons though, I have to seek an employment opportunity ASAP. Opportunities I am seeking would continue my experience in working with small businesses and/or provide an intrapreneurial experience like a program management role. If you know of anything, please contact me. View my LinkedIn profile for more details.
As I stated before, let me know what you think about the goals above. What is one of your goals for 2010?
Business Planning Through the Eyes of a Toddler
This week, my 2 year old son received some new puzzles. He loves puzzles but has always just played with the pieces without really concentrating on putting them together. Well, with the new puzzles we worked with him to actually put the pieces together and complete the puzzles. We did not put any pieces together for him, just encouraged him to look at the box and make the patterns fit, or make sure pieces are joining in the right spots. Sometimes, he would get frustrated because he would try to put pieces together, one at a time, yet would have a hard time figuring out what was next. Finally, I saw him put a few pieces together here, a few pieces together there, and ultimately join the sections to create a complete puzzle.
This reminds me of when entrepreneurs attempt to write a business plan or simply start a business.
There are several puzzles out there suggesting how to put a business plan together. People try to follow the pieces step by step and get so frustrated and overwhelmed when they get stuck with a problem. Really, they can put together a section here, then another section there and ultimately, it will all come together. In the same way, just because you have not completed a business plan, does not mean you have to wait to open your doors. Pursue business in the way you know with the resources you have access to while putting together a plan for the next few years of business.
Like I told my 2 year old:
- Just be patient
- Look at the patterns to discover what fits
- Try different pieces to see if they fit together; if they don’t, put a piece down and try another
- Put the pieces together that fit and do not be ashamed to do this a section at a time
- Join the sections together to complete your puzzle/business/product/service
October 2009: My Entrepreneurial Journey
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been looking at what to do to increase my income and still harness this drive I have around entrepreneurship. This blog has been very helpful with keeping me motivated to keep it moving (along with having these two babies). I know that I want to develop my business offline – pursuing more paying clients and output. To do that I have:
- attended a couple of business networking meetings as discussed in my blog post The 30 Sec Sell! and have been invited to more
- reached out to my network as suggested in the post Leveraging Your Rolodex… to seek business building opportunities
- submitted my first physical ad to run throughout the year in 2010
I am also building my presence online via the following methods:
- updating my website to attract new clients
- continuing to update this blog on a weekly basis, really to help me grow and share information with you as suggested in the post Seth Godin and Tom Peters on Blogging
- placing my blog in multiple directories so that others interested in entrepreneurship will have an easy way to find me
- joined The Millionaire Journey, a group of like-minded people also seeking to grow their income via multiple methods. It has been good to be connected as suggested in the post Create Your Own Community… fortunately, I did not have to create this one (but I’m working on that)
- created a Facebook fan page for YB Consulting to share with those I know
What I plan to do over the next couple of months are the following:
- Identify a couple of mentors that are considered “entrepreneur experts” and learn about what they do with that energy
- Find a networking group to join that I enjoy and will attend consistently
- Promote myself with organizations and people I could potentially partner with to optimally serve entrepreneurs as suggested in the post Partnering for Success
- Identify speaking opportunities in the area to share what I know and market my expertise
- Increase weekly blog posts including posts related to current, relevant news regarding entrepreneur and small business matters
- Create a few online forums to share information with and connect related individuals
- Create electronic products to share information online and develop another revenue stream. The first product I will do is an ebook based off the presentation below that I created for NSBE Alumni RTP a few years ago:
So as you see, I have a busy couple of months ahead of me. None of this includes Cardinal Business Strategies, Inc, the latest business I have founded. Every year, I get contacted by MBA students looking for internships with YB Consulting. I would LOVE to take on interns next year because of having sooo much work to do…
Not only am I providing information about entrepreneurship, I AM an entrepreneur and loving every minute of it!
Has this blog given you relevant information and inspiration for your business? What do you plan to do over the next couple of months to build business, particularly related to connecting to others? Please leave your comments.
Recommendation: August Turak: Business Secrets of the Trappists
Last night, I went to a lecture by August Turak at Duke’s Sanford School of Policy. It was co-sponsored by Leadership North Carolina and was so close to home, I had to attend even though I had no idea who August Turak was and was leary of the topic. August Turak is an entrepreneur who spent several years visiting with the monks at Mepkin Abbey in SC. This was such an inspirational speech, I recommend anyone who gets a chance to go hear Turak speak and be transformed! It was based off of Turak’s 4 part article series in Forbes magazine, Business Secrets of the Trappists. He was transformed by his experience with them and now spreads the gospel through a business filter.
My biggest takeaway from this speech was the importance of the “transformation of being” and how going through this process can help you reach your greatest potential. He applied this concept to organizations as well. The greatest way to get to this is by being connected to a community of people who also want to go through this process (and staying away from those who are negative and against it). Attending this session gave me confirmation for a route I’m considering with my new business.
Definitely attend seminars like this to get inspiration for your business. Especially if you live near colleges and universities, they always have free, public lectures given by very prominent speakers. Check out a few of the lecture schedules for business schools in the Triangle:
Duke’s Fuqua Distinguished Speaker Series (also has video archives of previous speakers)
NCSU Wachovia Executive Lecture Series
UNC Kenan-Flagler Dean’s Speaker Series & Weatherspoon Lecture (also has video archives of previous speakers)
The Right Timing
Many people who have an interest in becoming an entrepreneur continue to put it off in hopes of “the right time.” I was one of those people! Just as with marriage, parenthood, and other life-changing events, are we ever really ready to take that step?? I expected to start a business no less than 10 years from now. However at this point, I am in business start-up mode. I figured, this is what I believe to be my passion, why not dedicate my time to it – what do I really have to lose if I don’t try?
Inc. Magazine published this motivational article in its October 2005 edition – 75 Reasons to Be Glad You’re an American Entrepreneur Right Now. Anyone considering starting a small business at this time should take a good look at this article and realize strong lessons from it.
If any timing is right, now is the time!
