Owners Annette Pratt (pictured) and Linda Spyke of The Flour Uprising, turned their love of baking into a business that specializes in healthy baked goods.
Maria Shriver (pictured) talks about a lending partnership that is intended to pool money and resources to help women across the nation who need financial backing for their businesses.“We live in a different world today than we did 20 years ago,” she said. “More and more people are leaving corporate America to start their own business that will allow for them to raise a child or care for an elderly parent.”
Kelly Watson for Forbes writes a wonderful article:
Interesting concept taking place in the UK for women who operate businesses in rural parts of the country.
Women-owned businesses are still small compared with businesses owned by men. Why and what needs to be done?
Hello world. Well my goodness me-oh-my, look at this fantastic new idea. It's a blog for and about women who own businesses (gee, think there's more than one out there already on the Internet?). And this brilliant idea is the brainchild of ... drum roll please ... The New York Times.
First impression: "She's an entrepreneur."
I can't believe I've been sitting on this since January -- goes to show you how buried I am in work (productive work)!In reality, women represent a much smaller portion of leadership roles in business.When you run your own show, you are the leader in business. Am I missing something?
In a new twist, diaper giant Kimberly-Clark is set to launch a program that provides grant funding to Mom entrepreneurs. The goal is to tap both moms for new ideas and ensure goodwill among them all.Under the program, K-C is awarding grants, up to $15,000 for a total first-year total contribution of $250,000. The former amount is an average sum compiled from talking to different women and learning their startup monetary needs, said Stephen Paljieg, senior director of growth and innovation.Learn more here and submit your brilliant idea here.
Why Jeff Brown? You probably don't know him but when you read this post you'll understand why I decided to feature his work.Lots of people think about leaving the mother ship and striking out on their own. Many never do, and spend their lives wondering what might have happened if they had. Some do, and fail. Others think jumping ship was the best thing they ever did. I'm in that group.What does it take? After three years of full-time freelancing - or, as I prefer to think of it, running my own business (with a profit margin putting all newspapers to shame) - I think there are three key issues: psychological, financial and professional.
Resonate with you? Then read on here. This is thoughtful piece. When it comes to jumping ship or escaping from corporate America, you can tell he's lived it, breathed it, survived it and is now on to the thriving part of his life.
Best wishes to Jeff for continued success!
Considered the best little self-serve frozen yogurt ever, Tempe-Arizona based Yogurtini offers up to 16 rotating healthy and fat-free frozen yogurt flavors and over 65 toppings."I am ecstatic to announce our frozen yogurt franchise offering," said Natasha Nelson, co-founder and President of Yogurtini(TM). "Along with amazing frozen yogurt, I believe we have created a fun and exciting experience, and that is why our customers come back day after day. ~ Press release hereBackstory here:
In 2007, Natasha and Chelsey Nelson were living in California and in the early stages of planning a self-serve frozen yogurt shop. But, then the phone rang and they learned their 56-year-old mother had just been diagnosed with a rare form of Parkinson's disease, a degenerative and terminal illness."When it hit us, it hit hard, but we already had one foot in the business," said Natasha Nelson. "We knew we had a great idea and our mom was our biggest supporter, but could we all emotionally handle it?" The sisters moved back to Tempe, Ariz., to join their dad in taking care of their mother, and that's when they decided the answer was: "Yes."
"But there were a lot of times we wanted to back out. We were even tossing a coin, at one point," Nelson said.
Be inspired. Read more about their success here.
Photo credit: FoxSmallBusinessCenter.com, (L-R) Chelsey and Natasha Nelson of Yogurtini
A very special ladies bike shop opens in New York. Graphic designer Julie Hirschfeld had a simple idea for Adeline Adeline: "No spandex!" In other words, no Lycra bike shorts just because you are on two wheels!Adeline Adeline founder, Julie Hirschfeld started her career far away from bikes, first as a graphic designer for the television channel, VH1, and then as partner in the New York design firm, Stiletto NYC, where she worked on fashion branding and motion graphics projects with such diverse clients as New York Magazine, Conde Nast, MTV and Nike.The store sells bikes (e.g., the Poppy shown above can be found in their Tribeca store) and other beautiful things such as polka-dot helmets and an oversize organic linen bag from Japan that crosses over the chest for easy riding.
I opened my business in 1985 and then realized early on that to do a really good job running it, I needed a higher level of education (process is everything). So into about year two, I began an M.B.A. program at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.According to the U.S. Department of Education, women received 44% of M.B.A.s in 2007, up from 39% a decade earlier, which translates to a 75% increase in the last 10 years.Why?
It's the flexibility of the degree that's appealing, says Deirdre Leopold, managing director of Harvard M.B.A. Admissions. "Women are using it not only for finance but also to work in nonprofits or open their own businesses."You can O.Y.O.B. (open your own business) and then get an M.B.A. I'm living proof!
Apparently, and according to a good number of people, give bad advice.
Through your website, are you serving your own interests or your customer's?1. Keep content current, accurate and relevant.Read the entire article here.
2. Express yourself but don’t give your life story on your Web site.
3. Spruce up your Web site so it looks beautiful and works beautifully, too.
4. See that every Web site page has a unique keyword message.
5. Focus on the needs of your visitors first, even if it’s before meeting the needs of your own organization.
6. Care about your customer in a way that is evident on your site!
7. Start a blog to share knowledge and reflect your personality.
8. Cater to a global audience.
9. Make your “contact” area so BIG that it hits visitors on the head like a hammer on a nail.
10. Breed visitor participation.
Here's one of the world's longest running pieces about stay-at-home moms returning to work but there is one remark (you have to look carefully) touching on what this blog covers ... starting your own business:If you do look at the costs against your project income alone, you may have a couple of break even years at the beginning, but those are an investment for the profitable years to come. Over time, your income will grow, either through raises and promotions, you do consulting work and then take a conventional full time job with one of your clients, or make money through an entrepreneurial venture.Nice to see that someone thought of this idea in the course of a rigorous discussion about one woman's career revival and that it is a serious option for talented women who don't think it's worth returning to work as it was but rather as they want it to be for their new lifestyle.
During these tough economic times, there are no better mentors than your peers. And one of my favorite global peer-to-peer advisory groups is the Women Presidents' Organization (full disclosure: I serve as the Chapter Chair for the WPO Chicago market).
Ever hear of the expression, "no excuses, just results?" Let's put it into play. SCORE has assembled a comprehensive list of useful websites to help women entrepreneurs succeed.Discover the other 37 here.Alliance of Business Women International
ABWI is a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 to encourage and support businesswomen involved or interested in international trade opportunities.American Business Women’s Association
ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for personal and professional growth through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO)
Association of Women's Business Centers (AWBC)
AEO provide entrepreneurs with training and technical assistance, micro-loans, access to market services and training, and/or economic literacy and asset development services.
The AWBC supports entrepreneurship among women as a way to achieve economic self-sufficiency, create wealth and participate in economic development through education, training, mentoring, business development and financing opportunities.
Athena Foundation
The Athena Foundation pairs woman-owned businesses with a group of local mentors who serve as a panel of advisors. Advisors work with business owners for one year, free of charge.
Although the following reference is posted at the Swazi Observer, there may be some truth to it as it relates to women business owners in America.A study on what holds back women revealed that there is a false perception that banks have closed financing taps for small firms. In contrast, banks have come out to state that they see women as a really good credit risk, because very often they are starting businesses for survival and are careful about how they manage their finances.A comment that was made anonymously to Mthunzi Maziya, the author of the post, said this:
“I think some women are simply not ambitious enough and don’t want to sacrifice family and children for financial independence. No wonder we are financially worse off than men.”Read it and see if you agree or disagree. And if you feel strongly about it one way or the other, let us know! Find the entire post here.
As busy as we are running our companies, we still have to set aside time for our personal lives to ensure we nurture and cultivate the relationships that matter. But let me ask you this: Do you set aside time from your business to innovate?Turn off your smart phone. Shut down your e-mail (or at least turn off the ping noise that sounds when you get a message). Put on something comfy. Squirrel yourself away with your laptop in tow where nobody, I mean nobody, can disturb you, because this is your time to make a date to innovate. This is my fourth installment on innovation.Read the entire article: Make a Date to Innovate
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