quote Archives - Page 5 of 8

Cool! I Want Product for Free!

June 6, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

Click here to see the entire list of Commonly Asked Craft Show questions.

Click here to see the answer to “Why does your soap cost so much?”

Click here to see the answer to “Cool! How is this made?”

Click here to see the answer to “Cool! Can you teach me to make this?”

Cool! I want product for free for my VERY GOOD CAUSE! Can you donate?

Your answer requires you to be able to articulate your personal philosophy about donations. I’ve got some general skeleton answers for you but they will only work if you’ve figured out what your approach to giving is.

I have a varied approach: at Otion, we say “Yes” to a maximum of 7 events per month for donations of goody baskets. At Bramble Berry, we say “Yes” to most soap gatherings and donate a flat % of net profits every year to nonprofits.

Having a clear understanding of what you are comfortable in giving will help you answer this question.

If saying “Yes“:

“Thanks for asking! We’d love to help out. When would you like to pick up the gift basket? Do you need my logo for any sort of recognition in the programs or signs?”

If saying “Maybe“:

“Thanks for asking. We do get asked a lot and I actually end up having to prioritize our giving because we’re a small company. Can you tell me a little bit more about the opportunity? Do you have a tax exempt number? Will you be able to give me a receipt? How many people will be at this event? Will you be acknowledging donors? If the recognition will be in a program, can you use my logo?”

If saying “No”:

“Thanks for asking. Your XYZ cause sounds amazing and I am so impressed that you are putting time and energy into it. I love donating my time and money when I can but unfortunately, this month I’m tapped out. We get asked a lot and I definitely do as much as I can but I can’t do any more right now.”

Cool! Can You Teach Me to Make This?

May 28, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

Previous Craft Show Questions answers: Why does this stuff cost so much?! click here. Cool! How is this stuff made?! click here

Cool! Can you teach me how to make this stuff?

(big grin)

Gosh, I am so flattered that you think my product is nice enough to actually want to learn from me. Unfortunately, I am totally packed up right now (insert things for your life here) trying to run my small business, be a decent mom and actually do my part time for pay job on the side. But, it’s actually not all that hard to make the product really. I actually taught myself if you can believe it!?

In fact, let me write down this web site for you – here’s a good start for you to start learning – www.teachsoap.com – while it’s not very difficult to make all these goodies you see here, it’s time intensive so it’s good to start researching on your own.

OPTIONAL ADD-ONs if you’re feeling very friendly and helpful

CP: Also, my favorite book for learning to make cold process soap, the kind of soap I make here is “The Soapmaker’s Companion” by Susan Miller Cavitch and “The Everything Soapmaking Book” by Alicia Grosso. Or you can watch the DVD on making cold process soap. It’s called “Learn to Make Cold Process Soap” and you can buy it at brambleberry.com or amazon.com

MP: Also, my favorite book for learning to make melt and pour soap, the kind of soap I make here is “Melt & Mold Soap Crafting” by Kaila Westerman. Or you can watch the DVD on making melt and pour soap. It’s called “Learn to Make Melt and Pour Soap” and you can buy it at brambleberry.com or amazon.com

Liquid Soap: Also, my favorite book for learning to make liquid hand or dish or clothing soap, the kind of soap I make here is “Making Natural Liquid Soaps” by Catherine Failor.

Lotion: Also, my favorite book for learning to make lotions from scratch, like I do here, is “How to Make Lotion.”

End with:(ASK FOR THE SALE!)

Thanks so much for stopping by my booth. Did you want to pick up any of my XYZ? If you buy 3 of them, you get the 4th one free!

Why Use a Custom Photo?

May 17, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

It’s about an extra $750-1000 to get a really great custom photo for your ad or cover of your book. Is that a lot of money? Of course it is! But, when viewed over the lifetime of the project (the total cost of the ad campaign, the number of books printed, the thousands of brochures handed out), it is pennies extra per ad/brochure/book cover.

Why wouldn’t you spend the extra money to ensure you don’t get caught with someone else’s iconic graphics for your project?

Nobody Loves Your Baby…

May 9, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

My friend Bob Pritchett wrote a great book called, “Fire Someone Today.” It’s a must-readfor new businessess. One of my favorite chapters is entitled, “Nobody Loves your Baby Like You Do!”

As any mother can attest, her baby is always the most smart, the cutest, the most athletic and the happiest baby… ever! Luckily for my Mother of course, this really was true in the case of me. As the photo proves, not so much for my brother … (ha ha. I’m kidding. Of course. ELF, as he is affectionately known, was a close second in the looks, athleticism and smarts category.)

Nobody can take care of a baby like its own mother. That’s the way it is with our businesses. You created your business, you stayed up long nights ensuring its health and you worry constantly about the long term future of your business. It’s up to you as the business owner to take care of your business, to design your long term strategy and to stay up long nights worrying about payroll.

Recently, I was at an evening networking event and chatting with three smart, outgoing sales reps. I was impressed that they were at the event on their own time and asked them about it. It turns out that their boss pays for them to go and network for the company. When I quipped, “Well, you better go get some more business cards then,” they hemmed and hawed about why it wasn’t necessary for them to actually do the work that their boss was paying them for.

Instead, they were content to sip their free drinks and have a nice social night on the town – all while being paid by the hour.

No one loves promoting and building your business like you do. There isn’t anyone on this planet that will work harder to ensure that your business is a success and there isn’t anyone who can replace you, the owner, at networking events, at conferences or just at staff meetings.

Yes, you can (and should) delegate. There are too many things for you to do at once. But when you delegate, it is vital that you lay out action plans for success. An action plan for success in the above example might look like clear goals and guidelines before the event (example: meet 10 people and have extended conversations with 3 companies that might use our services). This plan should be followed up with a meeting the next day to go over the expected outcomes from the social networking event. Delegating to the right people and ensuring that they have a plan to be successful goes a long ways towards augmenting the owner’s skills. But, it doesn’t replace you or your need to be the driver of your business.

What does this mean for you and your small business? It means you can never take anything for granted. It means that you’ll consistently appear to be micromanaging your staff. It means that you will not only stay up nights worrying about the company but you will think of strategy, review the week, and plan for the next month on your off-time. It means that the big heavy lifting, the “Where do we go from here? How can we increase our business?” is on your shoulders. No one knows your business the way you do. No one can gut-feel your industry like you do. Nobody can sell your business and your products as well as you do.

As my friend Bobsaid, “Nobody loves your baby like you do.”

But, I Have a Vacation!

April 25, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

One of my girlfriends recently gave her 2 weeks notice to a well-respected company in Seattle. She had been given the opportunity of her career to get a promotion and a 50% raise … in a different company.

Though I am not a saint, I generally am thrilled when any of my staff find greener pastures (granted, sometimes, I smile through gritted teeth as a I frantically try and salvage the situation in my head).

Not so much this boss; having already taken 5 weeks of vacation by April 1st, partially based on the excellent responsible work my friend was doing, all she said upon hearing the news of this fabulous opportunity and promotion was:

“What?! Well, that’s inconvenient! I’m scheduled to be on a three week vacation then!!!“

Mastermind Your Way to Success

April 24, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

I had the honor of speaking to the IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals) yesterday. I spoke about the importance of having a very strong support network. Every successful person has a huge massive support team around them – you may not see them, but they’re there. Not only am I lucky enough to have a fabulous group at Bramble Berry, I also have my Mastermind Group. Here’s a photo my Mastermind Group, comprised of women business owners in Bellingham, Washington.

What is a Mastermind Group? The concept of a Mastermind Group was introduced to the world in a formal manner by Napolean Hill, the author of “Think and Grow Rich” in the 1900’s. He defined the Mastermind Principle as, “”The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony. No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”

My Bellingham Mastermind Group meets once a month. We have homework, book reports and a long update process that involves talking about our business (and personal!) goals and our progress on those goals. We rarely talk about problems but instead focus on getting more success out of our lives.

I felt honored (and humbled) to speak to the group of (mostly) woman professionals about starting their very own support network to help them reach their goals and potential.

From the Get Rich Slowly Blog: “Without goals, you are living reactively, letting life push you around. With goals, you can live a proactive life, steering toward a destination. When you have an end in mind, it’s easier to see when you’ve made a wrong turn. You know where your path is supposed to lead.” And with a Mastermind Group around you, helping you and supporting you down that path, it’s a lot easier to get on and stay on the path to your personal bliss

You are the sum total of the five people you spend the most time with. Do the people you hang out with lift you up? Inspire you to reach your highest potential and urge you to shoot for the stars?

If you’re interested in learning more about this concept, here are some resources that you can draw from to start your own support network.

Mastermind Resources

Books:

Think and Grow Rich

by Napoleon Hill

The Success Principles

by Jack Canfield

Mastermind Group Resources Blog

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Mastermind-Group/

The Masterminding Maven

http://www.makeadifference.com/

(online courses, books, movies)

How to Start a Mastermind Group (in a nutshell):

Decide what the focus of the group will be
Decide the criteria for membership
Look around; find members
Determine a meeting structure & time schedule
Agree on the “spirit” of the meetings (judgment free, proactive)
Decide on a Leader
Start Masterminding your way to success

Permission to Work a 50 Hour Week

April 8, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

Phew, I had a busy day today. I was in Seattle attending two CEO Roundtables. One dealt with “Work Life Balance” (or rather, the myth) and the other discussion centered on “Avoiding Burnout as an Entrepreneur. Both were interesting and insightful. The main take away is an obvious one but something I need frequent reminders on.

Remember on the plane, when the flight attendant reminds you that, in case of an emergency, to strap on your oxygen mask before those of small children around you?

It’s that way with business as well. If the leader of the team doesn’t take care of themselves, it’s impossible for them to take care of others and shepherd the company to a sustainable future.

“Taking Care” can be defined in many ways — everything from working out, meditation time, meeting up with friends, vacations, and not working the weekends — the point of the roundtables turned out to be that it’s important to find something that makes you feel fulfilled and then be relentlessly systematic about actually doing it on a regular basis.

Afterwards, I checked my list of “Energy Expanders” and promptly went out for a jog:

Live to 100?

April 5, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

I just read an insightful post on the Ben Casnocha blog about how to live to 100. It’s actually parsed down from a much longer commencement day speech given by David Mahoney back in 1996. Ben’s Cliffnotes version is a shorter, easier read and stays true to the basics of the speech.

Spiritually Intelligent Leadership

March 25, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

Thank to The Daily Good for this thought-provoking small article on leadership:

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. — Peter F. Drucker

“What makes a great leader? Some say it is the ability to give a clear sense of direction. Some, that it is the ability to make tough decisions. Others, that great leadership is the ability to command and control, or, conversely, to inspire loyalty in those led through strong emotional empathy. I think that great leadership depends primarily on vision–not just any type of vision, but one that we can appreciate intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.” This article outlines the 12 principles of spiritually intelligentleadership.

Where the Money is…

March 16, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

I’ll tell you where the money isn’t – it isn’t being put into the hands of women entrepreneurs. Women own the majority of businesses in America. They own more than half of the 7.7 million firms in America that are responsible for more than $1.1 trillion dollarsin sales every year.Despite owning the majority of businesses in the US, women entpreneurs received only a whopping (ready … wait for it … you’ll be thrilled …) 4.6% of available Venture Capital funding between 1997 and 2004 (Center for Women’s Business Research).

Addding insult to injury, despite owning more than 50% of the businesses in the U.S., a mere 3.4% of federal procurement contracts are awarded to women-owned businesses.

Is it me, or is something wrong with this picture?

Our Napa Valley trip is going swimmingly. We visited the florist yesterday and toured some more churches. The highlight of my day was definitely the visit to the Healdsburg Soap Company. Unfortunately, all of the photos and narrative will have to wait until tomorrow. My laptop has mysteriously decided to quit working. I’ll have an update and photos, complete with cake tasting reviews, tomorrow.

Shop/08 Crave Show Report

March 3, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News, Business Musings

I had the privilege of speaking at the Shop/08 Crave business panel this morning on “Turning your Passion into Profit.” Speaking to a full house (there were even seats on the sides of the room as more women signed up than there was room) was a thrill. Speaking to a group of female entrepreneurs was even better – contagious energy. The video below shows the view from the stage.

Founder Melody Biringer started Crave in 2000 out of a desire to have more quality time with gal pals. Since then, it’s blossumed into 6 major CraveParties per year, StartUpJunkie, Crave Parties, three written books, Shop/08 and founded the Seattle Ladies Who Launch. She is one busy lady!

My fellow panelists were very cool. Larisa has a company called “Dreamclinic.” They specialize in massages – specifically the best massages in Seattle. Having won numerous awards to prove it, Larisa is passionate about providing a massage that gets results. In fact, while she and I were chatting before the panel, a woman came up and raved to Larisa, “Your massage therapists are the only ones in town that get rid of my migraines every time.” That’s some endorsement! Larisa didn’t start out as an entrepreneur. She worked in high tech but was so interested in natural and intiegrative medicine and therapies that she chucked it all and started a massage therapy practice out of a one room rental. That has now turned into a full time job with 16 massage therapists. With her MBA, she is uniquely positioned to turn her passion into a business. You can hear her speak about her positive entrepreneurial experience on the Dr. Pat show here.

Rachel from Real Card Company specializes in invitation – custom invitations to be exact. She also does letterpress (be still my beating heart) cards and wholesales them to vendors across the nation. By far the most interesting-sounding part of her company is designing custom invitations. She told me some amazing stories of custom invitations while chatting before our panel started. The textures, color and overall messaging of the invitation sets the stage for parties, weddings and birthdays even before the event starts. Customers trust Rachel to really “get” the feeling that they want to invoke for their event and Rachel enjoys the challenge of designing the perfect invitation to start that ball rolling. She’s been lucky enough to do this for over 20 years. Her longevity in a business that she is passionate about was an inspiration.

Some of the questions asked of us by the moderator and the audience ranged from:

What did your family think when you started your company? (Horrified but loving and supportive)

Did you have medical and retirement in the early years? (No, and if you want daily stability in your financial life, perhaps entrepreneurship isn’t the best choice for you.)

Do you still get to make soap/do massages/be creative with paper? (Not so much; every minute is filled with daily minutia. But I make soap in my spare time!)

How do you finance a business? (Credit Cards. Probably not wise.)

What’s your best advice? (Continuous learning. Surround yourself with books, magazines and people that augment and fill in massive learning and experience gaps)

Shop/08 for Indepdant Businesses was a very good experience. I was honored to participate in this fun, educational, empowering event.

Best Small Biz Marketing Secrets

February 10, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

What a great post! Thank you to Escape from Cubicle Nation for pointing this valuable resource out.

Of all the advice, I’m drawn to Michael Port’s thoughts on trust:

“All sales start with a simple conversation. It may be a conversation between you and a potential client or customer, between one of your clients and a potential referral, or between one of your colleagues and a potential referral. An effective sales cycle is based on turning these simple conversations into relationships of trust with your potential clients over time. We know that people buy from those they like and trust. But as Sir Winston Churchill once said, ‘It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.’”

Click here to read the rest of SBA’s best tips on marketing for small business.

Inspiring Quote

February 8, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

This quote inspired me this morning. I’m sharing it with you, hoping that it makes you think as well.

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. — Erich Fromm