The Women Entrepreneurs Blog @ Simon

Web tip of the Week - Surround yourself with Excellence

During your first year at Simon you are placed in academically and culturally balanced teams which are rearranged at the beginning of each quarter (Simon uses the quarter, rather than semester system).

The design teaches you to work in a diverse setting but best of all it allows various perspectives to come to the fore so that problems are tackled in a unique manner. These ready-made teams are formed only for core courses; when it comes to electives you must choose your own team.

I’ve found that the best teams are those where persons are better than I am in a complementary area. For example...

Is it crazy to start a business during a recession?

I was asked to write my thoughts on whether or not this would be a good time for an entrepreneur to begin their dream. Actually, I was asked to write this almost 30 days ago, and I am usually not a procrastinator. Most entrepreneurs don't have the luxury of procrastinating, so the fact that I have put this off for an entire month, is telling.

Is this a good time to start a business? Maybe.

To begin to answer this, the budding entrepreneur must read Malcolm Gladwell's newest book, Outliers. This book will convince you that even the idea of starting a business is wrong. His findings claim that if the timing isn't right, no one will ever succeed. Baloney. We all don't have to become Bill Gates to feel and know we are successful. Based on my feelings after reading his book, go ahead, start whatever whenever, and best of luck.

Networking – it may be all it’s cracked up to be

When I got to Simon, one of the first things they told us at orientation was that networking was essential. To be honest, I didn’t get this whole networking thing and it seemed pretty fake. I felt like someone was telling me go pretend to be interested in this person because he or she could get my foot in the door at a particular company or introduce me to someone who could help me fulfill my career goals. For someone who may possibly be as see-through as shrink wrap when it comes to faking, pretending to be interested in someone just for the sake of making a connection was definitely a bad idea.

However after spending a whole year at Simon I’ve come to have a different perspective of networking.

Simple Solutions inTechnology: The Tools You Need

My friend, John DiPietro, who is all about success, sent me a link today to a webinar he was having with Solopreneur coach, Donna Amos.

The topic of the webinar was public speaking, which is a talent we should all hone as we build our businesses. But, I clicked into Donna's blog and found a wealth of great information I thought I would share here.

Mark Ain Business Plan Competition: Simon Graduate School of Business

It’s the beginning of a new and exciting quarter at Simon! In a few days we will host the first of three entrepreneurship workshops designed to offer participants tips on writing successful business plans.

The workshops are part of our annual Mark Ain Business Model Competition and Workshop Series which will culminate in the Mark Ain Business model competition held during the Spring quarter of this academic year. At that time, five finalist teams will compete for a chance to win $10,000. For a look at last year’s finals you can visit the following link. (scroll to the bottom of the page)

This competition and workshop series is particularly exciting for me because I remember sitting down during the summer of last year to plan the event. In fact, prior to planning, I remember meeting with the staff at the Center for Entrepreneurship and reviewing the past year’s competition and workshops to determine where we could improve. This year we have significantly stepped up our game by broadening the number of presenters and developing a more efficient method for judging and delivering feedback.

Web Tip of the Week: Women Mean Business

How will women change the web? How will women change work? How will women demonstrate how to adapt to a world of flexibility?

In this video, we hear the answers to these issues, including thoughts about how young women fit into the emerging world of entrepreneurship, and how men figure into the picture. The book they are talking about is Why Women Mean Business: Understanding the Emergence of our Next Economic Revolution by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland. 

Can you see yourself in this new world - where women are recognized for their talent and their integrity? As the world changes, as more women build businesses in an uncertain economy, we will see great successes, and we will see small successes.

You are the only one who can choose which you want to be. Remember: sometimes small is just the right size. We don't all need to be 'big'. This week's tip is to read this book and choose wisely.

Let’s Start the Year with Positive Thoughts!

Happy 2009!  Let’s start this year with positive thoughts.  I am afraid that the 24 – 7 news access sets us up for looking at a glass that is half full. 

Yes, there are problems in the financial markets and we have all had to cut back, but is that a bad thing? We are a country that is used to the light switch always working, the water always running and store shelves always stocked. I remember as a child going to the grocery store with my dad and there were 10 brands of cereal, 5 brands of coffee, and 5 choices of bread!  

So, why am I going down this road? I feel we should focus on the positive in our lives and businesses!  We are fortunate to live in a country and community where we can make choices. So, our choices are to put our heads in the sand and focus on the negative or to focus on the positive.

New Year Predictions

2008 has certainly been an eventful year with historic presidential campaigns as well as a financial crisis which saw the disappearance of several large financial institutions. We can certainly expect that 2009 will be a difficult year for companies as they try to survive in the aftermath of the wounded financial system. There will be more layoffs as companies seek to restructure after the holiday season and we can certainly expect further dampening in the retail sector. That being said, there are a few other occurrences I expect to see during the next year:

Web tip of the Week - Be an effective communicator

When the economy began to tumble and into late fall at the beginning of winter, a number of my employees began asking supervisory personnel how our company was doing in this recession?

After the second employee asked me, I decided to communicate with our management and let them know. After all, they had a right to know if their positions were in jeopardy or if our company was doing okay during this economic downturn.

The degree to which you want to share internal P and L results with employees is up to you. It is helpful for morale and workplace stability to let your staff know when "belt tightening" is in order to save jobs or that despite the economic storm, you are doing okay. It is not okay to say nothing during the severe economic turbulence we are currently experiencing. As major retailers are filing bankruptcy, your employees will no doubt wonder about the financial health of the company they work for.

Good honest communication can go a long way towards ensuring a stable work force and productivity.

It's going to be a tough year. Advice to help entrepreneurs survive.

Dealing with an uncertain economy is never easy, especially for small businesses. Unlike their larger counterparts, small businesses rarely have the resources to monitor and take corrective action for every trend and issue. And even those owners who have weathered numerous business cycles may be faced with new circumstances that confound their otherwise successful instincts and knowledge.

While there is no crystal ball that accurately predicts the future, small business owners can take a number of steps that will help their enterprise endure the worst of times, and position them for success when conditions inevitably improve. For instance: