Post by webrunner on Jul 9, 2009 7:13:50 GMT -7
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Profit Is not a Dirty Word
Eve Gumpel
WomenEntrepreneur.com
Ask women why they want to start a business and they'll give you a variety of reasons, says author, speaker, entrepreneur and small-business journalist Susan Solovic. Those reasons range from work-life balance and creative control to the simple affirmation, "I hate my boss."
According to Solovic, all of those answers miss the point.
"If you're not going into business to make money," Solovic says, "go volunteer. Because you're going to work longer and harder than you have ever worked in your life, so you darn well ought to get paid for it."
Solovic was a keynote speaker at the Institute for Women Entrepreneurs' first-ever Women's Summit in Anaheim, Calif., an all-day meeting that attracted more than 400 women. She was also a recipient of the IWE's Entrepreneurs Award of Distinction, presented at the luncheon. The IWE offers no-cost advice to women entrepreneurs in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Women who make money risk being characterized as either villain or vixen, Solovic says. No wonder they're afraid to acknowledge the desire for dollars. "But making money is a good thing," Solovic affirms. "It's not just about expanding my shoe wardrobe." Profitable businesses can pay sustainable wages, give back to the community, use money to impact social change and give jobs to families, she says.
When you make money, Solovic says, you have choices.
"The bigger you get, the more manageable it gets. You can go on vacation. You can take a sick day. It's amazing the difference that it makes."
Solovic says she has hired top-level talent with salaries to match. "But they're bright, smart and high-energy. You need these people."
Solovic should know. She is CEO and chairman of the multimillion-dollar SBTV.com, a free online network streaming news programs and educational information for small-business owners. Her career has taken her from television news anchor and reporter for NBC and CBS affiliates to the executive ranks of a Fortune 100 company. During her executive career, she graduated with honors from St. Louis University School of Law. She's also the author of The Girls' Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business.
And yet, when she entered the seventh grade, Solovic's low test scores from the previous year prompted the school principal to place her in class with mentally challenged students.
Undaunted, Solovic became an entrepreneur at the age of 15, teaching as many as 75 elementary-school girls how to twirl a baton at $1 each per Saturday morning lesson. That, says Solovic, is when she learned that "volume in business is key."
Fast forward to 2004. No electronic media were focusing on small business. Solovic, who'd tried to cover such stories as a reporter for NBC, CBS and PBS, knew there was a market need. Unable to afford the millions a cable station would cost to build, she founded her TV show on the internet. "In two years, it was a multimillion-dollar business. I knew if I could do it, anyone could do it."
In discussing the framework for success as an entrepreneur, Solovic clearly differentiates between creating a job for yourself or creating a business. "When you have created a job for yourself, if you stop doing what you're doing, the job stops, too," she said. "A business can go on without you."
Solovic's Keys to Success
Solovic's keys to creating a successful business, something that can go on without the founder, lie in the questions a newsperson is trained to ask: what, who, when where, how and why (Why, as already stated, is to make money.)
What is my business? "So many people try to be everything to everybody," Solovic says. Stick to one core strategy and focus, she advises. Say yes to one thing and no to something else.
And think big. "Do you know why most businesses fail or flounder?" Solovic asked. "Because they're not thinking big enough. You have to be willing to say, 'I am going to be the next Martha Stewart.'
"If you can't say it, no one else will buy into it."
Who am I? Solovic says we're all a reflection of what others tell us. "You hear it, absorb it, believe it--become it." It takes a lot of confidence to overcome that tendency, she says.
When and where? You don't have to invent something, Solovic says, but you have to define what's in the market and devise something better. You've lost the battle if you find yourself competing on price, she adds. "Don't undervalue yourself or your product. You've got to be willing to ask for what you're worth."
How? Don't fall for the myth that if you have passion, you can't help but succeed, Solovic warns. "Passion doesn't make payroll," she says. The secret is having a process, so you can deliver consistent results and enjoy smooth employee transitions.
Key to that is what Solovic calls a "business book," in which every employee documents every step of what he or she does. Solovic says she didn't have a business book on Oct. 24, 2006. She was at a speaking engagement in New York City when her business partner, Michael Kelley, called to tell her he was going into surgery for stage 3 melanoma. "I nearly lost the company because Michael had the keys to the kingdom in his head," she says. Both Kelley and the company survived the ordeal, with valuable lessons learned. "Knowing you could always have an Oct. 24, 2006, helps you build a business that has a legacy."
"Then," Solovic says, "you can be passionate."
www.foxbusiness.com/story/personal-finance/women-in-business/profit-dirty-word/
Profit Is not a Dirty Word
Eve Gumpel
WomenEntrepreneur.com
Ask women why they want to start a business and they'll give you a variety of reasons, says author, speaker, entrepreneur and small-business journalist Susan Solovic. Those reasons range from work-life balance and creative control to the simple affirmation, "I hate my boss."
According to Solovic, all of those answers miss the point.
"If you're not going into business to make money," Solovic says, "go volunteer. Because you're going to work longer and harder than you have ever worked in your life, so you darn well ought to get paid for it."
Solovic was a keynote speaker at the Institute for Women Entrepreneurs' first-ever Women's Summit in Anaheim, Calif., an all-day meeting that attracted more than 400 women. She was also a recipient of the IWE's Entrepreneurs Award of Distinction, presented at the luncheon. The IWE offers no-cost advice to women entrepreneurs in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Women who make money risk being characterized as either villain or vixen, Solovic says. No wonder they're afraid to acknowledge the desire for dollars. "But making money is a good thing," Solovic affirms. "It's not just about expanding my shoe wardrobe." Profitable businesses can pay sustainable wages, give back to the community, use money to impact social change and give jobs to families, she says.
When you make money, Solovic says, you have choices.
"The bigger you get, the more manageable it gets. You can go on vacation. You can take a sick day. It's amazing the difference that it makes."
Solovic says she has hired top-level talent with salaries to match. "But they're bright, smart and high-energy. You need these people."
Solovic should know. She is CEO and chairman of the multimillion-dollar SBTV.com, a free online network streaming news programs and educational information for small-business owners. Her career has taken her from television news anchor and reporter for NBC and CBS affiliates to the executive ranks of a Fortune 100 company. During her executive career, she graduated with honors from St. Louis University School of Law. She's also the author of The Girls' Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business.
And yet, when she entered the seventh grade, Solovic's low test scores from the previous year prompted the school principal to place her in class with mentally challenged students.
Undaunted, Solovic became an entrepreneur at the age of 15, teaching as many as 75 elementary-school girls how to twirl a baton at $1 each per Saturday morning lesson. That, says Solovic, is when she learned that "volume in business is key."
Fast forward to 2004. No electronic media were focusing on small business. Solovic, who'd tried to cover such stories as a reporter for NBC, CBS and PBS, knew there was a market need. Unable to afford the millions a cable station would cost to build, she founded her TV show on the internet. "In two years, it was a multimillion-dollar business. I knew if I could do it, anyone could do it."
In discussing the framework for success as an entrepreneur, Solovic clearly differentiates between creating a job for yourself or creating a business. "When you have created a job for yourself, if you stop doing what you're doing, the job stops, too," she said. "A business can go on without you."
Solovic's Keys to Success
Solovic's keys to creating a successful business, something that can go on without the founder, lie in the questions a newsperson is trained to ask: what, who, when where, how and why (Why, as already stated, is to make money.)
What is my business? "So many people try to be everything to everybody," Solovic says. Stick to one core strategy and focus, she advises. Say yes to one thing and no to something else.
And think big. "Do you know why most businesses fail or flounder?" Solovic asked. "Because they're not thinking big enough. You have to be willing to say, 'I am going to be the next Martha Stewart.'
"If you can't say it, no one else will buy into it."
Who am I? Solovic says we're all a reflection of what others tell us. "You hear it, absorb it, believe it--become it." It takes a lot of confidence to overcome that tendency, she says.
When and where? You don't have to invent something, Solovic says, but you have to define what's in the market and devise something better. You've lost the battle if you find yourself competing on price, she adds. "Don't undervalue yourself or your product. You've got to be willing to ask for what you're worth."
How? Don't fall for the myth that if you have passion, you can't help but succeed, Solovic warns. "Passion doesn't make payroll," she says. The secret is having a process, so you can deliver consistent results and enjoy smooth employee transitions.
Key to that is what Solovic calls a "business book," in which every employee documents every step of what he or she does. Solovic says she didn't have a business book on Oct. 24, 2006. She was at a speaking engagement in New York City when her business partner, Michael Kelley, called to tell her he was going into surgery for stage 3 melanoma. "I nearly lost the company because Michael had the keys to the kingdom in his head," she says. Both Kelley and the company survived the ordeal, with valuable lessons learned. "Knowing you could always have an Oct. 24, 2006, helps you build a business that has a legacy."
"Then," Solovic says, "you can be passionate."
www.foxbusiness.com/story/personal-finance/women-in-business/profit-dirty-word/