Featuring:
5 Fatal Errorsto Avoid When Starting a Business
By Holly A. Magister, CPA, CFP®
Entrepreneurship is like running a marathon—It’s a long journey; it hurts a lot when you hit the wall; you’ll eventually find your second wind if you don’t give up too soon and euphoria when you cross the finish line.
I truly believe that marathon runners would make great entrepreneurs. Make no mistake. I don’t run. I am very happy to break a sweat by walking.
Every morning I take a 30 minute walk around my neighborhood and occasionally cross paths with a runner. When I do, I ask myself if I think they are just starting out, hitting the wall, finding their second wind, or about to finish. I judge this by looking at their facial expression.
As I work with entrepreneurs, I see similar stages and facial expressions as well. As the entrepreneur starts out, she has a smile on her face and is full of excitement and enthusiasm. Her friends and family are supportive and always asking “how is the business start up going?”
When she hits the wall, she has a mess to clean up and her friends have stopped asking how it’s going. Her family clearly knows all is not going as planned.
When the benefit of her second wind kicks in, her confidence soars.
And when she is successful implementing her business exit plan and sells her business, you can see her smile and satisfaction from miles away.
I cannot think of a better analogy to the entrepreneur than the marathon runner.
While the ability to maintain the stamina of a marathon runner is essential to the entrepreneur, now I believe is the best time ever to sprint! And this is why…
Read More and Comment...
Just recently, one of my colleagues Bernadette, whom I have known for several decades, called me for help. As I listened intently on the phone, this successful woman entrepreneur shared with me that one of her biggest clients said something to her that was devastating. Before she even began to share her story with me, I could tell by the tone of her voice she was very upset.
She went on to tell me that she had been working for more than three years very closely with a client and his growing business. Bernadette and her company of six professionals provide IT services. She explained to me that because of the client’s explosive growth over the recent couple of years, the challenges and level of service necessary to support this business owner were great. Nonetheless, my friend was always willing to go the extra mile and was very grateful for the business. Likewise, this business owner appreciated and often publically thanked Bernadette for the work that she and her employees did for him.
As my friend explained to me her involvement with this client’s business, I could hear the pride in her voice. In between the tears.
Interruptions are normal for every successful women entrepreneur. In fact, if you are not interrupted several times before you reach for your second cup of coffee each morning, I would bet you may wonder if your email or cell phone service is not working… Yes, I am guilty of expecting to be interrupted and wondering what’s wrong when I am not!
In my work with clients over the past few months, I have noticed a few of them have been dealing with an unusual amount of interruptions and some of these folks have struggled to recognize and properly deal with the different forms of interruptions. In this week’s blog, I am addressing the basics. Do you know the difference between a Distraction a Detour and a Derailer?
Read More...
Over the past few weeks, I have been sharing my thoughts through my blog post about what is needed to survive (and thrive!) in the troubled waters we have all been enduring as women entrepreneurs. I have heard from many of our blog readers that the messages suggesting that they find courage, draw from their resources, eliminate the unnecessary, and look for the humor resonated. Each week, I would hear from you—thank you! What I found striking were the number of readers who found the last blog about finding opportunities to laugh especially meaningful to them.
Just as I was sitting down to draft this blog post, I received an email from a dear friend of mine. His name is George and he is at least as old as my father. He has a Blackberry and more contacts than any person I know. He sent this story to me about a woman named Rose.
I want to share it with you for two reasons: First, I truly believe laughter is the key regardless of how we define and pursue success. And second, this story about a woman named Rose was sent to me from my elderly friend George—they both remind me that we are never too old…
