24 days and counting until Christmas, to help you with your holiday gift list, is Real Simple Magazine's fashion editor, Julee Wilson. She has with her 15 gifts under 50-dollars.
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More than just the gift, it's the thought that counts, right? With us this morning to show us gifts with that extra thought behind them is holiday gift expert Dianne Dewitt.
Women are launching businesses at twice the rate of men, yet only three percent of those enterprises are million-dollar companies.
With us this morning with some advice is Susan Wilson Solovic, author of "The Girls' Guide to Building a Million Dollar Business."
Why is entrepreneurship so popular with women?
The motivation for most women is to 'be their own boss' or have more control of their own destiny. Also, often entrepreneurship offers opportunity for a better work-life balance. Of course, the economic rewards are also a prime factor, but in most cases---I found it almost always about more than just the money. The most successful enterprises tap into a passion or interest of the entrepreneur-for example- I've brought along some products produced by some of the women's enterprises featured in my new book, The Girl's Guide to Launching a Million Dollar Business. All of these are great products and represent very successful businesses that have broken the million dollar barrier-but also represent much more than the economic impact-these products represent their passion. For example, this pet carrier is a top seller for Sherpa's Pet Trading Company-but it is much more than a great product. Gail Martz had little more than her beloved dog, Sherpa, when she launched her business start-up. But drawing on her previous career as a flight attendant and a $5,000 dollar loan from her mother, she built not only a successful bag business---but also has helped many pets because she was successful in changing the policies concerning pet travel with all the major airlines. Her activism helped raise awareness about her company and she has helped both animals and their owners gain greater access to safe travel and also wider acceptance in public settings. These products from Dancing Deer Bakery are much more than tasty treats. Tough times threatened the bakery Trish Karter founded; but she held true to values that are part of her company culture: environmentalism, purity in food and a positive working environment. A major national retailer asked Dancing Deer to supply cookies to the entire chain, but Karter declined because the retailer required a four-month shelf life and Dancing Deer uses perishable, all natural ingredients. The retail buyer was so impressed with Karter's values, they found a way to sell all natural cookie mixes instead. Dancing Deer has many programs to help the community---35% of the retail price of their Sweet Home line go to the One Family Scholars Program. And this Candy Bouquet arrangement represents not only one of the world's fastest growing franchises with stores in all 50 states and 30 countries after just ten years- it represents the story of an entrepreneur who refused to give up. Launched in the garage of her home, Margaret McEntire faced set-backs and is now helping entrepreneurs around the world find success with her winning recipe for a growing business.
What tips do you have for something thinking of starting their own business? It starts with some research. First take a good look at your skills and strong points. What are you so wonderful at that people have always complimented you for it and you love doing it? The bottom line is that if you are not great at it and you do not love it, why would you open a particular type of business? You do know you will be working very hard and sacrificing a great deal for your business, so you might as well be passionate about it. But be realistic and do your homework. What does the market look like for your product or service? Is someone already offering the same product or service? Are people willing to pay a price that makes it a strong business model? If you have gotten to step three, start slowly. You don't want to over extend yourself and find out that you can't deliver. You'll be out of business before you get going. Many successful enterprises start as part-time businesses. And even though it's a part time business for you, you want to make sure your customers know it has your full attention. So look professional and run your new part-time enterprise like a full time business. Set up a separate checking and record keeping system-and get a website! And speaking of websites, www.sbtv.com is a great resource for start-up businesses. There are all kinds of streaming video segments and articles all aimed at launching a business or expanding the existing business. Another great site is www.score.org both sites are free and have links to many other helpful sites.
Are there any programs to help women get started in business?
There are quite a few that you will find on www.sbtv.com I mentioned . One of them is Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence, a national not-for-profit provider of micro loans and business education for women entrepreneurs. Count Me In provides micro loans from $500 to $10,000 to women who are starting or growing their businesses. Count Me In launched its Make Mine a Million $ Business program in 2005 and they are working to help more women's enterprises break the million dollar barrier. In my book there are quite a few women organizations that are great for women in business.
The teens are loving it this holiday season. With us this morning to show us some of the hottest video games and games that carry with them a red flag for parents is the editor in chief of gamedaily.com, Libe Goad.
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