Hello 2010!

Today represents the first day of posting to Cardinal Rules in 2010. After a short break, I bring to you a continuation of my last post - my initiatives for 2010. Listed below are a few of my goals with limited detail. I am excited (and nervous) about each and the prospective results that will come of them.

1. Buy Local Program - I am exploring the creation of this program for my home city. There does not seem to be one here but it seems that one would do well here. Also, having a business directory like this would support our population much more beyond sourcing needs. I will have this proposal completed in first quarter 2010.

2. New Business Concept - I am developing a new concept for a drop-in child care facility. Again, there are not very many facilities dedicated to this service located in my home city. My parents used this concept when I was young and I thought it was really fun. In the last few years that I have been here, I have encountered many moms who desperately needed this type of service but had to find alternative means to care for their children (including bringing them to work). The closest center to my area of town is 20 minutes away.

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Business Planning Through the Eyes of a Toddler

This week, my 2 year old son received some new puzzles. He loves puzzles but has always just played with the pieces without really concentrating on putting them together. Well, with the new puzzles we worked with him to actually put the pieces together and complete the puzzles. We did not put any pieces together for him, just encouraged him to look at the box and make the patterns fit, or make sure pieces are joining in the right spots. Sometimes, he would get frustrated because he would try to put pieces together, one at a time, yet would have a hard time figuring out what was next. Finally, I saw him put a few pieces together here, a few pieces together there, and ultimately join the sections to create a complete puzzle.

This reminds me of when entrepreneurs attempt to write a business plan or simply start a business.

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October 2009: My Entrepreneurial Journey

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been looking at what to do to increase my income and still harness this drive I have around entrepreneurship. This blog has been very helpful with keeping me motivated to keep it moving (along with having these two babies). I know that I want to develop my business offline - pursuing more paying clients and output. To do that I have:

• attended a couple of business networking meetings as discussed in my blog post The 30 Sec Sell! and have been invited to more
• reached out to my network as suggested in the post Leveraging Your Rolodex... to seek business building opportunities
  
• submitted my first physical ad to run throughout the year in 2010

I am also building my presence online via the following methods:

• updating my website to attract new clients
• continuing to update this blog on a weekly basis, really to help me grow and share information with you as suggested in the post Seth Godin and Tom Peters on Blogging

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Recommendation: August Turak: Business Secrets of the Trappists

Last night, I went to a lecture by August Turak at Duke's Sanford School of Policy. It was co-sponsored by Leadership North Carolina and was so close to home, I had to attend even though I had no idea who August Turak was and was leary of the topic. August Turak is an entrepreneur who spent several years visiting with the monks at Mepkin Abbey in SC. This was such an inspirational speech, I recommend anyone who gets a chance to go hear Turak speak and be transformed! It was based off of Turak's 4 part article series in Forbes magazine, Business Secrets of the Trappists. He was transformed by his experience with them and now spreads the gospel through a business filter. 

My biggest takeaway from this speech was the importance of the "transformation of being" and how going through this process can help you reach your greatest potential. He applied this concept to organizations as well. The greatest way to get to this is by being connected to a community of people who also want to go through this process (and staying away from those who are negative and against it). Attending this session gave me confirmation for a route I'm considering with my new business.

Definitely attend seminars like this to get inspiration for your business. Especially if you live near colleges and universities, they always have free, public lectures given by very prominent speakers. Check out a few of the lecture schedules for business schools in the Triangle:

Duke's Fuqua Distinguished Speaker Series (also has video archives of previous speakers)
NCSU Wachovia Executive Lecture Series
UNC Kenan-Flagler Dean's Speaker Series & Weatherspoon Lecture (also has video archives of previous speakers)

The Right Timing

Many people who have an interest in becoming an entrepreneur continue to put it off in hopes of "the right time." I was one of those people! Just as with marriage, parenthood, and other life-changing events, are we ever really ready to take that step?? I expected to start a business no less than 10 years from now. However at this point, I am in business start-up mode. I figured, this is what I believe to be my passion, why not dedicate my time to it - what do I really have to lose if I don't try?

Inc. Magazine published this motivational article in its October 2005 edition - 75 Reasons to Be Glad You're an American Entrepreneur Right Now. Anyone considering starting a small business at this time should take a good look at this article and realize strong lessons from it.

If any timing is right, now is the time!

True Empowerment

From a post on one of my older blogs:

You may be able to look back at your family history and find someone who owned some sort of business - whether it was a retail store, a barber shop, a daycare, a real estate firm, etc. Better yet, how many people at your job do you know have some side gig or hobby that they are making money from? People who own their own businesses are truly in charge of their fate (versus working for a major corporation) and can make a real difference in their family's future with respect to how much they put into their business. For instance, look at the Waltons - I wonder if Sam truly thought Wal-Mart would get so big and leave such a legacy for his family.

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Dedication to entrepreneurship

About this blog:
Entrepreneurship is a true way to fulfill your passion and generate income for your livelihood. Many people have started businesses and became very successful - Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Sam Walton, Ewing Kauffman. This blog is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship and the ideas/thoughts regarding this subject, particularly its role in local economic development.

Readers of this blog can expect to gain knowledge and resources to build stronger businesses. They can also become a part of a community of like-minded people striving for the same.

 Writer: This blog is written by Yolanda Brown, MBA and owner of YB Consulting. You can find her bio here. She is also the Durham Small Business Examiner for Examiner.com.

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