When Partners Depart

Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker and Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network".

I saw the latest blockbuster The Social Network this week and was thoroughly entertained from start to finish. Regardless of the accuracy of the portrayal of Facebook's origins, there were lessons to be learned for any entrepreneur looking to make a buck with anyone else - friend or foe.  Fact is: Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin were business partners that severed their relationship and it wasn't amicable. Ultimately, lawyers had to become involved and Mark Zuckerberg settled. This can be the most expensive route to resolve a business dispute yet tends to be a route taken time and time again.

When considering entering into a business relationship, we must diligently look for the risks. There are always risks in conducting business (side note: please make sure you note them in your business plan) so it is best to think of risky scenarios and plan ways to mitigate them. 

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Business Profile: Kimora Lee Simmons

I had to highlight Kimora Lee Simmons, President and Creative Director of Phat Fashions, because she is a member of my generation, a Mom Mogul, and from St. Louis! Since I'm just putting my Mom Mogul boots on, it's important for me to see that there are people who are doing it quite successfully. Her industry and way of life is different from mine but I am impressed by her ability to balance it all.

Kimora started her career in fashion as an international teenage model. Over the last 12 years, she has created a fashion empire - a lifestyle brand - with Phat Fashions and its labels. She has a diverse income stream with a career product portfolio including the previously mentioned fashion empire, a highly reviewed book Fabulosity: What It Is and How To Get It, highly rated reality show Life in the Fab Lane, and several other business ventures... she has a total of 20 businesses! Finally, she's philanthropic and gives back to several causes including a scholarship to young ladies in our hometown.

Check out this recent interview with Access Hollywood with words for how she views her life at this time:



Lessons to learn from Kimora Lee Simmons:

• Consistency is key to establishing a lifestyle brand. Although the products are different, the message is the same throughout - fabulous!
• Maintain relationships that keep you grounded to keep your head on straight and give you a calm spirit.
• Appreciate all that life has for you and go after those experiences you want.
• Do not be afraid to walk away from a partnership that is not good for you.
• Always think of fresh ideas for your business and include others in this brainstorming.
• No matter what your background is, be confident in what you are doing.

Keep up with Kimora on her official website: www.kls.com.

11 Friends You Haven't Met; but Need to Know

Today we have a guest post by A. Michelle Buckley, a fellow member of Black Business Women Online. You can find more information about here at the end of the article. Enjoy!

We all talk about collaborating to expand our business and generate more leads. How often do you actually do it? We all talk about connecting and cultivating relationships. How often do you take the time to have dialogue?

I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some friends who could truly make a difference in your business. These women are professional, insightful and inspiring.

Collectively, they can provide you with a wide variety of assistance and resources for your business including: creating and perfecting your elevator pitch, human resources, cultural diversity, sales and marketing, lifestyle, branding, non-profit/community engagement, networking, social media, beauty and lifestyle.

1. Barbara Lopez with Brightfarm Introductions – Barbara masterfully helps you create an introduction to your business that reflects your specialty and your personality. Her capacity to ensure that your introductions are fresh and memorable is exceptional.
2. Deena Pierott with Mosaic Blueprint – Deena has a connection for whatever ails your business. Although she is a cultural diversity expert, her vast and dynamic social network of women, urban entrepreneurs and corporations is built on collaboration.
3. Ayesha Mathews-Wadhwa with PixInk – You are your brand and Ayesha’s brand development ensures that your brand identity and personal values are not only in sync but clear and well defined. Her brand cultivation genius helps discover what makes you unique.
4. Natalie MacNeil with She Takes On the World – Home of all things “women entrepreneur.” Natalie features successful women entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship articles, valuable resources, and a free directory for women-owned businesses. She has received numerous awards and mentions for her work and blog content and is a constant source of fresh ideas and encouragement.
5. Sylvia Browder with Browder Consulting – Sylvia empowers women to achieve success through entrepreneurship. In addition to running her own consulting practice, she volunteers as a SCORE counselor and provides women entrepreneurs with the resources and tools they need for continued success. Her support for women entrepreneurs is personal and heartfelt.
6. Adrienne Graham with Empower Me! and Fearless Networking. This power broker provides a variety of platforms that enable women to maximize the value in their networks and connections. Adrienne is all about the power and empowerment of women entrepreneurs and the author of “Go Ahead Talk to Strangers: A Modern Day Guide to Fearless Networking.”
7. Yolanda Webb with E’Lon Beauty – Yolanda publishes an amazing and unique online beauty magazine. Her magazine not only presents all that is beautiful on the outside, but her publication also nurtures the inside beauty of all women.
8. Patricia Weber with Professional Strategies – Pat is the consummate sales coach for introverts. She understands the anxiety and apprehension introverts have in operating their business and skillfully coaches them through practical communication, sales and networking techniques.
9. Jacintha Perrera with Island Getaways – This is not a “fly by night” travel service. Jacintha is a travel expert specializing in South Pacific getaways and special interest retreats. Her customized travel expeditions are once in a lifetime experiences. Be sure to check out her travel blog and virtual tours. When you need to getaway, you need to contact Jacintha.
10. Crystal Martin with Crystalwashington.com – Crystal is a social media and social networking guru. Her simple tips and tools will get you up to speed with effective and efficient marketing strategies that will enhance your capacity to meet and acquire appropriate clients.

Please take some time to explore their sites and introduce yourself. I’m sure each of them will welcome you into their fold with a warm smile and kind word.

A.Michelle Blakeley is the Founder and CEO of Simplicity, Inc.; a progressive small business development firm. She manages her clients’ business expectations and prevents information overload via Micro Business Therapy™ and Micro Business Action Plans. She is featured in Forbes.com and the Financial Post as one of 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter and the host of Simple Truths for Women Entrepreneurs on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Be Adaptable

I love to share my lessons learned through this venue. Regardless of who else sees it, it has helped me to understand where I am in my career by thinking about situations and what lessons I can learn from them.

A great lesson--which always seems like deja vu--of this quarter has been that when things don't seem to be going the way they were expected to go, change. For instance, at the beginning of the year, I wrote of wanting to open a drop-in center. Since I do not own a bank, I decided to launch small, then grow. When that idea didn't work, I changed the concept to provide the same service but in a different way, like having a drop-in center on location for special events. This concept catches the attention of anyone I have mentioned it to, but it's still in startup mode. I have never been so excited about something in my career as I am with this. The vision I have for it is will create such an impact on my family and community... I'm so excited!

The moral of the story is - having to make a left turn when you really want to make a right isn't the worst thing in the world. Adapting to the situation but retaining the essence of and goals for what you want to do can still be a freeing experience. 

What are some situations in your business where you had to adapt and it changed your life?

Keeping In Touch

One area that I am seeking solutions for in my business is the art of staying in touch with potential and current clients. I say art because there really are no rules to satisfy everyone. Some people are online folks, some people would prefer a phone call, others really like the personal one-on-one chat, while others just want a handwritten note every once in a while. Some people want to hear from you on a regular basis while others would rather hear from you with major news only (which is not good for business). The worst thing business owners could do is to not contact their customers at all.

I actually have a good idea of how I want to keep in touch with my customer base and have been playing with solutions to do it well and efficiently. Of course, I consider this blog a tool. Since I'm currently working on multiple business ventures, I'm considering a blog for each of them. They are not only good for keeping in touch with customers, they also present a good way to journal this journey of business ownership and to keep up with new discoveries I

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Do You Know What Your Customers Want?

A few months ago, I developed a market research survey and shared it with a few organizations to see if I thought of an idea that would fill a market need. I had this grand idea to expand my business offerings in a way that would combine the talents of me and one of my neighbors, an event planner. I did not get many responses to that survey but the answers I received confirmed the need in a way that was greater than I expected. People would be willing to pay more for the service than I initially assumed and would put more time into it as well.

This type of market research simply justifies any ideas you may want to take to market. It is good to do to see if there are people in your target demographic who will pay for it, how much they will pay for it, and what they will expect out of it.

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Blacks in Business: David Steward

David Steward of St. Louis, MO (1951- )

David Steward is founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, a St. Louis, MO based firm that specializes in supplying technology and supply chain solutions to customers around the world. It is considered the second African-American owned firm to reach the billion dollar revenue mark in the 1990s (the first was TLC Beatrice International, a global food and beverage distributor led by Reginald F. Lewis in 1987).

After rising in corporate America with companies like Missouri Pacific Railroad and Federal Express, David Steward scratched his entrepreneurial itch and founded (or actually bought) his first enterprise, Transportation Business Specialists in 1984. The function of this business utilized his background in the transportation industry and knowledge of accountancy. With the opening of his second company, Transport Administrative Services, he was able to capture a higher margin business within his same value chain in the transportation industry by pursuing larger corporate customers.

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The Chain of Revenue

Over the last few weeks, I have been reviewing the services my company offers and where the greatest potential sources of revenue are. Determining my company's value chain and its place in it will allow me to better explore where I can capture a higher profit margin or even determine a new service/product offering, to enhance the service I provide for my clients (and capture more revenue).

The value chain can best be defined as the link of activities involved in creating, distributing, and maintaining an end product or service. These activities range from the acquisition of raw materials to providing after-market service. This business framework was made popular by Harvard professor Michael E. Porter in his book Competitive Advantage.

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What is the business equivalent of the Olympics?

Over the last week, I have really been into the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. I have never really watched the Winter Olympics before, but from the opening show to pair figure skating and so on, these games have really caught my attention. I have been impressed with how many of these athletes have competed and end up giving their personal best (according to the announcers). The camaraderie of the country teams and their pride to represent their country is outstanding. Outside of when I participated in sports in high school, I don't think I have heard the US National Anthem so much, not since I was in elementary school in Illinois.

I have watched these games wondering where the business equivalent is. I know the Grammys and Oscars are for entertainers, but what about people in business. Is our success only measured by the amount of profit we bring in? There are competitions such as SBA National Small Business of the Year and top lists here and there that measure so many different factors (from Working Mother's and Black Enterprise's many lists to Inc. 5000 to Fortune 500 and so on) - would these be the equivalent?

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Blacks in Business: Dr. Farrah Gray

Farrah Gray of Chicago, IL/ Las Vegas NV (1984 - )

Farrah Gray is a success story out of Chicago, IL. He began his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 6 years old! He made $1 million by age 14. Now, 25 years old, with experiences in real estate, consulting, writing, motivational speaking, philanthropy and much more, this serial entrepreneur has done in 19 years what many MBAs dream to do - and he hasn't reached his peak yet. See below for a 20/20 piece on Dr. Gray:



Lessons we can learn from this young man:

• Create the change you want for your life. There is no greater motivator.
• Fear can also be a motivator. Use fear as motivation to get on the other side of it.
• Diversify your business/investment portfolio so that all of your eggs are not in one basket.
• Give, give, give and you will receive.
• Never underestimate what a determined young person can achieve.

Black history month: Annie Malone

Annie Malone of St. Louis, MO (1869-1957)

Annie Malone was a pioneering African-American who some say was actually the first African-American millionaire in the United States (Madam C.J. Walker worked for and was trained by Malone prior to her entrepreneurial journey).

Around the beginning of the 20th century, Malone developed the first chemical straightening product to not damage African-American hair. Since she could not use traditional channels methods of selling products given the racial climate of the time, she became innovative and adopted door-to-door sales, in-person demonstrations, and marketed through the Black press. When she was ready to grow nationally, she hired local agents in cities across the country (and even the world) to do the same thing - providing opportunities similar to what we would find in network marketing today.

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Never take "no" for an answer

This week was full of my attempt to expedite one of my business concepts to launch next week instead of later this year or early next year.  My bright idea was to do it out of my house on a trial basis while I build traction and later take it out into a location more viable for city traffic. I had a written profile of what I wanted for the business but with minimal details and nothing near a comprehensive business plan. Unfortunately, I ran into a stumbling block that may actually be a blessing.

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Business mentors needed!

If you were not aware, January is National Mentoring Month. Mentoring is something that is near to my heart. I have created two mentoring programs and led a couple more. I think mentoring is so very important and is in line with the "it takes a village" belief for growth in a person. I am continued pursuit for the right mentor for me - in the meantime, I will preach the gospel of being a good mentor.

For 2010, I have been mulling over some mentoring possibilities to influence younger people without neglecting my own children or family. Some possibilities for business professionals to mentor include (listed in order of increasing responsibility):

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Check Your Sanity

Last night, I had the pleasure of being on the "Create Your Economy" conference call hosted by the Urban League Young Professionals of Philadelphia.. It featured Ephren Taylor, CEO of Capital City Corporation and Dezmon Landers, Co-Founder of A1 Marketing Corporation. Here is a recent CNN interview with Ephren Taylor:


Great nuggets there too, but I digress. Back to the conference call - These gentlemen provided

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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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