Sister-preneurs!
Should you start a business right now or having trouble with your current one?
I had the fantastic opportunity last night to help out a girlfriend, and client, Kim Kioysaki of Rich Woman (wife of Robert Kioysaki of The Rich Dad Poor Dad Company.)
Kim asked me to participate in a PBS webinar special about entrepreneurial Women in, and wanting to, start a Business. It is part of a financial education, for women, series that she sells on PBS. I was of course honored when she called and asked me to participate….I was excited and ready to rock & roll!
For those of you who do not know Kim or Rich Dad Poor Dad, the RD companies mission is to help people, globally, learn more about their financial footprints. They provide financial tools by way of books, DVD’s, CD and board games, among other things. One of my favorites is The Rich Dad Cash Flow Game….I am addicted and LOVE IT!
Kim Kioysaki is a maverick in the area of helping women recognize, understand, and change their financial footprints and she told me an amazing statistic that I can not get out of my head.
ALARMING STATISTIC:
The average married woman is widowed in her mid fifties and drops financially below the poverty line… immediately when her husband dies….YIKES! If that is not a good enough reason for women to become financially savvy and independent, I do not know what would.
Therefore, women are looking to secure their financial futures by becoming entrepreneurs and becoming literate in their finances.
Knowing herself what it takes to build a multi-million dollar business, Kim Kioysaki was enlisting several businesswomen to help collaborate and give particle business advice to budding females entrepreneurs that have purchased her Rich Woman products on PBS.
I will give you the exclusive content of that PBS taping…..you will only find here!
HOT Topic: Women Entrepreneur’s
Q–Given the current unstable economic conditions, what are you doing differently in your business to survive economic hard times?
My answers:
- Targeting my established clients and offering additional value added services to increase revenue. Statistically, it is easier to sell services to current customers to increase revenue, then to go find new customers all together.
- Identifying clients who are occasionally active, which drain valuable resources, and put them on a different priority level for perusing.
- Negotiating better terms from vendors. Try to keep your cash flow as long as you can, an learn to use OPM (other peoples money) technique.
- Actively do collections on past invoices/accounts. You would be surprised the outstanding monies owed to smaller companies. The main thing I hear is, “I thought someone from accounting collected that.”
- Keep abreast of ” problem clients”, whom do not pay on time, or at all.
- Adapting a part of your business to capitalize on industries that are thriving in hard times.
Q–Given these economic conditions how would you advise women today who are just starting their business?
My answers:
- Make sure that the business being entered is not already suffering from cutbacks or slow, to no growth.
- Identify a market you do not have to pioneer. Pioneering is awesome, just not when most industries are struggling. Of course, exceptions are when you have a pioneer product or service that will improve/impact a declining/struggling industry.
- Identify the product or service offering is needed by the masses.
- Do not go it alone….build a great team to help you. Women are the best at finding “girl friends” to help them do something. Find your sister-preneurs who have the same dream and aspirations as you…..partner, barter, and combine knowledge and resources to build a successful business….
- Most of all and have fun!
Always DREAM BIG!
Kim B.
