Woman-run Business Profile: Angrygirl Wear

Angrygirl Wear is a clothing company created by Michelle Hundt. They specialize in novelty t-shirts and accessories that are guaranteed to have people doing double-takes. Angrygirl t-shirts are heavy duty by design and feature professional silk screening that's made to last. 

Angrygirl Wear insists on quality and all of their products are made of 100% cotton. They ARE the silk-screener - for the past 11 years Angrygirl has been professionally silk-screening tee shirts for 1,000's of wonderful customers and by request they are putting their own designs up for grabs. They keep their customers coming back for more with their low prices and excellent customer service. They go to great lengths to make sure you are satisfied with your order and they stand behind their products.

Screen printing is the process of pushing ink directly into the t-shirt or apparel with a silk screen, plastisol ink, and a rubber squeegee. Unlike some other screen printers out there, they are sure to keep up on the most recent cutting edge screen printing technology. Other In-House products offer include buttons, bottle Opener/key chains, magnets, 1 color vinyl stickers, and printed patches. 

Screen printing is the process of pushing ink directly into the t-shirt or apparel with a silk screen, plastisol ink, and a rubber squeegee. Unlike some other screen printers out there, they are sure to keep up on the most recent cutting edge screen printing technology. Other In-House products offer include buttons, bottle Opener/key chains, magnets, 1 color vinyl stickers, and printed patches. 

When asked why she started her business, Michelle said " Because I temporarily lost my mind and thought it would be easy... HA - this is not the case!" She had worked in Corporate American for 14 years - 10 years with the same company in clothing manufacturing. Michelle admits that it isn't easy starting a business but she can still keep her cool: "For 14 years I worked for some pretty great - but crazy people - Sometimes it wasn't the best experience - I really thought I could start a company and treat people the way I wanted to be treated - now I see why they were crazy - it's tough to keep your cool when things go wrong - however - I still hold fast to treating people right.  Screaming a yelling doesn't solve the problem."

And they don't just design great shirts for Angrygirlwear, they are also a professional screen printing company and they ONLY use the industry's best equipment, inks, and drying methods to ensure that your design will not wash off, fade, peel or crack.

Angrygirl is unique because when Michelle first started the business in 2000, the screen printing industry was very male dominant and had extremely poor customer service. Michelle knew that is she could start a screen printing business with excellent customer service, it would stand out for sure, and it did! The name helps too, Michelle says, because most people don't forget it. 

Michelle started the company on a shoe-string budget of $70,000 and even took a second mortgage out on her home!  She says, "I know some might think that's a fair bit of money to start - but it wasn't nearly enough, the equipment, supplies, advertising - and the costly mistakes - all small businesses make them - especially in the first 2 years - I suppose that is why so many small business fail within that time.  The main thing to remember is that it's hard work - if you aren't prepared to sacrifice everything - then it may not be the right thing for you - and being crazy helps too!"

Her background includes 6 years in the print advertising industry - working as a Graphic Artist, 10 years working for a Clothing Manufacturer (1 year - administration, 5 years - Designer,  4 years - Sales) 

When asked what advice she would give other women who want to start their own business, Michelle said, "First and foremost, BE PASSIONATE - you really have to love what you are doing, be willing to make sacrifices, and accept that mistakes will be made. Sit down and write a business plan - there are programs you can purchase that will help you - it's not fun, it's not creative, it's not pretty - but without one you are limiting your chances for success." It also helped to have her friends, family and customers who inspire her everyday! 

You can buy Angrygirl wear products only online on their website http://www.angrygirlwear.com and some of their more popular items are sold on ebay. 

For the custom orders - you can just go direct to them at their facility at 18434 Oxnard St., Building i, Tarzana, CA 91356), via phone 818-342-0521 or email: michelle (at) angrygirl.org 

   

Be sure to find Angrygirl Wear online at:

http://www.angrygirlwear.com 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Angrygirl-Wear/165252296880037

http://twitter.com/angrygirl68

Woman-run business profile: Green Dreams (All Natural Kitchen & Home Makeovers)

A great modern business model can include a health topic that is on a lot of peoples minds today such as eating healthy and nutritiously. Angela Russell of Green Dreams is helping you make your kitchen and home into a more healthy and nutritious place.

Green Dreams provides in-home nutrition consultations and kitchen & home product makeovers.  They work with people who are looking to eat and live more natural, healthy lives and don’t have the time or know-how to get started.  They are 100% one-of-a-kind business!  


First, start by getting an idea of your goals and then raid your kitchen to see what stays and what goes!  Next is a shopping trip to replace items to donate or pitch with healthier options.  Their services are customizable from basic kitchen makeovers to home overhauls including kitchen, household items and personal care items from Salmon to Sandwich Bags to Soap. Depending on the size of your pantry, this can take from 3-5 hours. 


The business is a sister service to the Naturopathic Physician’s office that Angela manages.  Dr. Matt sees patients primarily with gut & intestinal issues. He’s a licensed Naturopathic Doctor; a food chemistry and nutrition expert. They also have a recruitment business in the Natural Products Industry, so both of them are experts in natural products. "We know there are so many people who are confused about how to cook and shop for nutritious foods, especially since there are so many choices in the “natural & organic” market." says Angela, "The goal is to empower & educate others about the benefits and accessibility of nutritious, sustainable food and non-toxic products."


Angela says that the business didn't take a lot of money to get started. She worked with a friend to 

create the logo themselves and spent $30 on business cards.  Advertising is done through Twitter and Facebook.  They planned a very organic growth strategy, working with satisfied customers for referrals.  As for the website, Dr. Matt is hosting the page on his website and luckily, he is handy with creating web pages.

Her background is a Bachelor Degree in Sales & Marketing, but her passion is in cooking healthy, delicious food and living as naturally and low-impact as possible.  She says that friends and family love her recipes & meal creations and she wants to show others how EASY it can be to spice up vegetables and other healthy food staples and get excited about wholesome food!

Angela says that her partner Matt, her father, and her cousin Jared helped inspire her to start the business. She said " Dr. Matt has taught me most of what I know about nutrition; he’s a wealth of information!  My father has always been one to cook without a recipe, and his meals are fantastic!  Jared, a former fast-food junkie with a new child came to me recently, asking for advice on how to eat and shop more nutritiously. Together, this all inspired me to help others realize that they can “let food be thy medicine” and have it TASTE good too."

When asked what advice she would give to other women who want to start their own business, Angela said, " Do what you love & be true to yourself.  I believe that it’s that special FIRE inside that shines through to customers, helping business owners succeed.  Sit down and hash out pros and cons for your business idea to make sure you have realistic expectations and try to start out as low-budget as possible.  Don’t listen to all of the “noise”.  People love to chatter about how hard it is to be self-employed, how expensive it is, how you need all of these expensive things to start.  It’s JUST not true.  When we started our first business a couple years back, we slashed any and all expenses and took the LEAP into independence!  I am very happy to chat about these things with anyone who is thinking about starting their own business."

If you are interested in having Angela come and give your kitchen a makeover, here is some more information: "Makeovers are done Friday through Sunday and are completely customizable to your needs.  We understand dietary restrictions and concerns like gluten-free, diabetic diets, vegan and vegetarian, etc. and have a very well-balanced, non-extreme approach to nutrition. We’re not coming in to TELL you what to eat, but to educate you so that you have the tools to plan, shop and cook so that you are meeting your personal nutrition goals. Pricing is based on your individual situation. Our general service area is Metro Detroit. "  

The easiest way to get in touch with Angela for her service is to call and talk to her about your personal goals. See below for the best ways to contact Angela through her website, blog, social media, and directly. 

http://www.drmattnd.com/services/greendreamsdetroit.htmlhttp://adventurouspalate.blogspot.com/Email: angela@drmattnd.com
Twitter: @GreenDreams313

Direct: 248-469-8111

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greendreamsdetroit

Accepting payments from customers

A question I get every so often is about what types of payment you should accept when your selling jewelry or any product. Well, it definitely depends on exactly what your selling and where your selling it but here a couple of rules to go by when deciding what types of payment you want to accept:

- Cash is always great when your selling something in person. Cash is not good when someone wants to give it to you at a later date. Don't accept IOUs ever. Even from your friends, unless you want to potentially ruin your friendship. If you are selling items that cost under $20, sometimes it's just worth it to ask for cash if doing the credit card transaction is going to be a headache and takes you longer than it is worth to do.

- Paypal is a great way to accept payments online. www.paypal.com  If you are selling something online, paypal will notify you through email that your payment has gone through and once it has gone through, you can give the product to the buyer. You can do this with someone in person as well as over the phone or through email. Don't forget that paypal takes about 3% of your sale, although it may be worth it especially dealing with someone you don't know online.

- Square is great for accepting payments through iPhone, iPad and Android. https://squareup.com/ When you sign up, they will send you a little square swipe reader to use. When using the swipe reader, they take 2.75% of your payment, which isn't bad. You can also enter someones credit card number without the reader if you forget it or if someone is making a purchase over the phone, but then Square takes 3.5% and 15 cents per transaction, so using the swipe reader is a better deal, but again, either way, it's better to make the sale and pay a percentage than it is to miss out on the sale all together.

- Checks are something you should ONLY accept from someone you know well or someone you work with on a continuous basis. If you are selling something at a trade show like jewelry or any items, it's best NOT to accept checks from strangers. Most people won't even ask anymore because hardly any businesses will accept this type pf payment in that situation, but if they do ask, it's best to already know your answer, which should be NO. Checks can bounce without being able to get in contact with that person again. Only in cases where you see the person on a regular basis or when you're dealing with selling something to a reputable business, is it ok to accept checks. And even still, you have to be careful and keep track of what payments are owed to you.

Facebook photo album auction idea

Facebook photo album auctions

Sell accessories online right on your facebook page!

1. Start a new folder with accessories and other ideas you want to sell.

2. Under each item, write "Auction starts at (price$) please place your bid in a comment below. Auction ends (date & time of auction end) You will be contacted if you are the winner"

3. Add other details like material, size, whether it's new or used, etc.

4. Make sure you price each item to include shipping or write another line "shipping costs (price$)" Also specify if shipping can be combined for multiple items for sale.

5. Friends will bid on your items. Be sure to check back to see if they have any questions.

6. After the auction ends, contact each person with your paypal information and how much they owe for the item and get their mailing address to ship them the item.

Please note that this is meant to be an auction idea between friends, which means that they are more likely to buy because they know you but also there is no guarantee that they will pay once the auction is completed. In case they don't pay, offer the item to the next bidder of the item. And just beware that unlike ebay, some people can change their mind without being penalized, so be prepared to offer the item to the next person if you don't hear back from someone.

Your New Years Resolution: "I want to start a Business!"

It's time to start thinking about New Years resolutions for 2012. If one of your resolutions includes a career change or a plan to make more money this year, why not make a resolution to start your OWN business. It's not as hard as it sounds. The hardest part really is to start! It takes some motivation to get started so I have come up with some ideas on how you can get motivated by asking yourself these questions:

- Ask yourself what kind of business you want to start? Selling jewelry? Baking? Creating items you can sell? Doing a service based business?

- Who will benefit from my business? women? men? single moms? working women? kids? animals? businesses?

- Where will I be able to sell, advertise, get hype for my business? Stores? craft show booths? expos? door to door? home parties? online? in a newspaper? in a magazine? in a blog? through email? social media sites like facebook?

- How much will I have to put into starting up my business? inventory? displays? advertising costs? rent costs? cost for extra help if needed? storage costs? supplies? computer programs? special training?

- How much time am I going to need to spend on my business to start it up? Will it take a month to start up? 6 months? 1 year?

- How much time will I need to spend on my business each day? each week? each month?

- Who will help me get the word out and support the idea for my business? my family? my significant other? my friends? my children? my neighbors? my online friends? friends of friends?

- Will I partner with anybody or start out on my own? And will I hire someone to help me now or in the future?

Once you start asking yourself these questions, you will come up with more questions for yourself that you never though of, but don't get too overwhelmed. Just start by writing down the answers in your own words and begin your plan. Start researching what other people are doing in your field. Looking online is a good start. Start figuring out where you will get your supplies from, who you can ask to help you, and where you would like this business to be at in the next 6 months to a year. Start setting your goals and stick to them!

If you are unsure what kind of business you would like to start, selling jewelry is a great way to get involved in making sales. Even if your primary goal is to do any kind of business, you are always going to be selling! The My Accessory Business jewelry sales kits include everything you need to start selling jewelry on your own. They include the jewelry to sell, business, cards for you to write in your information, price labels, container to store your jewelry, and expert advice for any questions you may have. This is a great way to get comfortable making sales and learning about pricing your items, locations to sell at, who to sell to and how to close a sale. The jewelry included in the kits can be resold for double, even triple the cost. Why wait to get starting on your New Years resolution to start your own business? The kits start at only $49 and can be purchased online at www.MyAccessoryBusiness.com Visit the website for more information.

Whatever your New Years resolution may be, stick to it and never give up on your dreams. Check back to this blog often for more inspirational stories of women entrepreneurs, tips on starting your own business, jewelry giveaways, and more!

Successful Woman-run Businesses: Susanna Beverly Hills

For over 30 years Susanna Chung Forest has been designing custom made-to-measure clothing for the most powerful women around the world. Her client list includes woman CEOs, woman presidents, celebrity entertainers, judges, royal families, politicians, wives of Ceos of Fortune 500 companies, and many more. Some of the famous names she has designed for include Hillary Clinton, Barbra Streisand, Judge Judy, Cybill Shepherd and many more... just check out her celebrity gallery at www.Susannabh.com and you will see. Her designs have been seen in television shows, movies, at red carpe

t events, at high profile political gatherings, and even in the pages of Bazaar, Vogue, Time and a variety of other national magazines and publications.

But the story of Susanna starts with a young girl from Korea who had a dream. She moved to the United States and worked to pay for her schooling. At the age of 21, she was broke and evicted from her apartment. She made a plan to start her own clothing design business and make it a success. She borrowed a small amount of money from a family member and opened up a shop. At first, business was very slow, but then one day a woman came in a bought several outfits. Later, that woman came back and brought some friends... and from then on her business grew rapidly fast until not long after, she was making millions.

Thirty years later, Susanna is still designing for these powerful women and is well known around the world for her exquisite design and custom tailoring of women's suits and evening wear.

Susanna is a great example of someone who used her determination to follow her dreams and reach her goals. A lot of people dream of realizing their goals of success, it's very inspiring to know that it can be done and it has been done by others. I hope this story will help you in your quest to follow your dreams to business success!

If you would like more information on Susanna Chung Forest and Susanna Beverly Hills, visit www.Susannabh.com

Come visit us at the Michigan International Women's Show on Thursday April 28th- May 1st, 2011!

Come visit "My Accessory Business" at the Michigan International Women's Show on Thursday April 28th- May 1st, 2011!

Come to our booth #736
We will have special promotions including:
- Pick a ball, WIN a Prize! Where everyone wins something!
- Celebrity Red Carpet backdrop. Try on fun clothes and accessories and get your picture taken like a celebrity at our photobooth!
- Pick your own accessories & displays and take them home that day* while supplies last
- Order a kit in the mail at the expo and get FREE shipping.

PRINT OUT AND BRING THIS PAGE TO THE EXPO FOR $5 OFF ANYTHING AT OUR BOOTH! *can not be combined with any other offer.

Can't make it to the expo? Try out an accessory sales mini kit for only $49. You will get everything you need to start selling hot fashion accessories at work, to friends, at garage sales, online, or anywhere. Order online at www.MyAccessoryBusiness.com

Have suggestions for a women's expo near you that you would like to see My Accessory Business at? Email us at info@myaccessorybusiness.com and let us know!

Why we need female mentors

Let's face it, women and men are different when it comes to business. There are more men in business than there are women in business, and that's just the first big difference. The people you're around influence you whether you believe it or not. The best why to figure out who is your mentor, or who you would like to be your mentor is to figure out who has a career that you would most like to have. You don't necessacraily have to live life exactly the same way as this person, but the work they have done and the things they have accomplished should be inspiring to you. The more you can surround yourself with theese types of women that inspire you, the better off you will be in reaching your goals. These women can be family, friends, co-workers, bosses, or clients. Preferrably someone you actually know in person instead of a celebrity figure. Some women tend to use celebrities as mentors, but I really don't recommend this. Not all celebrities took the high road when it came to their initial fame. There are many successful women that we never hear about because the media is so overcrowded with celerities that cause drama, rather than do something worthwile.

The reason I say FEMALE mentors, not MALE mentors, is simple. Not all men are going to want to help you succeed. Not that there aren't some that will, but in general, men and women are too different. Men are more likely to help out other men and mentor them to success. Men are sometimes too competitive with women when it comes to business. I can't even count the times I talked to a man about working together on a business, and the only call I got afterwards was asking me to a party or on a date. Like I said, this is not ALL men though. Besides, women tend to have similar interests in business and it's more likely that your find a mentor that matches your goals.

Having a mentor will help you better figure out the path you're headed and also it means that you will have someone to go to and ask the questions you have along the way.

Get them to buy on impulse! Impulse= double your sales!

Did you know that 64.3% of product sales are made by individual/ person-to-person selling?

Buyers are more likely to buy something when they can hold it in their hand and look at it. But even more likely than being able to see a product in person is being able to take that product with them immediately. People are most likely to buy on impulse. A lot of the direct selling companies out there give you samples to show your buyers, but then they have to write in an order from a catalog. Then you have to deal with sorting out the shipment and delivering all the orders long after the sale is made. My Accessory Business give you all of the products immediately, not just samples. There are no catalogs. You simple lay out all the products on a table or display piece and customers can buy them and take them home immediately! Because there is only one of each piece being sold, there is more of a sense of exclusivity and an intense call to action since they will realize that if they don't buy the piece immediately, it will most likely be gone soon. When buyers order from a catalog, they realize that there is a possibility they could order a piece later if they wanted, so there is less of a sense of urgency.

To buy a My Accessory Business Kit, go to www.MyAccessoryBusiness.com


http://www.dsa.org/research/industry-statistics/#LOCATION