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!

Woman-run Business Profile: Capelta Couture

I'd like to share with you the story of Monique Capelta, the small town girl from North Carolina, turned model, turned actress, turned couture boot designer. While she was living in New York, NY, she created a wore her own furry boot designs. She was so broke, she could not afford to buy the expensive boots that she saw in the windows a the high end department store, so she made her own from pieces she acquired from the local Goodwill. One day, Monique was approached by a representative from a high end designer who asked if she wanted to sell her designs. Though it seemed like most anyone would have jumped at the opportunity, Monique politely turned down the offer because she knew that one day she would achieve her goal of starting her own boot line where with her own name on the label.

Her next step was to move to Los Angeles, CA, where she attended red carpet events, celebrity parties and events while launching her acting career. Monique wore her boot designs and found that they attracted more attention than she could even imagine. Suddenly, her boot designs were attracting all sorts of investors, celebrity praise, and fans all over Hollywood and anywhere she would travel.

In 2004, she began talks with investors, boot manufacturers and PR companies in order to begin the launch of her couture boot business. She wrote a business plan, made samples to send to the factory, locked in deals with investors and signed up for trade shows in Las Vegas, New York, and various other National and International fashion trade shows. She also shot her first advertising campaign and designed her first look book.

The road to success for Monique was never a smooth ride, there were always obstacles along the way, but she overcame those obstacles and now Capelta Couture is sold in over 70 stores across the country, and sold online internationally. It is worn by a variety of celebrities including the cast of Jersey Shore, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Kate Moss, and more!

For more information about Capelta Couture or to see more of her fashionable designs, visit www.Capelta.com and www.shopcapelta.com

Become a fan at: http://twitter.com/capelta
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Capelta-Couture/203463007308

Women in Business- Thoughts on the Kardashians

I think when speaking about women entrepreneurs, it makes sense to bring up one of the most famous teams of women entrepreneurs on TV and all over the media today, the Kardashians. Love them or hate them, they have created an empire with their name. They are said to be "famous for being famous" just like other reality type stars such as Paris Hilton. But the truth is that they are very brilliant when it comes to business. You really can't say that you dislike them for what they have accomplished out of the fame of their name and their TV show. They have made their family store "Dash" into a huge success from the show, they have negotiated to be the face and name behind various products and brands, and they managed to include their entire family in the success of their name. A good friend of mine works for "E Entertainment" and she has interviewed them and said that they are very nice people.

Even with the recent drama of Kim's marriage going sour, the truth is that it only makes them more famous just by the fact that the media has something to talk about. It's like the old saying "even bad publicity is good publicity" In my personal opinion, I see that they have done a lot to stay in the spotlight of the media, but when it comes to Kim's wedding, I believe that she was really just foolish to rush into it, not that she was doing it just for the money and fame. I can assume that she was pushed by the media to go forward with it, but I'm sure it wasn't all because of money. I've known plenty of regular women who have rushed into marriage and kids without really knowing the person and not having anything to do with money or fame.

The truth is, once you look at them from a stand point of an education in marketing, you can see that they have marketed themselves just like an other product or brand is marketed. You aren't going to hate Apple for successfully marketing the iPod or iPad. (Well, unless you don't have one maybe) But truth be told, the Kardashians are a name, a brand, a product. Anyone can be a brand, it just takes good marketing and sometimes a little sacrifice. These women have sacrificed their normal lives to be judged harshly, examined and used just to make a name for themselves. Not to say that this is wrong at all, it happens all the time with celebrities, it's just the way marketing works. I personally don't envy their lifestyle on camera, but I do admire their marking skills.

So before you judge them either way for their fame, it is good to step back and look at them as a brand instead of a celebrity family, because that's really what they have created and I do wish them luck in their endeavours.

Woman- Run Business Profile: "Supper Sack"

I have met a lot of women that have started their own businesses. I love to hear their inspirational stories and share them with others to inspire as many women as I can. I would like to share this story with you about Monica Kristiansen, a woman who started up a really unique service in Los Angeles.

Here is her story:

"What's your passion? Well I found mine...food! Delicious, natural food. Supper Sack is a combined meal planning and grocery delivery service.

Supper Sack plans your meals a week at a time, gathering the best ingredients from hand-selected providers and delivering them with recipes to your door. Our focus is on delivering organic, local and traceable products.

This brilliant new concept of merging the meal planning and grocery delivery service has become a huge success in Sweden (my home country). It started with 1 company in 2007 and now there are close to 30 companies in Sweden that help the Swedish people cook well-balanced, tasty, and fun weeknight meals. 

How it all started...

My husband, Erik, and I lived in Stockholm, Sweden between 2007-2009. During that time the first meal planning/grocery delivery service had started with this new concept. I had heard about it and had a few co-workers at a previous job that did try it and really liked it. I loved the idea, but didn't think much more about it. One day back in LA while on Facebook, I saw an old friend who wrote:

"I'm so excited, our first bag is coming on Monday!" 

"The bag" consists of ingredients for weeknight dinners with accompanied recipes. 

That's when it hit me... LA... 

I guess my interest in food started early as I did attend a culinary arts program in college. After college my career took of in many different directions, little to do with food. I have always been called a "foodie" and want every meal to be important. With today's rapid, handheld scheduling, it seems like dinner is one of the few times families have together. So let's all enjoy some family time and have dinner...er I mean supper! 

Supper Sack is a meal planning and grocery delivery service that provides everything you need to cook fresh, totally tasty meals in your home. We take care of the meal planning, shopping, and deliver to you the recipe and ingredients necessary to pull off supper for five nutritious meals.

We know you want to feed yourself and your family well, but time crunches often lead to take-out or nuking salty, unnecessary fatty foods. We put supper back in your reach by saving you the planning and shopping involved in pulling off (up to) five well- rounded meals a week.

Supper Sack is revival of home cooking, and that’s not all. We like to have a personal connection to the locally made ingredients, independent agriculture and specialty purveyors we work with, just like back in the “supper days.” We absolutely insist on knowing where the food that we offer you comes from.

It's that easy! Supper is back!

Ingredients.

We personally work with providers to get you quality local produce, organic meats, best quality dairy and specialty items. Our relationships enable us to get better prices and added services for you, and enable you to say “I know where my food comes from!”

We constantly keep ourselves educated on the latest in food safety, sustainability issues, culinary trends, and emerging local businesses that deserve our support.

Recipes.

Supper Sack recipes require no more than 30-40 minutes preparation time and are easy enough for those with basic cooking skills. Wholesome dinners include produce, grains or carbs, and a rotating cast of proteins including fish, poultry, pork and beef. We strive for a well-balanced meal with focus on working those greens in to an everyday habit.

Delivered.

Supper Sack delivers ingredients and recipes once a week. Simply place orders no later than Wednesday for the following week, and on Sunday you will receive your groceries and recipes. Service plans range from three to five weeknight dinners, and serve up to four people."

Visit www.suppersack.com for more information

Suppersack facebook

Suppersack Twitter

Tips for starting a business & pricing your items and services

Starting up your own business can be a fun and exciting process, but it's definitely not an easy route most of the time. It takes dedication, persistence, and a willingness to keep going even if it starts out slow. Starting a business is like building up from the bottom to reach your goals at the top. You have to have a plan. You plan what you are going to sell: reselling items like jewelry, a service, selling handmade items, etc...

Let's say you are selling jewelry or reselling items. You want to price your items about 2.5- 3 times the amount that you purchased it for in order to make a profit. So if you buy an item for $3... you want to try to sell it for at least $8-$9, possibly more.

If you are selling a service like design or sewing, you want to base your price on a time rate. For instance, if it takes you 2 hours to do a design, and you charge $20 per hour, you will need to quote a price of $40 for the design.

If you are reselling an item and working on it, say your making jewelry or clothes. You must price your item based on about 2.5-3% more than what you paid for the materials plus the amount of time you spent on making it. For example: you spent $5 on materials, and 2 hours of your time with a rate of $15 per hour. You should then price your item at $45. ($5x3= $15 + $15x2= $30 total= $15+$30=$45)

Building your clients

No matter what you are selling, whether it's a service or an item, you want to make sure to have as many return customers as possible. Make sure you collect email addresses of the people who buy from you so that you can email them and let them know when you are having a sale or to remind them about your service or new item. The people that buy from you once are the most likely to make another purchase, so be sure to keep them happy! Send a thank you note or email to know that you appreciate their purchase. Make a facebook fan page for your business and add friends and clients to remind them about your business. Give them a reason to come back.

Never give up!

A big hint I would like to give you is to remember that huge overnight success is not very likely. When you are trying to make an extra couple bucks by reselling items, it is possible to reach your goals in a short time, but keep in mind that long term success on a regular basis takes time to achieve and you have to tell yourself to not give up. The majority of people who have started their own business kept a part time or even full time job also for months, even years before their own business venture was able to supplement their income. So basically, don't quit your day job right away. You may need to spend money upfront to cover the costs of buying inventory, supplies, shipping materials, ads, etc... to get started and keep going strong. Don't let it discourage you though. Many businesses have been started on a small budget. You have to be creative, think outside the box and keep reaching for your goals. The main ingredient in a business is always to do what you love!

Enter to WIN a set of 5 HOT celebrity inspired accessories from "My Accessory Business"

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Women-Led Startups Are The Key To New Job Creation: Report via: fastcompany.com

Women-Led Startups Are The Key To New Job Creation: Report

via fastcompany.com

BY E.B. BOYDWed Sep 28, 2011

So says a new paper from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. "If we’re looking for an answer to jobs," Kauffman vice president Lesa Mitchell tells us, "it’s right in front of our face."

The country is in a recession, and Washington is tangling over how to create new jobs, but, according to a new paper from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, there’s a fairly simple potential source of them sitting right under our noses.

Women start high-growth companies, like those in high tech, at lower rates than men do, Kauffman-supported research has found. But the reason for this is systemic, rather than due to women’s innate capacity for entrepreneurialism, says the paper, titled “Overcoming the Gender Gap: Women Entrepreneurs as Economic Drivers.”

See the complete article posted at: http://www.fastcompany.com/1783387/women-led-startups-the-key-to-new-job-creation-report