Passion and Profit – Don’t Settle for Anything Less

I discovered Steve Pavlina, an up and coming personal development guru, about a year ago.   He is currently not on the same level as a Tony Robbins, but he may be one day.  If you go to Google and type in personal development his website shows up on the first page.  There are literally millions of websites, but his is listed long before Tony Robbins or any other guru you may know.  Do you realize how difficult it is to achieve such high placement?

When he started his website a little over two years ago – he noticed that none of the gurus had leveraged their notoriety on the web.  Yes, they had book deals, seminars, etc, but none had claimed the Internet.  So, he set out and claimed the space.  Today he claims to have over 1.5 million visitors each month and is making 6 figures from his website alone.

He just updated his top 10 list of lessons learned as an entreprenuer.  I wanted to share two with you and the rest can be read at his site.

Continue reading “Passion and Profit – Don’t Settle for Anything Less”

Hot Business Ideas for 2007

My friend’s daughter says that she wants to be a party planner.  Guess what Teen Party Planning is hot for 2007.  Entrepreneur . com has a great list, which includes start up tips, of the hottest business trends for the upcoming year.  Running a business becomes slightly easier when you have a product that’s in demand. 

Food Business

  • Coffehouses
  • Chocolate
  • Burger Restaurants
  • Healthy Food
  • Wine
  • Dessert-only restaurants

Continue reading “Hot Business Ideas for 2007”

Grant Opportunities Available for Women Business Owners

This post was updated on 3/23/13.  Sources are accurate as of that date.

Source:  Woman Owned . com

Most start-ups run out money, before they run out of ideas…. Here are some funding sources specifically targeting women entrepreneurs?

Small Business Administration (Office of Women’s Business Ownership)(www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness) – The SBA is doing more than ever to help level the playing field for women entrepreneurs, who still face unique obstacles in the world of business.

Count-Me-In : Make Mine a Million(http://www.makemineamillion.org) – This is organization offers annual events and grant awards to woman owned businesses who want to grow to over one million dollars in revenue.

Grants.govwww.grants.gov) – This United States Government resource provides information on other government agencies and what grants they have available.

American Association of University Women(www.aauw.org) – This foundation is one of the largest private sources of funding for graduate women in the world

The Ada Project for Women (TAP)(http://tap.mills.edu) – Includes information on conferences, discussion groups, organizations, fellowships, grants, and notable women in computer science.

WomanOwned Grant Database and Membership(http://www.womanowned.com/features/grants-and-funding.aspx) Members can access thousands of business grants and state programs for business growth and development.  Search by state and keyword and view all the details required for successful application.

Knowing it’s Time to Quit Your Day Job

There are many that can relate to the following: For Carla, a producer at Microsoft working with the tour, “I was miserable. I had a sexy, ego-stroking job that made for great bragging material. But I was being eaten alive by all the work, and drained by the politics of working in a large company.”

I am going to skip right to the conclusion of this article.  The more conservative types can read the entire article at startupnation.

“But Carla’s story certainly illustrates a couple of important points about deciding when to quit workin’ for the man. Making sure that there truly is interest in the market for your product before you cut the strings is vital. But perhaps even more importantly, listen to that little voice in your head and make a choice that’s in line with your long-term health and well-being. Starting a business that you’re passionate about can only do great things for your mental and physical health. Maybe you’ll be able to take a leave from your job, like Carla, to have some time to plan your business, or maybe you’ll need to start your business part-time while still working your job full-time. No matter which path you take, there’s no better time than now to start your dream business!

The perfect time to start your business is a fantasy. Be like Nike and Just Do It!

Business Start-up Quiz

Each week I feature an article specific to women’s Financial Freedom challenges.  Quite frankly most financial issues are gender independent – we just address them from different perspectives.  I found this Business Start-up quiz at Woman Owned . com It appears to be a good resource.  The questions below are questions that men and women should address before taking the plunge. Continue reading “Business Start-up Quiz”