Because I’ve known about SCORE for decades I assume that everyone else knows about them, too. But I realize that this organization is still a relatively well-kept secret. SCORE stands for Service Corps of Retired Executives and offers an amazing resource to small business owners nationwide. Basically, it’s an army of brilliant retired executives, men and women, who offer their services free to entrepreneurs at all levels.

I learned about SCORE in my 20’s when my father, recently retired, joined their ranks and would discuss his clients’ imaginative ideas (anonymously, of course) over dinner. He was thrilled to be giving back some of his business expertise and tickled when his client ran with an idea and succeeded. Over the years I’ve consulted SCORE advisers with excellent results.

Just recently, in an effort to expand my Remarkable Women’s Network I signed on for another round. I’ve been meeting monthly with two gentlemen who feel like the best cheerleaders in the world. Not only are they offering their suggestions for broadening my market, but they’ve also referred some of their successful women clients to attend my events.

Today when I went for my check-in, I was met by a third counselor. My two guys love my model so much they brought in the SCORE program chair and invited me to facilitate a demo session for SCORE clients. Mark your calendars! On Wednesday, February 24 from 7:30-9:30am there will be a co-ed session based on my networking design for SCORE clients only. By the way, anyone reading this has the opportunity to become a SCORE client. That’s an entirely free service. The event I run for them will also be free.

What makes my groups unique is that I offer them only to already successful women business owners who want to meet other successful women business owners. At my Remarkable Women Network events participants exchange information, support and inspire each other and get solutions to current challenges. While the format will be the same–self-intro’s and mini-mastermind groups, the population will be not be. Hence the value-based pricing on my offerings. Women business owners choosing to pay $50 to meet other successful women offers a different demographic group than SCORE’s no-cost event.

A wise friend once told me you can shop gourmet at Stop & Shop, but it takes longer and you have to be more discerning navigating the aisles.

I knew that I wanted not only to attend, but also to have a booth space. I dusted off my trade show set-up and arrived early to put everything in order.

TFI Envision helped me with my re-branding a few years ago and included these banners which are noticeable from across a large room. I met great women and got a sense of what’s going on in the community at large.

At about 9pm Erica gathered everyone in the main exhibition room to say a few words. She shared her vision, which I just loved.

“When I was in Mexico,” Erica told us, “I was taken with how the women would create their own marketplace by setting up their wares. I thought, ‘we can do that, too.’ And tonight my vision has come to be.”

She went on to thank everyone who had been instrumental in making the event happen (everyone there essentially, Erica said) and a special thank you to her daughters who also helped and attended. “Is Dad in the car?” Erica asked as she introduced her younger daughter who had come towards the end. We got the sense of how the family had supported Erica throughout her creating this vision.

“Instead of the Big Connect, they’ve called it the Slow Connect.” There was compassionate and knowing laughter throughout the hall.

Devoting only one day a week to her passion, Carrie made great headway developing a line of t-shirts, water bottles, caps and sweatshirts bearing her upbeat message of spreading kindness through individual actions. Wouldn’t It Be Nice continued to grow with each school and church program Carrie designed and instituted.

Imagine the thrill I got this morning when I opened Carrie’s email this morning with the above image  showing her product line on sale at LaGuardia Airport! My mouth dropped open and my heart rate accelerated to triple time.

I am so thrilled for Carrie’s success and visibility. Her determination and persistence have paid off. I’d seen her at trunk shows at friends’ homes and at public trade shows toting her wares and promoting her message. I know what it takes to get where she’s arrived.Hard, hard work!

Another email message in my inbox today summed up Carrie’s journey perfectly:

“A vision without a task is but a dream. A task without a vision is drudgery.  A vision and a task are the hope of the world.”
~ Quote on a church wall in Sussex, England

I salute Carrie and Wouldn’t It B Nice and send her huge wishes for continued success.

I had the pleasure of receiving a copy of Young Guns: The Fearless Entrepreneur’s Guide to Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own by Robert Tuchman last week. Riding in on the train Thursday night  from CT to NYC, I had the opportunity to finish the quick read begun earlier in the week.

I was meeting five of my CTI Leadership tribe members for dinner. I found myself quoting passages of the book to a fellow Jaguar who is putting together a vision for a new business overseas. She brought up the subject of a business plan and how daunting that piece can be. Having just read a section about that in Tuchman’s book, I pulled it out of my bag and turned to page 47 showing an image of his one page hand-written plan that includes these (abbreviated) bullets:

• Best idea for a name for your busines
• Description of who your business will help (groups, market)
• Vision of what the company will look like in 5 years (employees, profits, salaries, etc.)
• Main goal to accomplish in the first year
• Three important and immediate goals in the next 30, 60 and 90 days to support the main goal

There, reproduced as an illustration, was one page of notebook paper the author used to flesh out his idea. It can be that simple.

What I most enjoyed about this book was the reminder of how big a part passion plays in the formula of business success. The author refers to this as the ‘homework’ test. If doing research for your business feels like work, something you have to do, forget it.

I’m going to the EWN Luncheon in a couple of hours. Some might look on a networking event as work, an obligation, something to check off the list. I can’t wait to go. I see lots of friends, former, current and prospective clients, and I am seen–an important piece of the networking puzzle. I love it! I’ll also hear a great speaker and wear a new outfit. Does this sound like work? And by the way, networking is my primary marketing tool. It’s how I get most of my business.

Of course there are bumps along the way. Tuchman tells hair-raising stories about being near the brink. But I’ll save that aspect of business ownership for another day.

How lucky am I, that what keeps my business flourishing is fun, rewarding, easy and social! Take it from Robert Tuchman’s easy-to-read new book–if you follow your passion, business success can be yours.

In almost every interchange I have with new clients there is a moment of reckoning about money.

“I’d like to earn more.”
“They’re not paying me enough.”
“I owe a lot.”

All vague.

One of my basic questions is “How much would you like to earn?” I want to hear the number. I want them to say the word. It begins a process of getting real about money. Then we break it down into what that translates to in terms of monthly, weekly, daily and hourly income. It’s a starting point and let’s the client know exactly where she is at the moment and what it will take to get to where she wants to go.

What invariably happens when a dollar amount is mentioned is that there is a sigh of relief. There it is in black and white. $50,000 or $5 million. The number doesn’t matter as much as its having been stated. In that moment there is clarity. You know where you’re going. The map has been drawn, the destination clear. The job then is to pack the bags with the necessary gear and move into action–figuring out how many client hours to accrue, how many warm letters need to be sent, how many prospects to market to.

This is all very basic, but so is eating less and exercising more to lose weight. You know what’s required, but who actually does it and allows themselves to be held accountable? That’s the beauty and value of coaching whether it’s business success, life balance or weight loss. There’s a live human being who cares, asks good questions and to whom you will report back.

Start noticing your own language when it comes to money. The more specific and aware you are, the more likely that you’re in the plus column in your own business ledger.

That was the message that stayed with me after hearing Pamela Slim speak yesterday at the EWN meeting–the season opener attended by nearly 100 women (a few guys, too) business owners. She is the author of Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur. Her message on branding came down to a succinct mantra: Amplify who you really are. And let people know who that is.

Hearing how she went from 3 blog readers to over 20,000 in a period of four years was riveting. One night, she said, she wrote a diatribe to America’s CEOs airing her thoughts about  everything that’s wrong with corporate America, then forwarded it to Guy Kawasaki. He asked her to edit her rant to a bulleted list of 10 items, which she did. Guy posted her article on his site and overnight, her readership zoomed to 20,000.  Opportunities came pouring in.

So here’s my opinion: Anyone who wants to should work for him/herself. And my top ten reasons to be an entrepreneur:

1. It’s one of the greatest freedoms you have in this country
2. You have the opportunity to create your own future.
3. You get to make as much or as little money as you want/can.
4. You have the prospect of bringing the gifts you’ve received to market in whatever form they take.
5. You are rewarded for your ingenuity, hard work, conscientiousness, creativity, uniqueness.
6. You can change course swiftly and respond to the market conditions.
7. You determine with and for whom you want to do business.
8. You can become as big as you wish or stay as small as you like.
9. You get to choose which 8-18 hours a day you work!
10. Your relationship with your boss can be the most gratifying experience in your life.

Guy, are you listening?

I had the most amazing opportunity this morning! As Speaker Chair for the upcoming WBDC Breakfast, I got to connect our stellar interviewer, Becky Surran, with our featured guest, Dr. Candida Brush, Division Chair in Entrepreneurship at Babson College, via phone for a pre-event discussion.

In coaching there’s a skill called “articulate what’s going on.” During the conversation with Becky and me, Candy articulated eloquently what goes on for women entrepreneurs in a way that capsulized everything I’d learned in my 30+ years in business.

Without giving away the store, here are some of the statements Candy made that underscored what it takes to be successful in business–particularly as a woman:

• A management team composed of a CEO, someone who manages the money, someone who manages the people, a marketing person and a techie. For many of us, we handle all these roles until we have the resources to hire experts. Simply accounting for the roles that need to be played was valuable to hear.
• For people starting businesses give yourself this marketing challenge: Name six customers who would pay you money for your product or service. You will begin to be able to see your fit in the marketplace with this exercise.
• She also touched on my favorite subject: creating your own definition of success. Everything we do as entrepreneurs requires action and then reflection. Did this get me what I wanted? Do I want to continue doing this? Was it worth the cost? Where am I going?

I know that Candy’s interview with Becky on October 1 will be invaluable to hear. Hope to see you there.

After a full day of assisting a coach training program I hopped the subway to my hotel, made a quick wardrobe change and took another subway to NYU where I was hosting a table for Women In Communications (WICI) at their Night of the Coaches. This was a brilliantly conceived event where coaches were showcased to members and guests of WICI.

The format was roundtable discussions (10 altogether) facilitated by coaches on subjects ranging from Crafting a Rock Star Pitch for Cover Letter and Interviews, to Negotiating in a Tough Economy and Building Your Freelance Career (my table). There were 10 women at each table, plus the coach and about 45 minutes to tackle the subject. I shared several tools and strategies for building a freelance business and opened the discussion to those in attendance. 

“Show, don’t tell” has become a favorite phrase for me. I can talk till I’m blue in the face about the value of coaching and get continuous blank stares. But, last night, when I paused the group as one participant lit about about copy editing, they all witnessed what happens when you are truly in your passion. This woman had asked about getting started doing freelance writing work. When I asked a question about what she liked about writing, she said, “I love helping my friends write essays for applications and making sure they’re letter-perfect [I'm paraphrasing.].” I suggested that she trust that pleasure and hang out her shingle, for now, in that capacity. “Trust that doing that will lead you to your next opportunity.” 

At my very first craft show, exhibiting my decorated eggs, a woman from Bloomingdale’s approached me–because I was there–and invited me to conduct a demonstration and workshop at the store. When you show up with your passion and make yourself available to opportunity, it comes knocking. Your job is to take action.

Two magnificent women business owners were featured at EWN’s Grand Networking Event on Monday night, and I was lucky enough to be among the 150+ women who got to hear them.

Carolyn, best known as Donald Trump’s right-hand woman from The Apprentice, spoke during the private cocktail hour. She’s launching her own entrepreneurial enterprise and shared her revelation as to how challenging it is to be in business for yourself, even with her background and credentials.

Of course she also shared juicy tidbits about working with The Donald, but was gracious enough to pretend (wink-wink) that it was the first time anyone had asked that question. No surprises. Just that she likes her Blackberry much more now that she’s her own boss.

Kelly Flatley is the founder and creator of Bear Naked, the granola company that was sold to Kellogg 18 months ago for $23+ million dollars. Kelly is 30. Her story is inspiring, generous and humble. I love what she stands for and what she’s created. She spoke between courses and had the roomful of women business owners enthralled with the simplicity of her message and key points.

What were my take-aways from the night?

• Carolyn saying entrepeneurship was HARD. It is, and it’s nice to hear someone with celebrity status acknowledging that.
• Kelly talked about picking the culture you want to create. She said she wanted to greet people at her company with high five’s rather than handshakes. It reminds me that my culture embraces authenticity and passion, not seven figures and stress.
• Being with the energy of all these great women carries me for days.
• I’m in good company.

I’d love to hear what other attendees thought.

My first offering of Transformation through Transition ended Monday with successes and hugs. Six women began the process a month ago by sharing where they were in their lives/businesses with almost-strangers. Two women who already knew each other had the seed of an idea to work together. Others were looking for direction, wanting to slow down or speed up and/or gain clarity on what was next.

They established support systems, set goals and took major actions like setting up appointments to look at property overseas and setting dates for workshops.

Accountability works! By the second session the energy level in our conference room could have lifted the entire building. I wanted to share the some of the final thoughts that were expressed in appreciation to the group and the process:

• “It was doing, not stewing.”
• “This process helps me to remember that it’s up to me.”
• “I felt nurtured. Your ideas matter. Moving forward is better. It makes me happy to be on this earth.”
• “I needed to hear it was okay to not be doing; to stop doing and just be.”

I’ve just listed a new set of dates for late spring, early summer transitioners. If there’s something you want to get a leg up on, join one of our sessions and don’t stew. Stir the pot instead.