The WSBA was founded by Mary McCarthy of Your Management Team and Catherine Worley of Your Management Team as well as Worley Law;  both women have built successful businesses focused on mentoring and supporting small businesses, and they’re thrilled to help women-owned businesses succeed. McCarthy stresses that mentors and a strong community are big keys in the success of new businesses.

“Women struggle a bit more than men in creating successful businesses, and at the very beginning there’s an even higher opportunity for failure,” McCarthy explained. “We want to help mentor and guide women to success. Many incubators and angel investors focus on technology, but helping these small businesses are really where we can turn the economy around.”

The WSBA offers co-working space so that women business owners can afford to work outside of their homes and become active in a community of other women experiencing the same struggles that come with entrepreneurship. Currently 1,500 square feet is available, but when renovations of the new space are complete, 6,000 square feet with the potential to house up to 35 women business owners will be at the WSBA at 403 W. Main Street in Westerville.

“Solopreneurs, the women who are working from home, the women who are ready to take their side business to a full-time job, these are our ideal women to help,” McCarthy said. “We want to offer these women mentoring, peer-to-peer networking opportunities and the space so they can work outside of their houses and coffee shops—and succeed.”

Monthly peer-to-peer roundtables focus on issues that affect small business owners, and the WSBA offers three six-month educational tracks that are segmented by the age of the companies and the financing involved.

“Our education program is very intense and will be beginning the first of the year,” McCarthy said. “The six-month program will help women create a strong foundation for their businesses by focusing on creating a business plan, sales plan, marketing plan and financial plan with guidance on how to properly implement what they’ve learned.”

The Inspired track is for businesses that are just beginning, The Determined is for struggling businesses with one to three years of experience in business, and The Empowered track helps businesses that are more than three years old to help develop a plan for growth.

The courses cost $250 a month for the six-month class, but the WSBA is hoping to subsidize both the co-working space as well as the educational tracks.

“We’re hoping for sponsors and grants so that our services can be available to all women,” McCarthy said. “We want every woman to have the opportunity to get the mentoring and the space that she needs.”

McCarthy stresses that the 90-percent failure rate for micro-businesses can be changed through the power of education and mentoring. Many business owners learn from their mistakes, but mistakes can be costly.

“We want to help women be successful the first time,” McCarthy said. “So many people want to own their own businesses so they can be in control. But sometimes these people forget they’re also in control of their learning, planning, and decisions. We want to give women the tools to make the decision to be a smart, effective business owner.”

If you’d like to join in one of the WSBA’s educational tracks or rent office space (or both!), please contact Mary McCarthy at mary@wsbaohio.org or call 614-602-6530 to learn more.

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So what exactly can Bad Girl Ventures offer you? A whole lot of invaluable training as well as a huge chunk of cash if you’ve got a great business idea.

BGV’s mission is to enable women entrepreneurs to build and sustain their businesses through education, guidance and access to capital. Bad Girl Ventures offers a combination of invaluable education with the opportunity to win a $25,000 loan during each of its nine week sessions. The nine week sessions are incredibly affordable $150 for all nine classes, or $25 for one. If you want to be in the running for the loan, you need to apply to become a finalist. Up to 10 finalists are chosen for each group of classes, and at the end one entrepreneur will be chosen to be the lucky recipient of a $25,000 loan. Even if you don’t end up the lucky gal with that chunk of capital, you’ll still end the nine week session with a business, marketing and financial plan to take you through the next three years.

Michelle Widner, who goes by Mike, began as the Director of Operations of the Columbus branch of Bad Girl Ventures in June, and can’t brag enough of how proud she is of Bad Girl Ventures and the talented women who take part in the classes. She stresses how impressive it is when these entrepreneurs commit to the work involved in creating their business plan, marketing and financial plans in such a short period of time.

“The women in our classes are going to hire people, influence the community and become important change makers,” Widner said. “These women are wives, mothers, have other jobs, and they make this commitment, and they will succeed.”

Classes are roughly an hour of lecture followed by about two hours of coaching and mentoring to help participants drill down to what they need to do for their businesses. This most recent session, which wrapped up just last week, features the following classes:

Week 1: Credit Education and Pitching Your Business
Week 2: Components of a Business Plan
Week 3: Marketing Essentials and Branding
Week 4: Leveraging Web and Social Media Marketing
Week 5: Accounting: From Start Up to Cash Flow
Week 6: Legal Basics
Week 7: Pricing Your Product or Service
Week 8: Accounting Essentials and the 15 Minute Pitch
Week 9: Financing Your Dream

Anyone can take the classes (including men), but finalists eligible for the loan are carefully chosen and must be willing to commit to doing the work involved with every class. The graduation for Columbus’ first class will be Thursday November 29, and at this time the winner of the $25,000 loan will be announced.

More than 400 businesses have taken advantage of Bad Girl Ventures services since the organization began in Cincinnati three years ago. The 12th class is being held in Cleveland during its second year, and Cincinnati has had 130 finalists since its inception.

Widner stresses how proud she is of Columbus’ first class. She proudly discusses the women involved, which include the following businesses: Dixon Industries-Flight School, Mindful Management-Stress Relief, Columbus Furniture Revival, Maraye Design-Educational Spaces, Sassafras Bakery, Fleur Girl-Flamboyant Florist and Hands-on Chef-Cooking Classes.

As 80-percent of female-owned businesses make less than $50,000 a year, it’s the goal of both Widner and Bad Girl Ventures as a whole to empower women to be more successful.

“The position for me is no longer a job; it’s a mission,” Widner said. “Everyone is bright and focused, and imagination runs rampant. These women are going to make a difference in the world.”

Anyone, including men, can take classes at Bad Girl Ventures. Learn more about their educational opportunities as well as what it takes to become a finalist at http://www.badgirlventures.com/

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see Patterns

Know thyself. And know what you like (e.g., I pretty much hate polka dots and toile). Apply this to your work-self and make time reflect on your own habits, proclivities, what you can expect of yourself. Recently while coaching one of my employees about missing deadlines — we uncovered that she was massively overbooking herself (and feeling like a slacker for not getting it all done at once!) But all she really needed was to temper her strong work ethic with the proper amount of down-time for herself in order to create her best work product.

just Curate

Be selective. Be thoughtful. You can only have so many knick knacks. Do you really want this vase as part of your tableau? So too with your menu of services and your network of clients. A colleague once told me that if I spread myself too thin, my own gifts could be diluted. The solution to this is to continue to choose wisely: network with everyone you can, but invest deeply in those with whom you identify a spark and want to build a long-term relationship with, be it a company, a client, or a coworker.

reject Scarcity

It’s fake. It’s all in your head. There is an abundance of opportunity waiting to greet you. Have you trolled Craigslist lately for “vintage bar cart?” The issue isn’t lack of supply, but rather the overabundance of choices and possibilities. Our brains don’t know what to do with all the chaos, so we sometimes default to our old jealousy narrative about begrudging others their “finds” (e.g., “If she gets her dream job, then that’s one less dream job available for me.”) Wrong.

understand Proportion

We all deal with problems of scale – (it’s not just a problem for sofas anymore, ladies). While we assume that the rapid growth of a business equals success, (as when I launched an editorial services company back in 2006) it is sometimes more difficult than having no growth at all. Ask yourself: what is the size of the thing I want to do and how will that fit into the room of my life? Will I have to take the door off its hinges?

go DIY

It’s the best ethic you have in your arsenal. No one is going to hand you your dream job on a silver platter, because chances are your dream job doesn’t exist yet. You have to craft it. Roll up your sleeves, gather your raw materials, put on your safety goggles, and buckle down to create something just a little bit above your skill level and outside your comfort zone. Because nothing you truly love comes “readymade.”

embrace Purpose

Purpose is the most important thing of all. In the interiors world, it means every object having a real job to do. In your work, it means having clarity around each thing you put your energy into, each task, each job, and each relationship. When I lead a team, host an event, or organize a meeting – I make the purpose explicit both to myself and to the people I am inviting into the conversation. Everything deserves meaning.

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Things to worry about:
Worry about courage
Worry about Cleanliness
Worry about efficiency
Worry about horsemanship
Worry about…

Things not to worry about:
Don’t worry about popular opinion
Don’t worry about dolls
Don’t worry about the past
Don’t worry about the future
Don’t worry about growing up
Don’t worry about anybody getting ahead of you
Don’t worry about triumph
Don’t worry about failure unless it comes through your own fault
Don’t worry about mosquitoes
Don’t worry about flies
Don’t worry about insects in general
Don’t worry about parents
Don’t worry about boys
Don’t worry about disappointments
Don’t worry about pleasures
Don’t worry about satisfactions

Things to think about:
What am I really aiming at?
How good am I really in comparison to my contemporaries in regard to:
(a) Scholarship
(b) Do I really understand about people and am I able to get along with them?
(c) Am I trying to make my body a useful instrument or am I neglecting it?

Image from Flickr user cliff1066

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1.     What else are you working on? (Because I know that you are.)

I’m still adding select community management clients for my side business. I’ve got two who I expect will be official new clients by the end of the month.

I’ve also got a few new websites I’m in the early planning stages of. I’m also joining a new magazine as a writer and a new podcast network as a show host… I’m hoping to find other good-fit freelance writing and “personality” gigs, too. Oh, I also co-organize TechKaraoke Columbus, so hopefully we’ll have another event soon!

2.     So what are your thoughts on time management?

I block out certain amounts of time every day for clients because it’s important to me to spend at least an hour and a half a day every day focusing on them. I use rememberthemilk.com for task management and both the website and the app have changed my life. My email strategy is to leave every message in the inbox until it’s been addressed. Once I do my step in the email, I respond and move it. If more than five messages sit in my inbox, I’m already losing. My iPhone calendar is my best friend.

I try to make it to at least two to three events every week to network, to promote Drink Up Columbus and to see and be seen. These events are just as important as everything else that I do, but they’re the hardest. When I’m exhausted after a long day, those events are the easiest to cut. My mental sanity is more important than my physical presence at a venue.

3.     How do you stay motivated as an entrepreneur?

I know my limits. I know when I need to relax at home. My husband is incredibly supportive of me. He hates board games, but when I need to take my mind of work, he’s willing to sit and play for hours, even if he’s falling asleep.

I also like to work in anywhere but my home. For me writing involves a bar, a beer and some weird ambience. I have a great little Greek place that plays weird ‘80s music where I like to write. And plus I look stressed all the time when I’m there, so they’re incredibly nice to me.

4.     What advice do you have for entrepreneurs just starting out?

• Get a legal business entity

I started working with my first client before I started a legal business. Not that I’ve ever been sued or had a client violate a contract, but I needed to make sure that all of that was in place just in case. I put off the LLC paperwork at first, but it took me maybe 2-3 hours total and $125 to file it, which was definitely worth it.

• Get a business banking account

Starting a business banking account took me walking to a bank and having a 20-minute conversation with a banker. I would recommend doing that immediately.

• Get an accountant

I don’t want to deal with finances so finding a great accountant was important for me. I use Upsourced Accounting, which is focused on helping solopreneurs like myself. A big accounting firm was unrealistic cost wise, but Upsourced is very affordable and offers the basics of what I need with bookkeeping, invoicing and taxes.

• Have a contract ready to go

A good contract is an important asset to have on hand ready to send. I’m still working on perfecting that.

• Strategic partnerships and building relationships are my key to success

My business cards, my friend that taught me how to set up my website, the person who designed my website, these were all from favors and trades. I make it clear that I’m willing to help them if they can help me. I don’t know what I would do without strategic partnerships. I need to find more of them.

5.     Any advice for small businesses on how to tackle social media management more effectively?

Don’t force yourself into a schedule of writing, blogging, and updating social networks at a certain time. If you do, you’ll probably end up in a cycle of posting bad content. If you share five pointless posts a week, I’ll probably unfollow you before you post something worthwhile. Don’t add content for the sake of adding content; add valuable content. Have a strategy in place that helps you know what you’re going to talk about. Don’t just talk about your brand, talk about topics that the people who care about your brand will care about.

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Another great aspect of industry-based conferences is the set of informative sessions. Typically, conferences offer a buffet of sessions that measure industry trends, address issues, share best practices that can help a company correct or enhance its current path to success.

So, when a great industry-based conference and expo comes around, I’m always torn. Do I register as an exhibitor or as an attendee? Which is the best approach to accomplish my networking goals?

Show & Tell

As an exhibitor, you have the best opportunity to connect with the largest number of conference attendees. This is the time to:

• Promote the launch of your newest product or service
• Collect email addresses to grow your e-newsletter distribution list
• Hand out promotional giveaways to increase your brand visibility

Another advantage is that, during exhibit setup and teardown hours, many exhibitors make time to network and exchange information in order to follow up with each other after the conference.

Dare to Share

You can be just as strategic as a conference attendee. You may not be armed with your eight foot company banner or a stack of brochures to hand out during session breaks, but you do have your business cards, your friendly appearance, and your voice.

Before you arrive at the registration table, be sure to do your homework. Which expo exhibitors would be the most advantageous to visit? Which sessions have the potential to provide the most suitable solutions for your business? In which sessions can you engage in insightful discussions to help discover solutions for other professionals?

The next time you mark your calendar for an upcoming conference and expo, determine how to participate in a way that is beneficial to both you and the people you’ll meet on that eventful day.

Photo from Flickr User University of Exeter

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I do a four-point check-up focused on brand awareness, financial health, operational health, and strategic health. For each of these health checkpoints, I’ve identified key indicators (like blood pressure) that would indicate whether I was healthy or not.  My brand awareness metrics encompass both social media and word-of-mouth marketing effectiveness, by focusing on things like shares, blog visits, and downloads /click-throughs. My operational metrics are more varied because of my strategy. I have different market segments and therefore, slightly different metrics to encompass those segments. For training and learning advisory services, I focus on customer recommendations and comparison ratings, and bookings. But for my alliance network, the metrics are quite different. The financial metrics are straight-forward, I focus on margin. Because there are only two ways to impact margin, either increase revenue or decrease expenses; it pretty much gets me to what I need to know. I try to check myself against these quarterly, but I don’t sweat it if I slip by a month. The point is not to be rigid with it but to be informed, so that you can respond appropriately. So how did my 9-month check-up turn-out? There were some green – keep it up. There were some yellow – you’re borderline let’s put a bit more focus on this. And there was one red – you really need to look at this and decide what you want to do. The beauty of seeing that red spot now– I’m able to take action while it’s just a little lump. Six months from now, it could be a tumor. That’s why every business owner has to ask themselves three questions:

1. Have you defined your fitness goals?
2. Do you know your fitness numbers?
3. When was your last fitness check-up?

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So how does she keep everything together with both her full-time day job and her handful of side hustles? I decided to ask Cheryl how she stays organized, how she stays motivated and how she’s gotten to where she is today.

1.     How did you get started working with small businesses to help them with their marketing?

I got involved with my first client, Woodlands Tavern, about two years ago. I was a regular there and one day tried to convince the management that the bar should be more involved with social media, and they agreed and convinced me that I should be the one to do it. They almost immediately saw a positive difference in the business once I started managing their social media networks. About six or seven months after I started helping Woodlands, the owner referred a few other businesses to me, which was great because between my other projects I had very little time for business development of my own. Every client of mine since then has come to me either through a direct referral or by finding my blog. It’s funny that I offer a marketing service that I barely market.

2.     Your personal blog and Drink Up Columbus both get quite a bit of traffic and you’ve been voted as one of the top three bloggers in Columbus by readers of (614) Magazine. How did you get started blogging?

I started BeingCheryl.com when I was still in college because it seemed like a viable way to stand out from other PR candidates. I started talking about PR and marketing like a lot of the other public relations majors, but that was boring because I don’t really fit as that type of person. So I slowly shifted my blog to being a personality site, and my blog became a lot more popular when I talked about what was going in my life—especially since I was a PR student talking about PR with next to no experience in PR.

After a few years of running my personal blog and contributing to some work-related blogs, I started a video podcast about local beer and events with a friend of mine. The format was wrong for what we were discussing, and the amount of effort required to make a successful video podcast was beyond us at the time, so it didn’t work out. About a year later the same friend and I, with a few others, revisited the idea and decided to tweak the format and content to launch what is now Drink Up Columbus.

3.     How have you found success with Drink Up Columbus, and how has your role evolved since you first started the website?

Initially we had almost a dozen contributors to the site who were each going to focus on different aspects of the local drinks scene, and I was just going to handle the copyediting and marketing of the site. As focus shifted and many of the initial contributors dropped out of the project, I took on more of an editorial role, including recruiting new writers and finding story ideas. I continue to handle all of our marketing and social media, and I also organize all of our events.

The site currently gets over 5,000 visitors per month and has over 250 RSS subscribers and several thousands of social media followers. We’ve had over 200 people show up to each of our face-to-face events, too.

Stay tuned for Part II with Cheryl Harrison to learn what advice she’d offer to new entrepreneurs. 

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Read through the October President’s Report to get the whole picture. The focus is clearly on growing opportunities for women in business.

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Plenty of entrepreneurs are much happier once they decide to strike out on their own to follow their own dreams. But if you still struggle to start working in the morning, maybe it’s time to make some changes.

Amber Rae, founder of The Bold Academy, a life accelerator designed to help individuals lead the lives they want, recently wrote a great article for Fast Company asking people to really look at their days to help them understand if they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing with their lives.

Here are Amber’s eight signs that you’ve found “the one” in you work:

1. It doesn’t feel like work.
2. You are aligned with your core values.
3. You are willing to suffer.
4. You experience frequent flow.
5. You make room for living.
6. Commitment is an honor.
7. The people who matter notice.
8. You fall asleep exhausted, fulfilled and ready for tomorrow.

Read the full post from Fast Company here. Are you doing what you should be doing with your life?

Featured image from Flickr user craigCloutier

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