What? A radio interview? Me?

Being a serial entrepreneur I started networking as a means to get out and meet people.  My primary market was not entrepreneurs but the poor federal employee with little to no budget.  These employees are visited by me and other defense contractor business development sales people on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.  I found myself working at a home office a lot and missing the water cooler talk so to speak.

My adventures into networking took me to a group called SLCircle (Formerly known as Entrepreneur Circle).  I have been involved with this group for over two years and I am on the board for this large networking group located in Utah.

I got the chance to speak on Women in Business and that led me to my latest adventure, a radio show.  Tysen Webb of the GoForItShow.  How does one prepare for a radio show?  With Tysen it was easy.  He guided me through the questions and I just answered them off the cuff.  I arrived at his recording studio in his basement and he put headphones and a microphone in my face.  We took a selfie of course.

 

We talked about my early beginnings in a small Utah town called Morgan.  How I started my first entrepreneur effort.  We talked about my new company BigSexyWords.  Listening to it later I realized I did have some ums and pauses but it was super fun.

Please listen to the podcast here -> http://www.goforitshow.com/59/

I am extremely grateful that I get to influence other entrepreneurs through my life story and get to meet people like Tysen Webb.  So many talented people in the universe!

Have you helped an entrepreneur today?

According to this article 5 Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs, an entrepreneur has:

1. An unwavering passion.
2. Open-mindedness
3. The desire to be an expert.
4. A forward-looking approach.
5. A constant flow of ideas.

1.    But do they have money?  Very few can follow their dreams because they don’t have the financing.  I have personally fed entrepreneurs, let them sleep on my couch for a few days, and the ultimate happened this weekend when I let an independent film crew film a horror movie trailer, Diabolic, in my house.  This meant feeding them and having them invade my personal space two nights in a row.  It was a small sacrifice on my part and I hope the trailer finds them money to fund their project.

I have been able to start a new business because my other business is self sustaining…for now.  The business is BigSexyWords and we are copy writers.  I have given writing projects away for free not only to help other entrepreneurs on their way but give my own writers a chance to have some different projects that will enhance their writing ability and also give me a test of their skill.

I have been in business for 8 years and I have had excellent mentors and help along the way.  It makes me feel good to give back.  The point is I am an entrepreneur and I love other entrepreneurs and their projects.  It is exciting.  It is a drug to feel the positive energy and the excitement of them believing in their passion.  

Some great advice for an Executive Summary

Investors, lenders, executives, managers, and other business leaders are extremely busy. I equate it to the saying:

They say I have A.D.H.D. they just don’t understand…oh look a squirrel!

That means that the Executive Summary has to be compelling and leave an unforgettable first impression for your business plan to get read.  Sometimes the Executive Summary is the only thing the decision maker will read.  Your goal is to get in the door and a great Executive Summary is the key factor.

What is an Executive Summary?

The Executive Summary tells the reader where your company is, where you want to take it, and why your business idea will be successful. If you are seeking financing, the executive summary is also your first opportunity to grab a potential investor’s interest. 

The Executive Summary should highlight the strengths of your overall plan and therefore be the last section you write. However, it usually appears first in your business plan document.

Business Plan for Existing Businesses

Company Information

This section should include information about your business, the names of the founders and their roles, how long you have been in business, type of work you do, partnerships, number of employees and business location(s).

Highlights

This section should contain financial or marketing highlights, projected sales and profits, unit sales, profitability and keys to success.  This is a great place to put a colorful graph or chart to show sales, gross margin and profits.  Remember to follow each chart with an explanation of the numbers.

Product/ServicesDescribe your products and/or services.

Financial Information

A list of your current investors and your information about the relationship with your bank and possible credit references and/or trade partners would be important to mention here.

Future Plans

Where do you want to take your business?  What is the plan for the next three years?

Business Plan for Investors

Company Information

This section should include information about your business, the names of the founders and their roles, partnerships, patents or technology, and special marketing approaches. 

Problem

You must identify the problem that the investor will solve.

Solution

How do your product and/or service solve the problem?

Target Market

Explain who your ideal customer is.  It is not everyone but a specific group of people or businesses that need your product and/or service.

Competition

Who is your competition and why are you better?

Goals

What are the upcoming goals and how do you intend to achieve them?

Guidelines

1.      Should be two pages or less in length.

2.      Written in language appropriate for the target audience.

3.      Consist of short and concise paragraphs.

4.      Have a conclusion.

5.      Should be able to stand alone if the rest of the business plan or report is absent.

6.      Make readers want to read the whole business plan.  Be compelling.

7.      Write it after you have written everything else in your business plan.  This way you can summarize and explain your company.

Often an investor or business leader will make a decision to continue reading a business plan with the impression the executive summary gives.

References:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_summary, http://www.sba.gov/content/business-plan-executive-summary, http://articles.bplans.com/writing-an-executive-summary/

SBA Finalizes Rule Adopting Changes to Contracting Program for Women-Owned Small Businesses

The Small Business Administration published an interim rule to lift the existing caps on federal contract awards for the Women-Owned Small Business program. The new interim rule is effective immediately, according to the Federal Register Notice.

The provision is expected to benefit women-owned small federal contractors. It was approved by Congress and the White House in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA) signed by the president in January. 

The interim final rule removes the anticipated award price of the contract thresholds for women-owned small businesses (WOSB) and economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSB) to allow them greater access to federal contracting opportunities without limitations to the size of the contract.   The rule can be accessed at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-05-07/html/2013-10841.htm and comments can be submitted on or before June 6, 2013, at www.regulations.gov, identified by the following RIN number:  RIN 3245-AG55.

As a result of the rule change, contracting officers will be able to set aside specific contracts for certified WOSBs and EDWOSBs at any dollar level which will help federal agencies achieve the existing statutory goal of five percent of federal contracting dollars being awarded to WOSBs. The SBA is currently working on the changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

Prior to the rule change, the anticipated award price of the contract for women-owned and economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses could not exceed $6.5 million for manufacturing contracts and $4 million for all other contracts.

Get that SBA Certification

For companies wanting to obtain government work the best way to get started is to obtain one of the four SBA Certifications.  It is imperative you get started now in reaching that goal.  The certifications are :  8(a) Certification, WOSB, Hubzone, and SDVOSB.  According to the SBA Statutory Guidelines the following is a breakdown of targets of awards to these businesses:

• 23% of prime contracts for small businesses;
• 5% of prime and subcontracts for women-owned small businesses;
• 5% of prime and subcontracts for small disadvantaged businesses;
• 3% of prime and subcontracts for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses;
• 3% of prime subcontracts for HUBZone small businesses.

Federal agencies are required to make every available effort to comply with these statutory targets, so small businesses with certifications are given contracting opportunities not available to other companies. These certifications allow for the following two ways to break into government contracting:

1. Set-aside contracts allow the procurement officer greater ease in contract award and provide for a way around the formalized bidding process making it more likely for the company to be awarded a contract. 
2. Joint Ventures give the SBA certified company the ability to use the other company’s capabilities and past performance to secure contracts. The joint venture firm is usually in need of the SBA certificate holder’s inclusion in the bid in order to be awarded the contract. 

You can see the advantage of having one of these certifications but what do you do next?  As always, we entrepreneurs sometimes have a problem planning.  Visualize yourself with one of these statuses.  You must be a small business.  You must keep meticulous records.  There is a lot of paperwork involved getting the status as well as maintaining the status.

I was in business for almost two years when I applied.  By the time they reviewed my paperwork I did not need to file the two year waiver.  I also had to prove gender discrimination which requires at least 10 stories relating to how you were discriminated based on gender.  The process was arduous but so worth it.  There are many lessons to be learned along the way and I will be blogging about those lessons. 

Richard Schwartz, Effective Networking

I have the opportunity to serve the Entrepreneurs Circle meetup.com group by being on the advisory board.  This week we had the greatest opportunity to hear from our founder, Richard Schwartz, Phd. on Secrets of Effective Networking in Business Development.

The most important parts of business development are relationship, visibility and trust.  He described some common Utahisms:

• Expect something for nothing
• Afraid to say no directly
• We stay in our little silos
• Different is bad
• Afraid to commit
• 20 miles is too far to go to build my business

Wow…isn’t this the truth!  Being a native Utahan I have totally done some of these things well except the driving…I am constantly driving.  These don’t just apply to business development either.

Another important concept I took from the meeting is to value your weak connections.  Now what is a weak connection?  This person is more like an acquaintance.  The weak connection can get you in front of the right people or know about the right opportunity.  They are not your closest friend but they know you or of you.

Richard is unselfishness in his networking.  He encourages pay it forward concepts and helping others.  He has been a success story because as he describes it…he was one of those geeks and has obviously taken himself to another level of public speaking and mentoring.  Because he is a geek he has analyzed networking groups all around Utah and has taken the best concepts from each of them to form a fantastic networking group.

The meeting had intense synergy and I took many things from the meeting and encourage other Utah entrepreneurs to join this proactive networking group.

Top 10 Motivational Songs to Start 2013

Everyone knows I love, love, love MUSIC! All genres and so these are some of the songs that motivate me to be successful! 

1. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield 

 “Live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten.”

 


2.  Who Says - Selena Gomez and The Scene 

 “I wouldn't wanna be anybody else”

 


3.  Gold - Britt Nicole 

 “Well everybody keeps score, afraid you're gonna lose Just ignore they don't know the real you All the rain in the sky can't put out your fire Of all the stars out tonight, you shine brighter”

 


4. Perfect – Pink 

“Pretty, pretty please Don't you ever, ever feel 
Like your less than F----' perfect.
Pretty, pretty please If you ever, ever feel 
Like your nothing 
You're f-----' perfect to me.”

 


5.  Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall 

 “Suddenly I see (suddenly I see) This is what I wanna be”

 


6.  Born This Way - Lady Gaga 

“I'm beautiful in my way' 
Cause God makes no mistakes 
I'm on the right track, baby I was born this way”

 


7.  Firework - Katy Perry 

“'Cause, baby, you're a firework Come on, show 'em what you're worth”

 


8.  Time of My Life - David Cook 

“And I’ll taste every moment and live it out loud 
I know this is the time, 
this is the time to be More than a name or a face in the crowd 
I know this is the time, this is the time of my life, my life”

 


9.  Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw 

“Skydiving 
I went Rocky mountain climbing 
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Blue Manchu 
And I loved deeper 
And I spoke sweeter 
And I watched an eagle as it was flying" And he said 
"Someday I hope you get the chance To live like you were dying”

   


10. I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty 

“Well I know what's right, I got just one life 
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around 
But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down”

 

 Bonus Track (I couldn’t pick just ten) 


11.  Upside Down - Jack Johnson 

“Who's to say what's impossible and can't be found? I don't want this feeling to go away”

 

 Have a most awesome day!