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Happy Entrepreneuring!

Katherine

Trying to choose a restaurant…is their menu online? What are the hours of that new clothing store downtown? What was that gardening class that I saw at the nursery?

Those kinds of questions can’t be answered by the phone book and I’m not likely to get in the car and drive over to find out. Sadly, I’m also the type that doesn’t like picking up the phone and having to call. Well, I might to find out a store’s hours, but if i was seeking more than just basic information, chances are that I won’t call.

If you’re like me, you’re not a web guru. And being a small business person, I don’t have a whole chunk of money allocated to web development. I also don’t have a lot of time to self-educate on the latest software or coding methods. I’ve done the chore of browsing through hundreds of templates but never quote find one that fits the bill. I always want to tweak something or change a color or a texture and then you start racking up fees for customization for ONE site. If you have more than one site, you have to go through the whole thing all over again. Refer back to the chunk of money comment. It goes quick, doesn’t it?!

So, what’s to be done?

I have been noticing that there are some wonderful (and affordable!) software tools that are specifically designed to make web design easy.

One tool I have personally used for this site is Artisteer. It is especially great for creating designs for WordPress. The software will make design suggestions and then you can go in and adjust the colors, layout and graphics. It’s very easy and intuitive to use. It is available for download and comes in two different versions based upon export options and some expanded graphics elements.

www.Artisteer.com - $49.95 – $129.95

If you’re looking for the added simplicity of wrapping design/hosting/domain registration into one tidy package, there are a couple of options available.

GoDaddy has their Website Tonight® tool. I’ve used this tool, too and it’s very easy to use. I especially like the ability to go in and make changes and publish to the web with one click. They offer a variety of templates that are virtually plug and play with you just inputting your own text and graphics. While there are several color options for each template, you are limited to those specific colors and layouts.

www.GoDaddy.com – Each plan includes hosting and ranges from $3.99 – $12.99 per month based on size needs and payment plans.

Another tool that looks really nifty is one at Yola that I read about in my latest Entrepreneur magazine. It looks to be quite similar to GoDaddy’s tool but they also offer a free version. Yes, you read that right, I said FREE! For the free version, you would have a subdomain of their site (for example: www.YourSiteName.YolaSite.com). They also have the option of having a custom design created for $349.

www.Yola.com – FREE to $49.95 per year. $349 for custom design.

Intuit also has a website template service. Like GoDaddy and Yola, you simply have to choose a template, plug in your information and click to publish with their hosting. They also offer a 30-day free trial if you want to test it out.

www.Intuit.com – $4.99 per month.

These are just a handful of tools in an ever increasing number of options. I’m personally hoping for a marriage between the design portion and the hosting/one click publishing portion and more of the functionality for those of us that market and sell products online – shopping carts, autoresponders, list management, affiliate management. But it’s getting closer and closer all the time. But for now, you just need to get out there and online. With tools like these, you can make that happen in a couple of hours with just a couple of clicks.

What are you waiting for??

Happy Entrepreneuring!

Katherine

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Happy Entrepreneuring!

The following are some sources for funds that can be used for your business needs:

1. Personal savings – Many start ups rely on savings to finance their business. This is the most cost effective source of funding but you need to use wisdom. Don’t put your family’s future in jeopardy by blowing through your life’s savings.

2. Bootstrapping – This is a method of self reliance that is also very cost effective. Money produced is poured back into the company to avoid the need for outside funding. This also means that growth has to be controlled so that costs can be controlled, which in my view, is a good thing. Uncontrolled growth can create a whole host of problems.

3. Family and Friends – Oftentimes, loved ones can provide funds for a start up entrepreneur. However, proceed with caution; these relationships are the most important in your life.

4. Small Business Administration – The Small Business Administration has a loan guarantee program where, if you’re approved, they will guarantee a portion of your small business loan.

5. Bank Loans – This is a more traditional form of financing. Bank requirements have become quite stringent and you may have to supply personal assets as collateral.

6. Investors – Securing funds from an investor is difficult, but not impossible. An investor will provide funds, either their own (angel investor) or those from a managed fund (venture capitalist), for your business. In return, they often expect not only debt repayment but also ownership equity in your business.

Happy Entrepreneuring!

Katherine

However, I want to point out that while they are indeed courageous and talented and admirable, I’m just a whole lot more impressed when people who are older take the leap toward their dreams.

How much more courage does it take to leap off the entrepreneurial cliff when you have a family to support? With things like braces. And college tuition. And the garage or bedroom that their young entrepreneur child is working out of.

And a mortgage to cover?

And when your family and friends are much more likely to say whatareyaNUTS???

I find myself in awe of many mid-life start up entrepreneurs and this article is going to show you that you CAN follow your dreams, even if you’re 30, 40, 50 or beyond. To quote part of the title of a book from one of my favorite authors, Barbara Sher, It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now.

I’ve come up with some examples to prove it’s true.

Some of the following people are very famous names that you will most certainly recognize, some may not be known worldwide, but they are still very worthy of admiration.

Ray Kroc, Founder, McDonald’s Corporation
Went from being a milkshake machine salesman to a partner with the McDonald brothers at the age of 52. Six years later, Kroc was 58 and when the brothers wanted to limit the franchise of the restaurants, he bought out the McDonald brother’s stake in the restaurant chain.

Colonel Sanders, Founder Kentucky Fried Chicken
At the age of 40, Harland Sanders was running a service station and serving chicken dishes out of his living quarters. Later he moved to a motel with a restaurant that seated 142 people and worked as the chef. At the age of 65 Sanders used $105 from his first Social Security check to start the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.

Julia Child, Chef, Author and Television Personality
In 1951, at the age of 38, Child along with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle began to teach cooking to American women in Child’s Paris kitchen, calling their informal school L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes (The School of the Three Food Lovers). The three worked on a cookbook together which was eventually published in 1961.

Ed Sullivan, Entertainment Writer and Television Host
At the age of 47, Ed Sullivan went from being a newspaper columnist to being the host of the weekly Sunday night TV variety show – Toast of the Town – which later became The Ed Sullivan Show.

Jo Fuchs Luscombe, Former Connecticut State Representative
After spending most of her life as a stay at home mom, Jo entered the world of politics. At age 48, she ran for and won a seat in the state of Connecticut’s House of Representatives. After eight years in the seat, she became the Republican Minority Whip.

Mary Orlando, Owner, Mary Stuart House
At the age of 62, Mary purchased the historic home she had lived in as a child and turned it into a successful bed and breakfast.

Jean Karotkin, Photographer and Author
Jean had never taken a professional photograph before but as a breast cancer survivor she, at the age of 46, had a vision and dream for photographs of other survivors, showing their strength and beauty. Five years later, she had not only pulled her dream into reality, but was exhibiting her work at the Houston Center for Photography and was featured in top magazines like Oprah and Rosie.

Rainelle Burton, Author
At fifty-two, after working twenty years at Michigan Blue Cross and dealing with dyslexia, homelessness and depression, Rainelle Burton published a critically-acclaimed first novel.

 Jim Minick, Owner, Home Care Georgia
At age 51, Jim was fearful of being laid off. So he started an elder-care business in 2003 that helps people with daily tasks at home, such as getting dressed.

Poppy Bridger, Owner Anaheim Test Labs
Poppy worked as a PhD chemist for 45 years and retired at the age of 69. On her 72nd birthday, she was offered an opportunity to buy the lab she had worked at. She took her savings and went back to work.

Sylvia Lieberman, Creator of Archibald Mouse Books
Sylvia wrote a children’s story as part of a course in Writing for the Juvenile Reader. The instructor recognized her talent and urged her to seek publishing. However, it wasn’t until she was a grandmother that Sylvia’s book was published and appearing on bookstore shelves.

 Happy Entrepreneuring!

Katherine

Happy Entrepreneuring!

Katherine

Are you one of those people that were born knowing what they wanted to be when they grew up? No? Me, either. I spent years taking aptitude tests, personality tests, skills assessments and everything else I could find to try and help figure it out. I kept waiting, hoping that I’d come across the perfect assessment tool and suddenly the clouds would part, a ray of sunlight would burst through illuminating the answer and a heavenly choir would rise with the appropriate soundtrack. That never happened either.

So, I kept searching. I attended seminars. I tried on jobs. I read books.

And years went by. Still I was no closer to having an answer to the question of which direction I should point my vocational ship.

One day I was in a bookstore, perusing the shelves for the latest in career soul searching material when I saw a title that created a mini version of my desired moment of illumination. “I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It.” I thought “EXACTLY!!”

I snatched it off the shelf, raced home and started reading. The epiphany continued. At first I skimmed through the reading and skipped over the exercises. Then I went back and actually did the work. This book did more for me to help me discover my direction than any other book I’ve read.

Having said that, it wasn’t the perfect tool. Yes, it pointed me in the right direction but it took a bit more refining to fine tune things. But just having a direction was incredibly freeing! I’m very much a planner and it didn’t do a lot to help me in that area. However, that’s also part of what spurred me to start this website. There are lots of folks out there who want to help you figure out our dreams – this one was the best fit for me. There are also lots of folks who want to be your cheerleader along the way while you make it happen. There aren’t a whole lot of folks out there who will help you plot a path from choosing a direction to making it happen so I wanted to help fill the gap.

Anyhoo, if you’re still searching and unsure of the direction you want to go in when you grow up, (although I’m not sure if I ever really want to grow up) this book may be a good fit for you, too.

Happy entrepreneuring!

Katherine

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