Empowering Mom has moved to a new site, ya'll!!
We hope you will check us out at www.empoweringmomblog.com where we will continue to provide you with our personal accounts of lives as business owners and moms who are determined to reach each dream and goal we have set for ourselves.
Thanks so much for checking us out. We hope you'll follow us on our journey and we look forward to following you on yours!
Sincerely,
Tisha and Debbie
Empowering Mom Bloggers
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Maybe a Millionaire in Training...
I'm extremely excited because I applied to be one of 7 Millionaires... in Training by Adrian Cartwood. He's some random guy I found online who runs a blog about his 7 year journey to 7+millions, and now he's going to take 7 random people and train them to do the same. It's part of his Grand Experiment.
I applied - totally not expecting much out of it, and then discovered I was featured on his blog - there is still time to apply actually, so if you wanna be a millionaire in training, you should get your butt over to http://7m7y.com/2008/05/18/meet-debbie/ see my mini-bio page and then click on the apply link.
The 7 people are goign to be chosen on June 2nd, so there is no time to lose :) It's free- you don't have to pay anything. You might be featured in a book about Adrian's experiment later, but can't see how that would be a bad thing!
Wish me luck,
Debbie
I applied - totally not expecting much out of it, and then discovered I was featured on his blog - there is still time to apply actually, so if you wanna be a millionaire in training, you should get your butt over to http://7m7y.com/2008/05/18/meet-debbie/ see my mini-bio page and then click on the apply link.
The 7 people are goign to be chosen on June 2nd, so there is no time to lose :) It's free- you don't have to pay anything. You might be featured in a book about Adrian's experiment later, but can't see how that would be a bad thing!
Wish me luck,
Debbie
Saturday, May 17, 2008
5 Ways to Ensure Profit
Operating a business today is not easy. Operating a successful business and turning a profit is even harder. There is no secret code to solve. No million dollar answer to provide relief. I have managed in the restaurant industry for over 20 years. Over that time I have had the opportunity to work with many great leaders. They shared their wealth of knowledge with me. Let me pass a little on to you. Here are 5 good ways to ensure money on your bottom line.(profit).
Hiring
Good hiring is the key to any business. Although it is not an easy thing to do, especially when you are short handed, never hire someone on the spot. Set up a second interview. when you hire on the spot you are playing Russian roulette. Check out references, both personal and employment. It takes time, but in the end, you enhance your chances of finding a good employee. Good employees are the seeds of profit.
Train to Retain
One of the most well known facts in any business is the importance of solid training. It has been found that the number one reason that employees quit their jobs is because they felt improperly trained. They felt like they were just turned loose on their jobs. Efficient training is beneficial in many ways. First it helps with retaining of good employees. Second, a well trained employee will do his or her job more efficiently, therefore the opportunity for profit is enhanced.
Time Management
Prepare your schedule to meet your business needs. Do not over staff, but also do not customer service which will cause profits to suffer. Organize your time wisely. Focus on your labor on the hour. Even on the half hour. Its that important.
Q.S.C
Quality, Service and Cleanliness. These 3 issues drive any successful business. You must deliver a quality product. Outstanding customer service is essential. Cleanliness is vital to return customers. These issues can make or break a business. That slim line between success and failure. Follow the golden rule: Treat customers as you would like to be treated and you will prosper.
Employee Satisfaction
I cannot emphasize the importance of taking care of your employees. All to often we get caught up in numbers and operations that we forget the team members that are the strength of our success. Reward and praise them when they deserve it. Take care of them and you increase your chances of them taking care of you.
* * *
This is a guest post provided by Will Curl, a student of MakeMoneyFromWriting.com, where he is learning about the writing process and starting his own profitable freelance writing business.
Hiring
Good hiring is the key to any business. Although it is not an easy thing to do, especially when you are short handed, never hire someone on the spot. Set up a second interview. when you hire on the spot you are playing Russian roulette. Check out references, both personal and employment. It takes time, but in the end, you enhance your chances of finding a good employee. Good employees are the seeds of profit.
Train to Retain
One of the most well known facts in any business is the importance of solid training. It has been found that the number one reason that employees quit their jobs is because they felt improperly trained. They felt like they were just turned loose on their jobs. Efficient training is beneficial in many ways. First it helps with retaining of good employees. Second, a well trained employee will do his or her job more efficiently, therefore the opportunity for profit is enhanced.
Time Management
Prepare your schedule to meet your business needs. Do not over staff, but also do not customer service which will cause profits to suffer. Organize your time wisely. Focus on your labor on the hour. Even on the half hour. Its that important.
Q.S.C
Quality, Service and Cleanliness. These 3 issues drive any successful business. You must deliver a quality product. Outstanding customer service is essential. Cleanliness is vital to return customers. These issues can make or break a business. That slim line between success and failure. Follow the golden rule: Treat customers as you would like to be treated and you will prosper.
Employee Satisfaction
I cannot emphasize the importance of taking care of your employees. All to often we get caught up in numbers and operations that we forget the team members that are the strength of our success. Reward and praise them when they deserve it. Take care of them and you increase your chances of them taking care of you.
* * *
This is a guest post provided by Will Curl, a student of MakeMoneyFromWriting.com, where he is learning about the writing process and starting his own profitable freelance writing business.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
A Look At Virtual Entrepreneurs Like Us
Dane Carlson's site http://www.business-opportunities.biz/offers an excellent article reconfirming our belief that acting on your passion for whatever you love to do can be not only worth it but incredibly successful.
Visit Dane's site here and check out the article.
Keep aspiring and moving forward and you too can acheive great things!
Happy Tuesday!
Visit Dane's site here and check out the article.
Keep aspiring and moving forward and you too can acheive great things!
Happy Tuesday!
Friday, May 2, 2008
A Day In the Life of an Online Freelance Writer (and Mom)
Many people wonder what it is I do all day. Some people go as far as to tease me about sitting home and watching tv all day, after all- I am a stay at home mom and to the outside world, that probably seems like what goes on at home...
Let's go through the play by play of a typical day for me. We can do Monday of this week- since it's still fresh in my mind and because it's a good representation of a normal day for me (and probably most other freelance writer-mom types!)
Sunday night, I make it to bed fairly early after preparing my office for the upcoming work week: in bed by 11pm.
2am... 3:15am... 5:10am... My 2 year old son has decided to keep waking me up all night long. He's not running a fever, his diaper isn't full, and other than the waking up constantly, nothing really seems to be wrong. I keep putting him back to bed. At 5:10am, I give up and start the day.
5:10-5:30am - mandatory "wake up" time for my 2 year old. Involves cuddling on the couch for a few minutes, watching Teletubbies or Elmo on the TV.
5:30am-7:00am- I make breakfast for both kids, have my first cup of coffee, rush through a shower while listening to my 2 year old kick his feet on the bathroom floor and cry because he doesn't want to wait in the bathroom until I finish (but he can't be trusted to roam the house out of my line of vision, either!) and I throw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Yeah, sometimes I dress up in my jeans instead of sweatpants.
7:00am-8:00am - get my 5 year old's backpack ready for school, convince him that wearing his spiderman underwear on the outside of his jeans is really not a good idea for school, brush both kids teeth and my own, and rush the older child outside to get on the bus for school.
8:00 - 9:00am - my 2 year old has special ed therapy sessions at the house, so we play with Little People and a barn, put some puzzles together, and build towers with blocks.
9:00am - therapist leaves, husband returns home from work. I grab a second cup of coffee and head into the office while he has some one-on-one time with our youngest son.
The times get fuzzy once in the office! I check emails and reply to clients with updates on their projects, quote a few potential projects, write blogs and articles about credit cards, debt, and personal finance, and prepare an eclass for my writing mentoring program, Make Money From Writing.
Sometime around 11am, I go out to talk with my son's speech therapist who comes in twice a week, to discuss updates on his progress and such. I grab an early lunch (bologna and cheese sandwich and a diet coke...blah) and head back to my office. I'm working on marketing for the mentoring program, so I spend about an hour researching potential JV partners, take a couple phone calls from clients, and before I know it, it's time to relieve my husband so he can go to bed (he works nights and sleeps during the day). I have about 43 things left undone on my to-do list for the day.
3:00pm - 4:00pm I play trains with my youngest and start preparing dinner. Tonight we're having chicken and dumplings. I sneak in a few handwritten notes for some articles that need to be written. I also manage to take the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and put all the dirty ones that have been stacked in the sink all day in to wash. At 4, we go outside to wait for my five year old to get off the bus.
4:15pm-5:15pm This is a whirlwind of activity! My oldest comes home from school and has to use the bathroom, change into his baseball uniform and rush to get some dinner because he has a baseball game that we need to be out the door no later than 5:30 to be there on time. It's a rushed time that I really despise because my oldest would really prefer some time to unwind first, but he LOVES baseball and would be more upset about missing it than he is about the rush to get there on time. So.. I put dinner on the table for the kids, after cutting the chicken up into tiny, bite sized pieces. The 2 year old takes one bite and flings his plate, chicken, dumplings and liquid saucy-like stuff and all, all over the dining room. The dog promptly helps clean up.
The five year old whines for ten minutes about not liking chicken, hating dumplings, carrots and potatoes, and really, really, really not liking anything that looks or smells like gravy. He ends up eating his chicken.
After 3 minutes of frantic clean up and shoving leftovers in the fridge- we are out the door for the baseball game.
5:30-7:45pm I try to occupy my 2 year old and watch my 5 year old's baseball game. Then we pack up and head home to start the bedtime routine.
7:45-8:15pm yes- we are super fast at getting ready for bed on baseball nights... normally the kids are in bed around 7:30, but we stay up "late" on game nights. After a super-fast bath (as the water fills in the tub I'm washing hair and scrubbing bodies until they shine and the kids are trying to push their cars through their bath tub car wash at the same time!) we brush teeth and slip into pajamas. No bedtime stories on baseball nights, but both kids get to listen to their cd players as they drift off into dreamland.
8:15pm - I'm fifteen minutes late for my teleconference call with business partners in Australia. I spend about an hour on the line with the group of 30 or so people, and then dive back into work. I type up the articles from the notes I made while making dinner, adding a little more substance to the chicken scratch and submit them to their rightful owners.
10pm - I have a second teleconference call on Monday nights (because it's also with Australians, and it's about noon time on Tues for them!) I am less involved with this call, so I can actually field some emails and do a little research for another project all while listening in to the call to keep on top of the project. My husband takes off for work and might give me a wave on his way out the door.
11pm- calls are done for the night and I work for as long as my brain cooperates, but I'm definitely feeling tired and fuzzy because of not getting a good night's sleep the night before. I manage to post a blog for American Consumer News, a site I write for several times weekly, and respond to some email questions about my mentoring program for writers before calling it a night.
11:45pm- I'm in bed... ahhhh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Watch five minutes of HGTV before slipping into a coma.
Let's go through the play by play of a typical day for me. We can do Monday of this week- since it's still fresh in my mind and because it's a good representation of a normal day for me (and probably most other freelance writer-mom types!)
Sunday night, I make it to bed fairly early after preparing my office for the upcoming work week: in bed by 11pm.
2am... 3:15am... 5:10am... My 2 year old son has decided to keep waking me up all night long. He's not running a fever, his diaper isn't full, and other than the waking up constantly, nothing really seems to be wrong. I keep putting him back to bed. At 5:10am, I give up and start the day.
5:10-5:30am - mandatory "wake up" time for my 2 year old. Involves cuddling on the couch for a few minutes, watching Teletubbies or Elmo on the TV.
5:30am-7:00am- I make breakfast for both kids, have my first cup of coffee, rush through a shower while listening to my 2 year old kick his feet on the bathroom floor and cry because he doesn't want to wait in the bathroom until I finish (but he can't be trusted to roam the house out of my line of vision, either!) and I throw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Yeah, sometimes I dress up in my jeans instead of sweatpants.
7:00am-8:00am - get my 5 year old's backpack ready for school, convince him that wearing his spiderman underwear on the outside of his jeans is really not a good idea for school, brush both kids teeth and my own, and rush the older child outside to get on the bus for school.
8:00 - 9:00am - my 2 year old has special ed therapy sessions at the house, so we play with Little People and a barn, put some puzzles together, and build towers with blocks.
9:00am - therapist leaves, husband returns home from work. I grab a second cup of coffee and head into the office while he has some one-on-one time with our youngest son.
The times get fuzzy once in the office! I check emails and reply to clients with updates on their projects, quote a few potential projects, write blogs and articles about credit cards, debt, and personal finance, and prepare an eclass for my writing mentoring program, Make Money From Writing.
Sometime around 11am, I go out to talk with my son's speech therapist who comes in twice a week, to discuss updates on his progress and such. I grab an early lunch (bologna and cheese sandwich and a diet coke...blah) and head back to my office. I'm working on marketing for the mentoring program, so I spend about an hour researching potential JV partners, take a couple phone calls from clients, and before I know it, it's time to relieve my husband so he can go to bed (he works nights and sleeps during the day). I have about 43 things left undone on my to-do list for the day.
3:00pm - 4:00pm I play trains with my youngest and start preparing dinner. Tonight we're having chicken and dumplings. I sneak in a few handwritten notes for some articles that need to be written. I also manage to take the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and put all the dirty ones that have been stacked in the sink all day in to wash. At 4, we go outside to wait for my five year old to get off the bus.
4:15pm-5:15pm This is a whirlwind of activity! My oldest comes home from school and has to use the bathroom, change into his baseball uniform and rush to get some dinner because he has a baseball game that we need to be out the door no later than 5:30 to be there on time. It's a rushed time that I really despise because my oldest would really prefer some time to unwind first, but he LOVES baseball and would be more upset about missing it than he is about the rush to get there on time. So.. I put dinner on the table for the kids, after cutting the chicken up into tiny, bite sized pieces. The 2 year old takes one bite and flings his plate, chicken, dumplings and liquid saucy-like stuff and all, all over the dining room. The dog promptly helps clean up.
The five year old whines for ten minutes about not liking chicken, hating dumplings, carrots and potatoes, and really, really, really not liking anything that looks or smells like gravy. He ends up eating his chicken.
After 3 minutes of frantic clean up and shoving leftovers in the fridge- we are out the door for the baseball game.
5:30-7:45pm I try to occupy my 2 year old and watch my 5 year old's baseball game. Then we pack up and head home to start the bedtime routine.
7:45-8:15pm yes- we are super fast at getting ready for bed on baseball nights... normally the kids are in bed around 7:30, but we stay up "late" on game nights. After a super-fast bath (as the water fills in the tub I'm washing hair and scrubbing bodies until they shine and the kids are trying to push their cars through their bath tub car wash at the same time!) we brush teeth and slip into pajamas. No bedtime stories on baseball nights, but both kids get to listen to their cd players as they drift off into dreamland.
8:15pm - I'm fifteen minutes late for my teleconference call with business partners in Australia. I spend about an hour on the line with the group of 30 or so people, and then dive back into work. I type up the articles from the notes I made while making dinner, adding a little more substance to the chicken scratch and submit them to their rightful owners.
10pm - I have a second teleconference call on Monday nights (because it's also with Australians, and it's about noon time on Tues for them!) I am less involved with this call, so I can actually field some emails and do a little research for another project all while listening in to the call to keep on top of the project. My husband takes off for work and might give me a wave on his way out the door.
11pm- calls are done for the night and I work for as long as my brain cooperates, but I'm definitely feeling tired and fuzzy because of not getting a good night's sleep the night before. I manage to post a blog for American Consumer News, a site I write for several times weekly, and respond to some email questions about my mentoring program for writers before calling it a night.
11:45pm- I'm in bed... ahhhh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Watch five minutes of HGTV before slipping into a coma.
Monday, April 28, 2008
IS MONEY THE DREAM STOPPER?
Starting up a business is not for the weak and unmotivated. However, even if you are the most business-minded, ambitious person you know, sometimes it is money that is holding you back from following your dreams.
Experts say that it is best to put away 3-6 months worth of living expenses before you attempt to open your doors. Because infant businesses can be so unpredictable income-wise, having a back up financial fund is important. The stresses of starting a business mixed with the financial concerns of making the ends meet every month can wear you down quickly and it sometimes forces people to give up way too early.
Depending on the type of business you wish to open, there may be ways to avoid having to save up so much money. Not everyone will be able to stash away that much cash and it should not stop you from pursuing your dreams. There are the conventional ways of finding money. You could ask family and friends to invest in your dreams, secure a small business loan, approach outside investors, or you could simply save the capital yourself. Most of these avenues will require you to have a solid business plan, good credit, and a lot of belief in your ideas. It also requires time and effort and a lot of extra responsibilities.
You could also use a little ingenuity to get to your dreams a little bit faster. Consider what the purpose of your business will be. If your skills can be used in a freelance capacity, get your name out there while you still have a full time job and a steady income. Don’t quit your day job until you are secure in your new career path. For example, if you are looking to open a virtual assistant business or another internet-based business, start looking for opportunities during the evenings and weekends. There are plenty of freelance job opportunities available online. You can also solicit business from local people who already know you. Start telling people you are opening a business and are looking for opportunities. Start small so you don’t become overwhelmed with the part time and full time work. As you begin to build a client/customer base, you will also start to truly understand what it takes to be in business for yourself. When you are ready, you can leave your full time security blanket and still feel comfortable venturing out on your own.
Any savings you have should be invested into the main components of what you need to get your business off the ground. If you can work from home, do not spend money on anything that is not essential until you can really afford it. Small business credit cards are also becoming more conducive to the needs of small business owners. Do not max out the credit card but at least have one business credit card you can use in a pinch. Select a card that compliments your business. Whether you choose a card that offers cash back rewards or one that offers great discounts on office supplies, make sure the card makes sense for your business. Pay the bill on time each month and build the credit of the business as much as possible.
While money is important, it should not become the roadblock to what you want to do. If you are dedicated and truly passionate about what you want to do, nothing should stop you.
Experts say that it is best to put away 3-6 months worth of living expenses before you attempt to open your doors. Because infant businesses can be so unpredictable income-wise, having a back up financial fund is important. The stresses of starting a business mixed with the financial concerns of making the ends meet every month can wear you down quickly and it sometimes forces people to give up way too early.
Depending on the type of business you wish to open, there may be ways to avoid having to save up so much money. Not everyone will be able to stash away that much cash and it should not stop you from pursuing your dreams. There are the conventional ways of finding money. You could ask family and friends to invest in your dreams, secure a small business loan, approach outside investors, or you could simply save the capital yourself. Most of these avenues will require you to have a solid business plan, good credit, and a lot of belief in your ideas. It also requires time and effort and a lot of extra responsibilities.
You could also use a little ingenuity to get to your dreams a little bit faster. Consider what the purpose of your business will be. If your skills can be used in a freelance capacity, get your name out there while you still have a full time job and a steady income. Don’t quit your day job until you are secure in your new career path. For example, if you are looking to open a virtual assistant business or another internet-based business, start looking for opportunities during the evenings and weekends. There are plenty of freelance job opportunities available online. You can also solicit business from local people who already know you. Start telling people you are opening a business and are looking for opportunities. Start small so you don’t become overwhelmed with the part time and full time work. As you begin to build a client/customer base, you will also start to truly understand what it takes to be in business for yourself. When you are ready, you can leave your full time security blanket and still feel comfortable venturing out on your own.
Any savings you have should be invested into the main components of what you need to get your business off the ground. If you can work from home, do not spend money on anything that is not essential until you can really afford it. Small business credit cards are also becoming more conducive to the needs of small business owners. Do not max out the credit card but at least have one business credit card you can use in a pinch. Select a card that compliments your business. Whether you choose a card that offers cash back rewards or one that offers great discounts on office supplies, make sure the card makes sense for your business. Pay the bill on time each month and build the credit of the business as much as possible.
While money is important, it should not become the roadblock to what you want to do. If you are dedicated and truly passionate about what you want to do, nothing should stop you.
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