Simon Coulson (Internet Millionaire) plays at Entrepreneurs Bootcamp

Simon Coulson (Internet Millionaire) and his Coldplay tribute band, Coolplay, plays at the O2 Arena for the Entrepreneurs Bootcamp which was hosted by Andrew Reynolds and many more fantastic Entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship Is The New Women's Movement

Women are leaving the workforce in droves in favor of being at home. Not to be a homemaker, but as job-making entrepreneurs.

By Natalie MacNeil

A quiet revolution is taking shape right now among women. Unlike theQuiet Revolution that began in the 1970s which saw women leave the home and enter the workforce in droves, women today are leaving the workforce in droves in favor of being at home. But unlike generations of women before, these women are opting to work in the home not as homemakers—but as job-making entrepreneurs.

Women have been starting businesses at a higher rate than men for the last 20 years and tend to create home-based micro (less than 5 employees) and small businesses. Women will create over half of the 9.72 million new small business jobs expected to be created by 2018 and more and more are doing this from home offices across the country. It’s a surprising statistic, especially considering that women-owned businesses only created 16 percent of total U.S. jobs that existed in 2010.

It’s the data released this week though by the National Federation of Independent Business about how women entrepreneurs fared during the recession that really cements that this is a revolution with staying power.

The recession was tough for many small business owners and nearly half of women-owned businesses still haven’t been able to climb back to pre-recession sales, but they persevered and adapted to a new economy. Controlling costs was the most popular strategy adopted among women entrepreneurs to get through the recession and there was a 52% increase in the number of women entrepreneurs using social media to boost business while saving on marketing costs.

“The result…is a new cohort of women-owned businesses, battle-tested and more competitive than the generation that preceded them,” says William Dennis in the report. With more women starting businesses and succeeding there’s an opportunity to reshape the working landscape.

With job satisfaction and work environment satisfaction at an all-time low, something needs to change and this could be a step in the right direction.

Let me make it very clear here: I’m not saying women are better or that women starting more businesses means the world is all rainbows and butterflies. Women just do things differently in the world of business and different should be welcomed.

Many women view corporations today as being fundamentally flawed and limiting in their value structures. The Guardian Life Index, an initiative to understand America’s small business owners, cites “office politics” as a driving factor for women leaving Corporate America to start businesses.

With the cost of starting a business at an all-time low, women are saying “no thank you” to spending years climbing and clawing their way up the corporate ladder, dealing with corporate politics, and working long days without feeling the overall fulfillment they crave.

Many women start businesses that align with personal values and offers freedom and flexibility when it comes to things like scheduling.  ”The glass ceiling that once limited a woman’s career path has paved a new road towards business ownership, where women can utilize their sharp business acumen while building strong family ties,” says Erica Nicole who left Corporate America to start YFS Magazine.

For some women, dissatisfaction with the corporate world begins before they have a chance to even enter the workforce. The road to entrepreneurship for Shama Kabani came after she tried to pursue a career in social media but was rejected by Corporate America . “After 18 corporate companies refused to give me a job on the grounds that social media was a fad, I started my own social media and digital PR firm with $1,500,” Shama explains. That company, The Marketing Zen Group, is now a multi-million dollar company that employs 25 people.

Then there are Gen-Y women who either don’t even consider the corporate track or burn out early in the corporate world and pursue entrepreneurship, asoutlined by Meghan Casserly in her wildly popular blog post here on Forbes.com. Millennial women crave independence.

“Making the decision to not follow a system, or someone else’s rules has allowed me to really dig into what my own strengths and gifts are without spending time feeling jaded or wasteful,” says Ishita Gupta who started FEAR.LESS Magazine while going through Seth Godin’s Alternative MBA Program. FEAR.LESS is on a mission to provide a mental toolbox for people to deal with fear, something that still holds a lot of women entrepreneurs back even though they are starting businesses like crazy.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 47.7 percent of women versus 62.1 percent of men believe they are capable of starting and running a business. Hands-on business training like Seth’s AMBA could be key in helping to bridge the confidence gap between women and men when starting a business.

Female-focused incubators and events like the ones offered by Women 2.0 and Ladies Who Launch help women entrepreneurs to build out networks, gain confidence, and learn from successful women. While these events can be highly valuable I caution women to avoid falling into the female-only trap when it comes to business education and seeking guidance and mentorship, especially mentorship.

I believe a female equivalent to the “old boy’s club” is essential for women to help each other grow and edify the next generation of women leaders but I’ve also experienced the value of working with both male and female advisors and mentors. Learning from successful entrepreneurs with different perspectives and experiences help you become a more dynamic and agile business owner.

We need to be dynamic leaders and agile strategists to reshape a work environment that clearly isn’t working anymore. Making the world a better place one worker and workplace at a time will certainly be a road paved with challenges but if we can dig our heels in and prove ourselves in tough situations like the worst recession in our lifetime, I think we can get through anything. One thing is for sure: this women’s movement, the 21st century Quiet Revolution, is here to stay and it’s getting louder and louder.

Natalie MacNeil , Contributor

Article sourced from - http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/06/08/entrepreneurship-is-the-new-womens-movement/

3 Reasons Goal Setting Is Not Working For Women Entrepreneurs

Women entrepreneurs don’t exactly light up when they talk about the G word – Goal. For many women, goal setting doesn’t work. It’s one of those things we feel that we have to do, like going to the dentist, because everyone tells us we have to do it.  After all, goal setting is essential to success, right? Maybe not.

How many times have you been asked about your goals and answered with either the fake it response, “Great!”, or the blame game response, “Not good, the economy is really bad right now”? Both responses lead to goal-remorse, a combination of frustration and guilt. It kind of feels like every day is Jan. 7, the day most people give up on their New Year’s Resolution. Goal-remorse can cause severe anxiety in women; thanks to our nurturing gene which makes us feel bad when we let people down.

Here are 3 reasons goal setting is not working for women entrepreneurs, and what you can do about it:

1. Goals come before vision. That’s true in the dictionary, but not in business. When was the last time someone asked you, “What’s your vision?” My guess is never. It’s all about the “G” word, rarely about the “V”. That’s a huge disconnect for women entrepreneurs. Act like the lady-CEO that you are and take a stand. No more goals until you create a vision for your business and define who you are and where you’re going. Get started by mixing 1/3 purpose, 1/3 passion and add in 1/3 crazy idea. Here’s three examples (including mine) to get your creative juices flowing:

Teach people how to live. – Martha Stewart

Bringing the best to everyone we touch. – Estee Lauder

Empower women to discover their glow. – Lynn Bardowski

Once you start the envisioning process, ask yourself how you’re going to make your vision a reality and get to work. You’ll be rockin’ the “G” word without even thinking about it.

2. Vision is not communicated. Ok, this is a catch-22. If you were never taught to create a vision (see #1), you’re not going to have a vision to communicate. But since you read #1, your inner Visionista is ready to roll. The cool thing about communicating your vision is that you’ll inspire others around you to act, and attract more clients. You’ll find yourself standing taller and prouder as the visionary leader that you are. For more tips on how to communicate your vision watch my interview on BeTV.

3. Goals add to overwhelm. I may be the Million Dollar Party Girl, but my husband still expects me to pick up the dry cleaning and put something (anything) together for dinner. We’ve come a long way, but the male/female roles have not changed much. Adding a big goal to a never-ending to-do list can be so overwhelming it has the opposite effect, inspiring us to do, well, nothing. Rather than get overwhelmed with a big goal that might seem daunting, focus on 3 or 4 daily habits that will compound your results. An example is making 5 customer service calls per day to implement a referral system, which leads to loyal customers and new clients. That’s totally doable. Now, imagine doing that 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year. And, don’t forget to pop some bubbly (or treat yourself to something sparkly) to celebrate the effort and progress you’re making along the way.

How do you feel about goal-setting? Comment and share your vision for your biz! 

Contributor Lynn Bardowski

Startup Expert and Visionista

Website: http://www.milliondollarpartygirl.com/

Sourced from http://www.businesswomenexperts.com/3-reasons-goal-setting-is-not-working-for-women-entrepreneurs/

Teen Entrepreneurs – 11 Important Business Lessons from Teenage Entrepreneurs By Brad Aronson

At an event last week, 38 teen entrepreneurs pitched their companies to local businesspeople. Each attendee received $5 in Startup Bucks to “invest” in any of the student businesses. The student business with the most Startup Bucks at the end received a cash prize.

The teen entrepreneurs were participants in Startup Corps, a Philadelphia nonprofit that helps high school students become entrepreneurs. The students often join the club even if they don’t have a business idea. They come out with confidence, companies, and in many cases, revenue. It’s exciting that 34% of this year’s kids chose to start nonprofits as their businesses.

I spoke with many of the young entrepreneurs before and during the event, and one thing is for sure—they’re hustlers. They’re constantly selling their products and services, and they can teach us a lot.

Here are 11 lessons from the teenage entrepreneurs:

1. Lack of funds shouldn’t be an excuse. It should be an inspiration. There was a student who made bio-fuel and used it to drive a teacher’s car. Another student created a wind-powered cell phone charger to mount on bicycles. There were kids with businesses selling food, jewelry, and clothing. None of these students found investors. They all started their businesses with under $50. Don’t let a lack of resources be an obstacle. Let it be an inspiration to be resourceful.
2. Take one achievable step at a time. “Sometimes little steps don’t feel significant at the time, but when everything comes together at the end, you recognize their importance,” said Morgan Marant (age 17), founder, Uniquely Me. Uniquely Me is a nonprofit that helps teenage girls develop a sense of identity and self-esteem.
3. Focus. “Stay focused; figure out what’s important and ignore the rest,” said Marina Musgrove-Pyfrom (age 17), founder, Full Plate. This nonprofit brings fresh foods, and awareness of food inequities, to areas where there is no access to fresh foods.
4. Partner. Create more opportunities by partnering with other companies. Sharif Tarver (age 18), CEO of Philly’s Future Talent, convinced a recreation center to let him use their space for his lounge—at no charge. The lounge will be a place for teens to develop themselves and their talents. Because of this partnership, Sharif has a built-in audience and an excellent location.
5. Solve your own problems. Khari Evans (age 16), CEO of Kcorp, was frustrated that his cell phone ran out of batteries, and he couldn’t charge it when using his bike. So Khari developed a wind-powered cell phone charger. Khari’s company will have a better chance of succeeding because he’s addressing a problem he understands.
6. Prove it. DJ Scorpion, Rapper Quaa Lovee, and designer Gibron Wynne provide talent for parties and events. They said that they sell with demo reels and CDs because telling people about their talents wasn’t enough. They had to prove it. By the way, all profits generated by their company, Scorpion’s Musical Hope, goes to Philadelphia public schools that no longer offer music. The funds are to be used to reinstate music classes.
7. Be committed. Richard Taylor (age 18), founder of USB Initiatives, which sells solar-powered phone charging kits that students can build themselves, said he learned that potential investors didn’t want him to be distracted. They didn’t want him doing other jobs. They wanted him working on only his business.
8. You have to ask for the sale (or donation). Jocelyn Velasquez (age 16), CEO of Hermana Mi Amor, was selling cupcakes at an event to raise money for her nonprofit. The event organizer gave Jocelyn a chance to speak (the first public speaking event for this shy student). Jocelyn’s ask—not just for cupcake sales but also for donations to her nonprofit—resulted in her first donation, $50 for her organization. She said that entrepreneurs must to learn to ask for the sale and always be selling. Hermana Mi Amor provides supplies to families in Mexico.
9. Get started and don’t give up. Briana Jackson (age 17), CEO of A Taste of Life, said that people will say you can’t succeed and you’ll face plenty of business obstacles. She said to keep going and start young. Don’t wait to start your business. Her fashion design company has already had a fashion show and sold clothes.
10. Embrace karma. Aaron VanBuren (age 16), partner of pastry company Tannie’s Tastries, said that he found ways to help his Startup Corps classmates, and he discovered that it was actually a great way to achieve his goals. They all found ways to help him back.
11. You have to have fun. Aaron gave a second piece of advice that’s a great way to end the article: you have to always have fun, because having a business takes up way too much time not to.

If you’re interested in another amazing teen, you’ll love the story of Jack Andraka, who as a 15-year-old created a pancreatic cancer test that is 100 times more sensitive and 26,000 times less expensive than current diagnostic tests.

You might also be interested in 23 Killer Business Lessons from Shark Tank.

Original article can be seen at http://www.bradaronson.com/young-entrepreneurs/

Mumsnet: Justine Roberts and Carrie Longton

The co-founders share their ‘lightbulb’ moment for the social parenting site that attracts 50 million page views a month

by Kim Benjamin

 

Updated: Oct 8, 2013 Published: Jun 28, 2013

For many mums, Justine Roberts and Carrie Longton are the saviours of their sanity. When the pair launched Mumsnet in 2000, they saved many a mum from the isolation of motherhood, by creating a site that combined unique parenting information with a supportive social network and online community. From the outset, Mumsnet was unlike any other parenting site: it featured real-life parent to parent advice, instead of blanket advice written by ‘experts’. Mumsnet launched just before the dotcom bubble burst, which caused thousands of fledgling sites to go under. Justine and Carrie, however, had bypassed the in vogue, ridiculous venture capital investments, and opted to grow organically. It was a wise move, and the site has gone from strength to strength, registering more than one million users a month, 50 million page views a month and hosting thousands of forum postings every day.

Inspired by a ‘holiday from hell’

Justine Roberts had worked in the City for 10 years as an economist and market strategist before switching to a career in sports journalism. During her first pregnancy in 1999, she met television producer Carrie Longton at ante-natal classes, and the two became friends. Throughout their pregnancies and with their newborns, they both agreed that the best source of parenting information was other mothers. The inspiration for Mumsnet came to Justine during a ‘holiday from hell’ in Florida with her one-year old twins. They were supposedly staying at a ‘family friendly’ resort but she found the level of childcare at the resort appalling. Other mothers she talked to at the resort agreed that it would be a great if there was a website enabling parents to swap information on everything and anything – from recommendations on trusted family-friendly resorts to the best pushchairs to use. They wanted a resource where parents could pool all their information together in one place that all parents could have access to. Home from holiday, the idea came together. Justine did some research to find out what else was out there. She found plenty of sites with parenting advice, but none that gave parents the opportunity to provide their own views, share ideas and give feedback. She wanted to create a site that offered both, and was sure this would be unique. “Having done our research carefully, there wasn’t really anything like our idea in the market at the time”, says Justine. “There was a site called Babyworld but it was more of an e-commerce offering rather than a resource for pooling information.”

An early social network

The idea for the business was an early version of the social networking sites that abound today, a place where user-generated content could be created and shared. Justine would recruit parents and mums- and dads-to-be to generate the content and would finance the site through advertising. The concept was that the members of the site would fill in a brief questionnaire, and receive a range of benefits and incentives in return, such as regular emails highlighting the developmental milestones their children were approaching. They would also be encouraged to give advice and interact with each other. Once the site was up and running, the aim was also to negotiate special offers with relevant retailers for the site’s members. Spurred on by the novelty of the idea, Justine finalised her plans for the site in November 1999 and persuaded Carrie to get involved soon afterwards. Justine recalls another motivating factor for her: she really didn’t want to go back to her job as a sports writer after maternity leave, as it involved too many weekends away from family life.

Booming possibilities

Justine and Carrie spent a month writing a business plan with the aim of having a test site ready by early 2000. At this time, the business climate couldn’t have been better. In 1999, dozens upon dozens of internet businesses had emerged, buoyed by large sums of venture capital finance and a predicted growth in broadband technologies. Many entrepreneurs boasted about securing money on the back of plans scrawled on business cards, so convinced were they that their idea was destined to be the next big thing. And it was clear that dot-coms were the next big thing, as even high street retailers made sure they also had an online presence and got in on the act. Buoyed by the economic climate, Justine and Carrie hoped to attract £500,000 worth of funding from private investors. Late in 1999, work began on the site with the help of a friend of Justine’s from university – a technical whizz who was willing to work on the site in his spare time. He managed all the technical aspects of building the site such as coding it and choosing a web host, while Justine and Carrie built the content pages, tested the site’s navigation and came up with the design. Both Justine and Carrie were working round the clock, juggling work and family life with evenings and weekends spent on the new business. Justine was reluctantly working most weekends as a sports journalist, and both had limited childcare available. Fortunately, they had the support of their husbands, whose jobs paid the mortgage and kept each family afloat. Writing all the original content themselves, Justine and Carrie spent many a day roving around London in search of reviews for the perfect pushchair. To get parents on board, they visited as many playgroups as possible. Justine and Carrie spent a considerable amount of time discussing potential names for the business. The word ‘Parentsnet’, for example, did not seem snappy enough to them and while happy with the choice of Mumsnet, they were worried about alienating fathers and dads-to-be from the site. In the end, they decided to go with their gut instinct – the name was simple, clear and catchy and the strapline, ‘by parents for parents’ would include fathers. By January 2000 the pair had already spent around £4,000 on content and technical expenses. They raised £25,000 from a friend, in return for a small percentage of the company, and began negotiations with other private investors to raise more.

The initial launch

After months of work, the test site for Mumsnet was launched in March 2000. By this time, Justine and Carrie had recruited more than 500 parent reviewers through their contacts and research, and were actively seeking more� This exclusive extract is taken from the Mumsnet chapter, in How They Started Digital: How 25 Good Ideas Became Spectacular Digital Businesses, published by Crimson Publishing. To read the full chapter and find out more about their start-up story, as well as the inspirational inside stories of 24 other top digital businesses (including Groupon, Etsy, Match.com, Twitter, TripAdvisor and Wonga), pick up your copy of How They Started Digital, available on Amazon now.

Article sourced from