I Can’t Not Do This: Naomi Dunford

(Photo by Leefotos)

Real people. Real business. Real advice.

I love this interview series because I myself learn so much ! There are three major venue of learning, and we need to do all three:

1. Learn from books and seminars – these professional teachers do have something valuable to offer.
2. Learn from peers. If you want to have a small business that is tightly tied to who you are, other small business owners who have built such businesses may have valuable advice that the big office business consultants may not know or have forgotten.
3. Learn from firsthand experiences. Apply what you learned from books, blogs, peers, to your real business, use all your wits to do even better, and learn from your failures and successes.

This interview series covers #2. I pick entrepreneurs who have built profitable businesses that resonate with who they are. If you are working for a corporate job, dreaming to have your own business, check them out. They are not that different from you – and they made it.

Today’s guest is Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz. IttyBiz is filled with practical and insightful marketing ideas that you don’t want to miss. I love how she describes complicated issues in her signature down-to-earth way.

1. Tell us a bit about your business and why you started it.

I’m a micro-business marketing coach. This means I play marketing and PR department for companies with fewer than five employees. In my business I wear two hats — I plan marketing campaigns for businesses
and blogs, and I do copywriting for people who know what they’re supposed to be doing but can’t sell their way out of a wet paper bag.

I started this business for two reasons. One, I can’t not do marketing and copy. It’s all I think about. It’s pathetic, really. Two, the service wasn’t being provided by anybody else. Most small business marketing firms charge at least a thousand bucks to start, and it takes a long time for a microbiz or a freelancer to recoup those costs. Iwanted to help the little guys who were being ignored by everyone else.

2. What were the three biggest challenges when you were starting off as a new entrepreneur?

One, growth came far, far faster than I was ready for. The small business books all tell you that 4 out of 5 businesses fail and to make contingency plans and blah blah blah. They don’t tell you that when you
succeed, it’ll probably happen overnight and you’ll drown. Plan for that.

Two, I didn’t have an office with a door and I couldn’t turn work off. I was working till three in the morning and then opening my laptop before I was even dressed again the next day. I didn’t separate and it caused
burnout.

Three, I didn’t segment my day. When you work online, there are so many things to do. Network. Fix your site. Respond to comments. Market yourself. Write guest posts. It was really overwhelming.

3. And how did you work through these challenges?

I fixed the first problem by convincing my husband to quit school and work for me. He was unhappy and in the wrong program, so it was the right time for him. He’s taken over administration, which has freed me
up tremendously.

I fixed the second problem by getting an offsite office. I don’t go much, but when I really need to knuckle down, it helps a lot. We live in a two-bedroom apartment, so this might not be an issue for people with houses and basements and doors, but for us, the office was a necessity.

I’m still working on the third problem. It’s a work in progress. I’m trying to prechunk my day into little pieces, but it’s taking time.

4. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?

The time freedom. I get to play with my kid. I get to watch The Price Is Right every morning. I can have sex with my husband in the middle of the day. I can take naps whenever I want them.

5. Any advice for people who dream to have their own business and yet find it hard to make the leap?

Make the leap before you’re totally ready. I read in a magazine once that you should never be 100% ready to have kids. If you think you’re 100% ready, you’re missing something. I think the same thing applies to business. If you wait until you’re 100% ready, you’ll be dead before you launch. Be 80% ready. Do the best you can and just go for it.

If you wait too long, you lose your fire. If you lose your fire, your business will suck. If your business sucks, you’ll have to go back to your boring corporate job and prove your old boss right. You don’t want that, do you? Jump and the net will appear.

My Takeaway
First, I must tell you: Naomi is a real sweetheart. I swear! She started her business to help small guys. When I contacted her for this interview, I wasn’t sure if a busy person like her would do this for my three-month-old blog, and she was so graceful in accepting it.

Her growth problem is interesting. I’ve heard bigger companies face this – like an unknown company hits the market with great new product, and can’t fill the orders in time, forcing them to expand with little plan, which can be disastrous — but didn’t really think of its possibility for mini businesses. Be prepared!

Want to be on this interview series? Know someone who has an interesting business that is so Him or Her? Please let me know^_^

Thanks to Jeff for including this post in his review, to Patrick for including in Carnival of Careers.

Serial Entrepreneur Meets College Intern: Skip Shuda & Yasmine Mustafa

(Photo by Leefotos)

Opportunities are everywhere – can you see and grab one?

The challenge is that opportunities don’t always come in handsome package. In fact, most opportunities don’t look like opportunities at all, so many people dismiss them. Some, however, see the hidden sparkles and take actions. For example, Kim received home-made presents from her boyfriend Jason. She loved his sense of humor and together formed the message that adults can learn a lot from children to enjoy life more. Now they have multiply income sources. Or, Susanna started jewelry making as a hobby while she was on sabbatical. She loved it and built a business on it.

Or some opportunities come as plain job offer from a small start-up company. No big paycheck. Quite uninteresting, huh? Unless you see the learning opportunities in it. Or how about a college internship?

Today Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs have two guests, Skip Shuda and Yasmine Mustafa. They help aspiring entrepreneurs launch their internet businesses by offering marketing, technology and management consultation. Please check their website Team and a Dream. They also write an intriguing blog at The Cheap Revolution.

1. Tell us a bit about your business and why you started it.

Skip: Team and a Dream is a company for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. We love the creativity and energy around entrepreneurs. We also believe in the importance of focus, so we focused on what we know … which is Internet Entrepreneurship.

It was formed in late 2002 after I wrapped up Destiny Websolutions. For the first few years, I mostly operated as a virtual management team member with startups. However, last year – after Yasmine joined, we really launched our “virtual team” business for startups. Yasmine started with us in 2006 as an intern through Temple University. When she graduated in December of 2006 at the top of her entrepreneurship class, I asked if she’d like to help grow Team and a Dream. Since then, she has taken on responsibility for marketing of Team and a Dream – especially our online marketing. I’ve been responsible for sales and deciding how to work with clients (the consulting end of the business). However, we both pitch in on just about everything. For example, I’ve been recruiting project managers and Yasmine has been recruiting interns to work in our “meshwork” of professionals that we draw upon to create virtual teams.

I’ve been a serial entrepreneur since 1983. It was then that I chose the lowest paying of seven job offers (including two from IBM) to work with a software startup as employee number 16. That company eventually went public and I’ve been part of the entrepreneurial world ever since. In the mid-90’s, I created a startup in my basement called “Destiny” – and we built one of the first online banking systems in the world for Bank of America on AOL. That company grew to 120 people and $17 million in annual revenues as “Destiny Websolutions” before the eCommerce consulting market evaporated in 2002. I learned many lessons as part of that venture and have been sharing them with our startup clients since late 2002.

2. What were the biggest challenges when you were starting off as a new entrepreneur? And how did you work through these challenges?

Skip: #1 – Sometimes vision is all you have to carry you forward. During a particularly dark period, I thought about my troubles starting a new venture and reflected on the “wealth” I had amassed. In response to that reflection, I wrote this piece that sits above my desk today.

“If you fear failure, rejection or conflict… you can avoid them OR you can accept them while keeping the faith that connections, Ki (or qi – universal energy) extension and a path with heart cannot be defeated for an entire journey.”

Sticking to this credo has served me well… and I always end up with a successful path eventually.

#2 – Understanding that letting go is sometimes the best way to grow. I have had key employees facing attractive opportunities, key clients that I MUST have to build my business lay down impossible terms on the table and challenges as a young executive that seemed insurmountable. Each time, I found that “letting go” with grace resulted in better situations. I invited the key employees to explore their options and they remained with me. I told the client that we’d have to stop the project and they changed the terms – and I stepped down as CEO to hire a person better able to move my dream forward.

#3 – Cash is king in a startup. Yet focusing on fund-raising has never been a favorite approach of mine. I’d rather “bootstrap”, demonstrate that I can get clients and build value without an investor – and then am much better positioned to raise money with an investor.

Yasmine: #4 – Be flexible. Don’t be tied to your idea completely. – adapt to the environment and eco-system. Understand your idea will continuously change and evolve. You can progress further by being aware and open to your surroundings as well as other people.

3. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?

Skip: Helping others to realize their dreams and influencing those dreams so that entrepreneurs are approaching things with a socially conscious approach. It is my way of “giving back” to a world that has been very generous to me.

Yasmine: The best part (without a doubt) is not having to sit in traffic as often in the morning and late afternoon! It’s also working on things I love doing. Brainstorming strategies, formulating the concepts of an early stage company, observing the end results of a marketing project or another engagement – those are the most exciting parts of what I do.

4. Any advice for people who dream to have their own business and yet find it hard to make the leap?

Yasmine: Don’t wait for the perfect idea – it’ll never come. Find an experienced mentor who’s been-there and done-that. He/she can provide you with needed guidance and support. I would recommend starting with something you’re either passionate about or something you’re good at. One or the other (or both) will provide you with a jumpstart in your business. Once you take the leap, you’ll feel exhilarated. There is no better feeling than knowing you’re starting something on your own.

Also, listen to your gut instinct. Life is too short to live someone else’s dream – follow your own!

Skip: The web has made it very easy to start a new business. Get out there and make it happen. Test out your ideas with a close circle of friends first and then with people who understand the business side. Launch early and often. Provide feedback forums for your clients. Listen closely to the market. Participate in the market conversation. Iterate. Focus. And always ask, “How is this business helping others or helping this world to be a better place?”

If you choose a path with heart, you will have a much higher likelihood of attracting partners, vendors and clients who want to see you succeed. One of my favorite quotes on this is by William Jennings Bryan.

“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.’ – William Jennings Bryan (1860 – 1925)

My Takeaway
It seems to me that Skip and Yasmine each brings in their special strengths to make the team stronger. Skip, as a serial entrepreneur, has the experiences in internet business and great entrepreneurial mind. Yasmine, on the other hand, has the fresh perspectives that Skip trusts a lot. It’s a great way to avoid getting stuck, where 1+1 is more than 2.

I also like their resilience. Yasmine says, “Don’t wait for the perfect idea.” and “Don’t be tied to your idea completely.” Skip says, “. . . letting go is sometimes the best way to grow.” We can’t plan out everything upfront. But don’t let that stop you from taking the leap. With faith, and learning from both successes and failures, the results can be more than we initially expected.

Accidental Sparkles: Susanna Ordway

(Photo by Leefotos)

What was your reaction to 9/11?

Do you remember that day? It was a weekday, so most likely you were at your work, doing what you usually do, and heard the news sometime during the day. Did the news change the way you see your work, and life in general?

My deepest sympathy to the victims and their families. Having said that, I must also point out that a disaster like that sheds unexpected light to our lives. It makes us reexamine our values. We ask ourselves, “Am I doing what really matters in life? Gee, I thought as if tomorrow would be just like yesterday, but maybe not. Would I die happy if something happens tomorrow?” It can give us the kick to take decision action.

Today’s guest to the Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs is Susanna Ordway, who took a year-long sabbatical after 9/11. This gave her the time to be with her family and herself, eventually leading to entrepreneurship. Please check her beautiful jewelry that give extra sparkle to your life at Susanna Ordway Jewelry Designs.

1. Tell us a bit about your business and why you started it.

My business, Susanna Ordway Jewelry Designs, was actually an accident…an unplanned detour to what I thought I should do with my life. Fortunately, life and the universe took me on a happier, less stressful route by way of my current career.

As a good Chinese daughter, I was taught to find a good job in a practical industry and company, even though I have loved art and had a passion for beauty and fashion since I was little. I followed that advice for about 12 years, working as Marketing Manager and Corporate Communication Manager for the banking industry. But after being unhappy in my last two years as a corporate employee, and after 9/11 showed us all that life is just too short, I left the corporate world for a year to become a mom to my two daughters and a wife and homemaker to my husband.

Then, as I contemplated whether or not to return to work (I love my husband and daughters, but needed something just for Me), I stumbled into jewelry making. I found that I not only loved the craft, but am good with both design and technique. As I learned, more and more people asked to buy my designs and so my business, Crystal Accents, grew organically.

I knew that my new business was the right decision for me when I doubled my sales the second quarter without any advertising outside of wearing my own creations. Also, it was very gratifying when Swarovski® presented me with its exclusive “Crystallized With Swarovski” Quality Brand partnership after previewing my designs. This exclusive partnership is usually limited to well-known designers such as Roberto Caravelli, Prada, and Escada. Swarovski® has also featured my chandelier earring designs in their publications.

Now, as I expand my designs and techniques, I have updated my business name to Susanna Ordway Jewelry Designs, keeping Crystal Accents as the name for my bridal and fashion collections. I am very happy to know that I am now able to fulfill my artistic mission: To create beautiful items that help enhance a woman’s beauty and style, that visually communicate her individual personality, which results in building a more positive self-image.

2. What were the three biggest challenges when you were starting off as a new entrepreneur?

The three biggest challenges for me starting out were:

• Formulating a solid business plan
• Learning how to price my work, especially with regards to my time and labor
• Learning that being an entrepreneur and business owner doesn’t mean having to do everything

3. And how did you work through these challenges?

Because my business slowly grew out of a hobby and not out of a concrete plan for a formal company, I didn’t have an actual business plan when I started Crystal Accents. Even after the business started growing, my plan was more or less reactive—to basically address issues as they arose.

But with the help of many other entrepreneurs and business owners that I have had the privilege to meet through various networking opportunities, I not only learn about developing business and marketing plans specific to my industry, but also how to value my work’s worth and how to let go if I want my business to grow.

It’s true, being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself. I find that the more I let others help me, the better my work gets and the more my business grows.

4. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?

No office politics!!! Having a work schedule that allows me to spend more time with my family whenever I want and not when the employer lets me; being praised for my work frequently; and knowing that wearing my jewelry makes my clients very happy.

5. Any advice for people who dream to have their own business and yet find it hard to make the leap?

It’s always difficult to make changes, and especially frightening when the changes have anything to do with your identity, your finances or what others may think. Just remember that we only get one life, and having one that is happy and fulfilling to you, is so much more important than one that follows someone else’s priorities.

This is actually much easier than you think. If you have to, follow your dreams by taking baby steps. For example, if you cannot give up your current job due to finances, then start your business as a part-time venture while you’re still employed. Then build your business until you can do that full-time.

My Takeaway
I like her relaxed approach to entrepreneurship. Step-by-step development puts the stress of startup in check and is a good way to manage risks.

Life is a gift, and the best way to express our appreciation for this gift is to live it well. It takes just a bit of courage, a little bit of opening of your mind, to start taking actions that can make big difference in the way we live this gift.

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