Cashflow Diary™

Melinda  F.  Emerson,  SmallBizLady,  is  Americas  #1  Small  Business  Expert.  She  has been  a  thriving  entrepreneur  for  nearly  20  years  and  is  an  internationally  known  keynote speaker  and  expert  on  small  business  development  and  social  media  marketing.  She publishes  a  resource  blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com

Her  small  business advice  is  widely  read  reaching  more  than  3  million  entrepreneurs  each  week  online.  A pioneer  in  social  media  marketing,  she  is  the  creator  and  host  of  #Smallbizchat,  the longest  running  live  chat  on  Twitter  for  small  business  owners.  Forbes  magazine  named her  the  #1  woman  for  entrepreneurs  to  follow  on  Twitter.

Podcast Highlights

• Who is Melinda Emerson?

Melinda is a dedicated single mom, dragonslayer, and entrepreneur. Early on Melinda looked around and saw there wasn’t a lot resources available for small business owners so she decided to take charge of the situation. After creating one of the fastest growing small businesses in America, Melinda realized she had made a mistake and built a business that couldn’t run without her. After being put on bed rest for six months when she became pregnant, Melinda had to make some drastic changes to her business and she learned a lot of lessons along the way.

• Starting A Small Business

You have to plan for success, success will not just happen to you. Melinda has a six step system for planning your small business and the first step is figuring out what you really want. Not liking your current job is not enough, you need to have a plan or you may just destroy your entire life.

You have to think about the money component, most businesses don’t make a profit until 18 to 24 months in. Things come up and you need money to take care of them. You need to understand how much the business is going to cost and where the money is going to come from.

The great thing about being in America is you can reinvent yourself. If you want to start a business, work part time in the industry you want to start a business in and get some experience first.

• Personal Growth

You have to grow yourself to grow your small business. You have to learn the skills necessary to create a successful business. Just because you are entrepreneur, that doesn’t mean you are a good manager.

You have to figure out what is your most high value business activity. You should not be spending your time doing $15 and $20 per hour work.

As an entrepreneur, you need to figure out what you don’t know and go fill the gaps in your knowledge.

People know what is wrong with their businesses, they just aren’t willing to confront and deal with the problems. If you’re having trouble with people, try looking at yourself first.

Take one day a week to work on what you want your business to be.

• Hiring

If you want a real business, you need to hire people and have some help.

In the beginning you have to hire the people you know, but you need to create a process to hire the right people and also be willing to fire someone.

Reference: Fix Your Business, Melinda Emerson

• Melinda’s Takeaway

Buy Become Your Own Boss In 12 Months, then find an existing entrepreneur and go have lunch with them, then ask what the three biggest mistakes they made in their business are.

Links:

succeedasyourownboss.com

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