WhateverLife - Million Dollar Woman Entrepreneur at 17
October 9th, 2007 by Liz Fuller
Ashley Qualls is only 17 years old and is already the founder of a web-based business with more than $1 million in revenue. Read the full article in FastCompany, and as you do take note of the fact that Ashley implements several best practices recommended at MoreThanWeKnow:
Focus and Goal Setting. Ashley has turned her part-time hobby into a full-time business. While some may question the sacrifices Ashley has made, she is sure that her actions are tied to her values and has the support of family and friends in pursuing them.
Delegation. Ashley has hired her mother and several friends to work in her business. She has also outsourced some development work to India. This is critical to the growth of her business. If she had felt she needed to directly create all the designs she distributes on her web, she would have limited her ability to grow.
Niche market. Ashley creates html plug-ins for decorating MySpace websites. Ashley goes deep by focusing only on the interests of teenage girls but remains broad by producing designs that will work on a variety of social networks and on cell phones as well as PCs.
Strategy. Ashley stays a step-ahead of her competition by creating new products and new ways to connect with her customers. She conducts her own market research by asking her customers directly what they want, and then working to provide it.
Connection. Ashley realizes that customer loyalty is key to her success so she created an online magazine and a social network for them to communicate with eachother.
Guidance. Ashley works with a business coach to explore ways to further develop her business.
Continual Learning. While Ashley knows quite a bit about her business, she also knows she lacks business management knowledge in general. She is continuing her formal education through a community college to enhance her natural ability
While it may look like Ashley stumbled upon success, her business is actually founded on solid business priciples, hard work, dedication and sacrifice. And when all of that is coupled with the unbridled optimism and energy of a teenager - her sudden success suddenly makes sense!
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 6:08 pm and is filed under motivation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
