More Than WE Know

One of the aspects I like best about the Mirassou contest I reported on yesterday, is that it doesn’t just give the winner the cash prize and walk away.  The contest provides not only a substantial cash award ($50,000) but a group of advisers that will help ensure that the investment pays off. 

One of the biggest challenges that Women Entrepreneurs face is that we try to do everything ourselves. Either we don’t want to bother anyone by asking for help or we don’t think anyone else can possibly understand our vision and live up to our standards. Both attitudes are a recipe for failure. 

Mirassou provides the following experts to assist the winner, and they are a solid basis for your own team.

Business and Marketing Plan Writer.   Many Women Entrepreneurs skip the step of creating a business plan.  More so than men, women tend to make it up as we go along.  While this can feel like it is working in the short term, it is not going to be sufficient to assist your company in growing to its full potential. 

Many Women Entrepreneurs self-fund their business through their savings, credit cards, or family loans. They then think they can’t take the time and don’t have the need to create a business plan.  But a plan helps you to see where you are going, how you are going to get there and what might get in your way. 

A marketing plan is distinct from a business plan.  A marketing plan focuses deeply on who your target market is, the potential opportunity for reaching them and methods of getting your product in front of them.  These days, I would also suggest a separate section on an online strategy for marketing your business.

Graphic Desinger.  Good graphic designers can make your business stand out among the competition. They can make you look big while you are still small.  Graphic designers can develop your logo, your website, and your marketing materials.  

Financial Planner. I found it interesting that the contest recommended a financial planner rather than an accountant.  The assumption of course is that you will have an accountant to handle your budget and tax needs. 

But a financial planner can help provide a more strategic view of your business. For example a financial planner can help you recognize how long you can afford to go before making a profit, and how much profit you will need to make.   They may also help you explore funding options and advise you when you are taking on too much risk yourself.

Legal Expert.  A legal expert can help you determine how your business should be structured. He or she can advise you on ways to limit your personal liability as well as ways to protect your intellectual property and product ideas. 

Mentor.  A mentor is someone who has “been there and done that”.  This type of advice can be extremely helpful in avoiding problems and gaining insight. This relationship can also be reassuring. Your mentor’s success is an encouraging endorsement of your own potential success.

So, who’s on your team? Are you struggling to do it all yourself? Do you feel your business isn’t big enough to warrant all of this help? Give yourself and your business the best chance possible by entrusting it to a team of experts.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Mirassou Vineyards is holding a contest to give an aspiring Woman Entrepreneur the opportunity to make her business dreams come true. 

The winner will receive $50,000 as well as the support of a team of professional consultants: a business and marketing plan writer, a graphic designer, a financial planner, and a legal expert as well as mentoring from an experienced entrepreneur member of the National Association for Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

Mirassou is offering the award in honor of the great-great Grandmother of the current owner of this six generation winery.  The family credits Henrietta Mirassou with the optimism and tenacity to keep the family winery in business, at a time when women entrepreneurs were extremely rare.  They want to foster that same optimism and strength in today’s Women Entrepreneurs.

In addition to the contest, Mirassou also provides some interesting tip sheets for women in business for themselves based on the book  by Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin
How to Run Your Business Like a Girl: Successful Strategies from Entrepreneurial Women Who Made It Happen

The application is short and easy to submit.  Deadline is December 15, 2007 and is open to U.S. residents at least 21 years of age.  

Be sure to check it out - and let me know if you win!!!  

Cheers!!

AVON is giving away $5000 a week to intiatives that empower women!!

Their Hello Tomorrow Fund awards women or men who Empower Women through one of three areas:

Business Development
A for-profit business that directly empowers women through its mission, product or service, or through the means of doing business.

Community Service
A non-profit project or program that helps women (of any age) realize their full potential or overcome obstacles.

Awareness & Outreach
Educate others about an issue that affects women in order to inspire and empower other women and have a positive impact on the issue.

AVON started announcing winners in April 2007 and will continue through April 2008. 

Final submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. EST on December 10th, 2007 for weekly awards announced between January 8th, 2008 and April 15th, 2008.

The application is short and non-intimidating. You just have to provide some background information about yourself and answer a few short (150 words) questions.

So, now let me ask you (since it is one of the questions), what would you do with $5000?

For me, I’d invest in informational products that would enable me to get my message out to more women: audio, video and e-books that provide information, inspiration and support to women entrepreneurs.

What about you? Would you invest in marketing? more inventory? better computer equipment?  Whatever it is, share below what you would do with a $5000 grant for your business.