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 President's Letter
I love the holidays! It's such an exciting time for visiting with family and hunkering down for the change in daylight savings time and the ensueing winter weather! It seems as soon as the colors of the leaves change and then we get a little frost on the pumpkins, the first thing I think of is how fast the year has flown by!
This last quarter of the year, our Board of Directors are focusing on the new year! We are developing our 2010 plan, which is being developed with the feedback that we got from the survey that you helped us with.
November and December are normally less active months for our networking. So, our newsletter will be a little more robust with articles and information from NAWBO National in the hopes that we can add some value to your business building strategies to get 2010 off to a strong start.
We are happy to announce that two of members, Wendy Heppell and Angella Luyk , were honored on October 26th by Rochester Women's Newtork as two of the 10 Up and Coming Business Women for 2009! Congratulations Ladies! We are so proud of you both and so excited to see you get the recognition you deserve!
Also, Angella's company, Midnight Janitorial, is the recipient of the 2009 American Business Ethics Award in the small company category. Angella traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to receive this national award right after receiving the Up and Coming Business Women's honor! As you may know, Angella doesn't let the dust settle when it comes to working on her business!
It would be great to hear more about our members being honored by their industries, organizations or other community service groups. So, please let us know when you or another member of our group is recognized. We want to help you 'toot your horn'!
Well, I hope you all enjoy November and the last of the lovely fall colors and family gatherings! I am so grateful to be able to work with our board and our members and I look forward to seeing you at our events this month!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Kelly |
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Priscilla Petersen of Pep Enterprises
I established Pep Enterprises in 1980 when I became affiliated with Shaklee, the #1 Natural Nutrition Company in the U.S., which was formed in 1956 and whose product research dates back to 1915.
I teach people how to protect and enhance the health and wellness of themselves and their families, how to create a non-toxic household and greener environment, how to stretch their family budget to cover all their needs, and also how they can generate extra income if that is desired.
How did I become involved in this field?
After years as a public school teacher, I became a full-time mom, yet wanted to continue a professional life as well. I found that I could put family first and still have a positive impact on the lives of others with a home-based business. Shaklee's philosophy of "Always Safe, Always Green, Always Works" was a perfect fit with my values of harmony with nature and good health.
One of my biggest accomplishments:
I am pleased to say that I was a participant in the Landmark Study which clinically proved that longtime users of Shaklee supplements had dramatically better markers of health and much lower incidence of disease than those who used an ordinary multivitamin or no supplements. www.LandmarkStudy.com
Perhaps the most satisfactory result of my home-based business is that I have been able to be fully present to my family and yet receive a paycheck every month for nearly thirty years.
What people may not know:
Do you remember the local TV commercial from a few years ago when Benny tells his classmates about New York State apples and finally earns an "A"? I was the teacher. |
Get Back to Business
Planning Fundementals
In a recession, it's important to know what adjustments to make to your business plan. Here are three fundamentals to remember.
By Tim Berry
Entrepreneur
I'm a baby boomer, born in 1948. I've seen recessions before. I was job hunting during the recession of 1971. My wife and I were deeply in debt and trying to buy a house during the recession of 1982. We sold a house in California and moved to Oregon during the recession of 1992. We had to lay people off--five of 35--during the recession of 2001. And this recession seems like the worst I've seen.
So it's time to go back to fundamentals. That doesn't necessarily mean cutting costs, dropping products or selling off inventory. And it definitely doesn't have to mean cutting people.
The first fundamental is your planning, which essentially means watching things more closely. Track your progress on cash, sales, expenses, new projects, customer satisfaction, internet traffic, ad spending--all of it. And track it more closely.
Look for built-in indicators. It's your business; you know what they are. Think about what drives your sales--or expenses--and how you can get early warning about changes that might affect you. For some, it's as simple as street traffic or floor traffic. For others it's internet traffic or e-mail response rates or deal flow or lead generation. Don't wait for the results to play all the way through your system--look for them early.
One of the first things to do when things get tough is tighten the planning and shorten the planning cycle. Review your progress more often than usual. Think of it as zooming in on the detail--look at things by week instead of by month or by month instead of by quarter.
If ever there were a time for careful planning, it's now. It brings me back to one of my favorite quotes from Dwight D. Eisenhower: "The plan is useless; but planning is essential."
The second fundamental is watching the drivers of cash flow. Keep a very close eye on burn rate vs. revenues. Burn rate, in this context, is a lot like fixed costs, but more. Fixed costs are what you'd pay even if your business closed down. Burn rate is what you pay regularly every month to keep your business running, but without the variable costs of sales or direct costs. That includes probably all of your salaries (unless you have some assembly labor or part-time labor that goes up when sales go up and down when sales go down), your rent, your ongoing marketing expenses, your office expenses and all the rest. If your revenue goes down, you can maintain your burn rate for a while, sacrificing profits; but you can't let revenues stay under the burn rate for very long without losing capital and, if the problem continues, going under.
I know you know that, but I put it here because the vocabulary helps. Revenue vs. burn rate: keep the revenue higher than the burn. And don't forget that if you've got business-to-business sales, business customers are likely to take longer than usual to pay. That involves factoring in collection days--the measure of how fast customers pay what they owe you. If the collection days increase, cash decreases.
The third fundamental is people. Don't make the mistake of laying people off too soon. No matter how carefully you follow your plan, layoffs might be necessary. But don't be too quick because the recession will end. People are hard to find--especially trained people who know your business. |
Our NAWBO History
In 1975, a group of a dozen like-minded businesswomen in the D.C. area gathered to share information and create an atmosphere of professional community to further and strengthen their entrepreneurial interests. That group quickly grew to become what is now known as the National Association of Women Business Owners. Since then, NAWBO has risen to become the strong and unified voice of more than 10 million women-owned businesses across the country.
Over the past 30-plus years, NAWBO has expanded across the United States, boasting a chapter in nearly every major metropolitan area. Through its affiliation with Les Femmes Chefs d'Enterprises Mondiales (World Association of Women Entrepreneurs), NAWBO's global reach extends to 60 countries on five continents worldwide.
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"Mompreneurs" play big role without sacrificing family
Candace Kendle started a consulting business in Cincinnati in 1981 and turned it into Kendle, a $475 million, publicly traded firm that tests new drugs. This article cites her as a pioneer in the "mompreneur" trend, when mothers began leaving the workforce to start their own businesses so they could better manage their work and life balance. NAWBO estimates 10.1 million companies nationwide are owned by women, accounting for $1.9 trillion in sales and employing 13 million people. To read the full article, please click on the logo below
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Did You Know?
WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS GENERATE $3 TRILLION IN ANNUAL ECONOMIC IMPACT & PROVIDE 23 MILLION JOBS!
A New Study Reveals Economic Impact of Majority-Women-Owned Firms for First Time! To read this terrific article click here:
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Access to Capital
360 Financial Literacy: read articles on money management and financial planning for your business and family.
Springboard Enterprises: discover programs and resources for increasing access to capital for women entrepreneurs.
Biz2Credit: find new sources of capital with this online resource.
Small Business Administration: learn about different sources of funding available from the SBA.
AdvanceMe, Inc.: learn about this source of capital that you repay with a portion of future credit card sales.
Count Me In: get loans of $500 to $10,000 for women starting new businesses.
Small Business Investment Company (SBIC): discover resources from this Small Business Administration program.
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation: find research and initiatives on increasing access to capital. |
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Welcome to our Newest Member!
Pamela Hines 585-385-6995
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November Calendar of Events
NAWBO Power Lunch, November 18th
Location: The Lehigh Restaurant, 4835 W. Henrietta Road
Time: 11:15 am to 1:00 pm
Cost: Free to members, $5 for non-members
Please join us for a conversation with Luis Martinez M.Ed., author of Getting There: Driving High Performance Strategies and Tactics for Career Decisions will be discussing Defining Yourself - Tips & Tactics for Networking.
By now you've heard that networking is a necessary process. Perhaps you've never had to network before, and the prospect of having to present yourself to others is exhausting before you even start. And, with all the social media networking, it's just frightening!
Luis will help you understand the importance of relationship building, and provide tips and tactics for effective use of your time. We will explore judicious use of social media tools like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Education & Resource AM Series, November 19th
Location: The Bonadio Group 8:30 - 10:00 am - Lower Conference Room, 171 Sully's Trail, Suite 201, Pittsford, NY
Time: 8:30 am to 10:00 am
Cost: $5 - members, $10 - non-members
"Create Strategic Growth for Your Business!"
GRC-NAWBO and First Niagara Bank Penfield Office are proud to offer this informative experience, presented by N. Cenette Burdine, President of Burdine & Company, LLC.
Cenette is a master strategist, accomplished marketer and experienced consultant who works with firms of all sizes to define, promote and grow their businesses. In this session she will share with you a proven strategy framework to guide your development of a focused plan of action to grow your business. She will provide you with a unique set of powerful tools and techniques you can use to...
identify your growth opportunities
assess your market and organizational preparedness
analyze funding and financial considerations, and
set your course for business success.
Cenette is an engaging and compelling presenter who is certain to leave you ready to think strategically and grow your business even in these tough economic times!
Ms. Burdine has a 20+ year track record of success as a senior business executive and consultant in the healthcare, insurance, information services, technology and non-profit sectors. She has an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and serves as an adjunct instructor in strategic planning for the RIT E.Philip Saunders College of Business.
Cost is $5 for members, $10 for non-members. Registration not required, walk-ins welcome.
Special thanks to our sponsor, First Niagara Bank, and Ann Young, Branch Manager, Penfield!
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2009-2010 Board of Directors
President Programs
Kelly Olczak, CFP Wendy Heppell
Edward Jones Investments Simply Success Solutions
585-200-2320 888-798-3666
Debbie Rivera, CPA N. Cenette Burdine
The Bonadio Group Burdine & Company
Secretary Sponsorship
Julie Judge
tru Salon
585-586-7870
Membership
Leah Goldman, Esq. Jodie Borlaug
Goldman Law Firm Waddell & Reed
585-737-9231 585-436-4510
Seminar Susie Rose
Ann M. Young SMR Resources, Inc.
First Niagara Bank 585-455-3676
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Thanks to our Annual Sponsors - we couldn't do this without you!
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How Do I Join NAWBO?
Visit our website at www.nawborochester.org and click on the link -Membership Application
Join us - you'll be glad you did!
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