Business Life
Skyler McCurine tells us how she came to found Le Red Balloon, a styling service inspired by an object which is symbolic in her life.
“Introducing the class of 2008!” I marched proudly across the graduation stage, blatantly aware of my reflection being broadcast via jumbo-tron to the thousands of proud parents in the audience, including my own. As I shook the dean’s hand and got hold of the diploma that I had worked so hard for, I could literally feel a change and shift during my pilgrimage across the stage.
That evening I pictured my life post graduation as a full blown bad-mamma jamma with her dream job of 60k a year and a wooden floored loft with bay windows and sky lights was waiting for me on the other side of that platform.
Little did I know that as I crossed the stage, it was more like walking the plank. I was transitioning from naïve college bliss where my biggest worry was what I would wear to Friday night’s theme party into reality. I crossed the stage stepping into the daunting unfamiliar, aka the quarter life crisis.
The evolution from college student to working adult is like a transition from theory to practice, dream to fruition, and of course tax-free to paying citizen.
I feared what this grand shift would mean. I wondered “How will I be a contributing member of society?”, “Will I ever have autonomy?”, and graduating in the worst economy since the roaring 20s, “Will I even find a job?” Jiminy Cricket, what the hell did I get myself into? Finally understanding why my brothers took years to graduate, the super senior methodology became more appealing at the rising of each sun.
The NextWomen is happy to be able to provide information on registering your business through knowledge partner the Formations Company.
All women should have access to the tools and resources needed to launch their own independent venture.
In light of this, here is a beginner's guide to starting your own business, to give you an idea of whether your business idea is viable, and get you thinking on the right tracks to success!
Thinking about your business
As many of us already know, the thought of starting your own business can be daunting.
Tina Amirtha looks at whether hiring a more flexible workforce is the key to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the Netherlands.
At one time, the phrase "going freelance" might have been something that you would have heard from a disgruntled colleague who had just been let go and was secretly plotting to take all of her ex-boss's best clients.
Now, freelancing is a regular phenomenon, no matter in what part of the world you live. (Check out this infographic.) What was once a synonym for being unemployed is now a valid occupation. In a place like the Netherlands, where the national discussion is searching for ways to stimulate innovation in the economy, this is a good thing.
Just how can the Dutch business climate foster entrepreneurship and innovation? A good answer is: hire more freelancers.
The NextWomen is happy to provide information on balancing love and work through knowledge partner eHarmony.com.
For anyone who has a hectic work life, finding the time to date is a challenge. It can be tempting to put the search for love on the back burner while you wait for the time when you’re less busy. The trouble is that time may never come and the hunt for the ideal partner can be a long one.
How do you balance growing a love life with a demanding career?
Griselda Kumordzie Togobo reviews Sue Stockdale's new book about business and growth strategies, The Growth Story: Successful Business Growth Strategies used by Women Entrepreneurs.
It’s the aspiration of many female entrepreneurs to build successful businesses. How you plan to achieve such growth is one of the challenges that most small business grapple with.
Sue Stockdale’s The Growth Story charts the journeys of women entrepreneurs and the strategies they adapted to turn their ideas into multi-million businesses.
Sue Stockdale is an inspirational speaker and coach and the first British woman to ski to the North Pole, having represented Scotland in track and field athletics. She is also currently the London Chapter Chair of Women Presidents Organisation.
Sue gives some sound advice that resonated with me such as:
“Growing organically made us a lean company and gave us the opportunity to become experts in all growth stages.
"We did all the work in-house and this allowed us to save money and have the cash available for growth” Brenda VanDuinkerken
Sheila Flavell, COO of international IT services
provider FDM Group and a Cranfield School of Management '100 Women to
Watch 2013', looks at why there aren't more women in tech; why a career in this field is so rewarding; and at some of the women at the top of the industry. Part of The NextWomen Technology Theme.
This is my first contribution to The NextWomen. I have been vigilantly reading it for a number of months so hopefully I won’t disappoint. Let me start by telling you a little about myself; I am a mother of five, a wife and the COO of the UK’s leading IT graduate employer.
I am a firm believer in equal opportunities in the workplace and I lead FDM Group’s global Women in IT campaign dedicated to encouraging more women to pursue a career in information technology.
The NextWomen Technology Theme.
If you have a technology-based business or startup, attending a Project Getaway event could help you to grow your business, and from a rather nice location too.
Founded in 2010 by Michael Bodekaer, Project Getaway aims to inspire people from all over the world to truly live life, through awesome exotic events for entrepreneurial people.
Michael established Project Getaway because he wanted to share his passion for travelling with other like-minded location independent entrepreneurs.
Now in it’s fourth year, each Project Getaway event lasts for one month where location independent entrepreneurs with a range of different specialities from all over the world come to live and work together in amazing locations.
Has your business run out of cash? Jo Haigh looks at your options.
You know the saying ‘sales are vanity, profit is sanity’? This little sentence should end with ‘but cash is absolutely essential’.
Businesses do not fail because they don't make profits (at least, not immediately), they fail because they run out of cash. Once it’s gone it’s gone!
If your cash wells have all but dried up, keeping what you have, and squeezing the last drops out of your assets, is more than desirable, it’s essential to survival.
So, first things first, are you fully exploiting your key assets of stock and debtors? In other words do you have optimum stock levels and are you collecting as promptly as possible?
Try this simple formula to work out what each day tied up in stock and debtors is worth to you. You may also like to check if you may just be paying too quickly. I call it the RIP ratio, so try ripping into your assets.
Sue Stockdale looks at how asking the right questions can change the focus of your employees and your business.
When was the last time that you were asked a great question? One that really made you stop and think, or that caused you to come up with new ideas or insights. It is likely that it was quite a long time ago, as my experience in day to day business is that powerful questions are rarely asked.
In Western society the focus is often more on finding the right answer, than asking the right question.
Dina Yuen, Founder, Asian-Fusion.com shares the five entrepreneurial lessons her father couldn't teach her, and which she learned the hard way.
I grew up in a family of three girl siblings, no brothers, and that’s exactly the way my Asian parents wanted it.
Defying millennia of beliefs and thought processes, my parents were and are a fascinating balance of modern progressives and traditionalists. They strongly believe in the nuclear family, providing a profound sense of love, commitment and closeness that in today’s generation may seem foreign or stifling. To me, my parents are the greatest blessing in my life. They gave openly of their love and constantly reinforced that we girls could and should achieve greatness and to never be intimidated by men.
Without my father’s encouragement to shadow his every step at his office during my pre-teen years, I may never have brought to fruition the innate entrepreneur in me.
The very idea that I could create something of value, that I could be my own boss, that I could build a huge company-these were instilled early on.
Upcoming Events
27 Jun 2013 - 08:00 - 28 Jun 2013 - 17:00London, UK
27 Jun 2013 - 15:30 - 18:00Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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