Last night I attended a panel about entrepreneurship presented by the Boston chapter of Ladies Who Launch. What a great group of successful, creative women! Even though I'm not peddling a product or planning to go public with my writing business, I still found that a lot of the advice resonated with me.
Here are some of the best sound bytes I picked up (I'm paraphrasing some of these for the sake of clarity):
"Let the naysayers push you forward." Fortunately, most of the people in my life are supportive. But occasionally I run up against someone who just doesn't get why I want to write. One of the women talked about a banker who refused to give her a small business loan to open a clothing boutique, and it forced her to rethink her business model. She said that after thinking about it and refining her idea, it actually ended up better than what she'd envisioned before (now she has a mobile boutique).
"You're your company 24/7." This is soo true! Rarely do I shut off my computer at 5:01 and call it a day. Every where I go, there are opportunities to find story ideas and connect with new people. You never know who you might meet at the gym, the grocery store, or a dinner party. If I'm not on my game, then I'm missing out on personal AND professional opportunities.
"Every opportunity is not necessarily a good opportunity." Women especially have a hard time saying no. I'm one of those women. But just because someone asks me to edit their newsletter or write for their website does not mean that it fits my vision for myself or that I have to do it. I should have that mantra taped to my computer screen!
"No is just the beginning." A veteran saleswoman-turned-entrepreneur mentioned this one. She said that if someone says no, then you have to keep in touch with them and keep thinking of ways to meet their needs until eventually you find a way to work together. I tend to just walk away after rejection (unless the editor says something encouraging that makes me think they might be open to more ideas), so I'll have to try this strategy in the future.
"Entrepreneurs give people what they want before they know they want it." I love this one! Not sure how it applies to writers, but it was in response to a (very smart) question about whether you should start a business based on a need or based on your own passion. One of the panelists pointed out that if you have the need, then other people have the need, too.
Any thoughts? What mantras or sayings about business inspire you?