As a creative person and a work-in-progress entrepreneur, I find that sometimes my passion can get watered down by negative energy and people, who just see don't the opportunity, social impact or just the creation of the idea to change the world for the better.
For me, I felt frustrated with this business plan for my class. Taking on a festival is a jumbo oatmeal raisin cookie to eat, let alone look at, close up. However, I received a little inspiration and a newfound group of women entrepreneurs whose own businesses have taught them a few lessons about venturing out on their own.
On Tuesday, October 21, I was invited by Angel Investor (and Simmons College SOM Angel-In-Residence) Barbara Clark to attend a panel discussion called "Straight Talk About Starting a Business: Women Entrepreneurs tell you what they wish they knew before starting a business." Created by Gesmer Updegrove LLP's, Lynne Zagami Riquelme and Nancy M. Cremins (founder of SheStarts), both women led the guests and audience on a thought-provoking, heart-to-heart conversational journey about the legalities, the skill set, personality and the ups and downs of starting a business.
Panelists included:
Dr. Piali De founder and CEO of Senscio Systems, whose IbisCare product uses artificial intelligence to transform care for individuals with chronic conditions. Prior to Senscio Systems, Dr. De was an Engineering Fellow at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems.
Amrita Aviyente founder and CEO of Date My Wardrobe, an online marketplace to rent high end wardrobe items to other users. She has extensive experience in software engineering and user experience strategy.
Stephanie Goodell experienced marketing professional and owner of Samaya Consulting LLC. Her company's focus is designing highly successful, global brand extension events and innovative marketing campaigns with a focus on customer engagement and relationship building with high-growth women business leaders.
Kathryn Carlson founder and CEO of Buca Boot, which creates beautiful, purposeful products that make it easier for people to choose their bikes over their cars. Their flagship product, the Buca Boot is a revolutionary bike-mounted storage system that offers the flexibility of an open bike basket with the storage and security of a car trunk.
One of the first questions asked was "How did you start your business?" While all the women squirmed in their seats, looking at each other and patiently waiting for someone to speak first, Stephanie described how she became more or less an "accidental entrepreneur" meaning that combined her passion with her business. Stephanie loves to position brands with women in high growth companies (women owned or Fortune 500 companies) to increase customer engagement at major events or speaking engagements. Thus far, she has been fortunate in her career to have a strong network of people, particularly women, who refer her services, which has allowed Stephanie to pursue her dreams.
Following the conversation was Kathryn from Buca Boot. With her animated personality and strong tone, she playfully described how she too, became an "accidental entrepreneur." For Kathryn, it was all about solving a problem concerning a lack thereof with functional storage units for cyclists. So she spoke to a few people, in which one of her colleagues invited her to lunch to speak with the CEO of Preserve Plastic. It was from that luncheon that she was provided names of designers, manufacturers and good-hearted people who may have an interest in her product idea. Despite a few setbacks, she started a Kickstarter campaign, which led to the prototype and soon-to-be launch phase of her idea.
The second question related to customers, "How did you build your business?" Instantly, Dr. Piali De spoke about how her business started from the end first, meaning she needed the right salespeople to push the product into customer hands. She and her husband started the business together and wanted for their parents to "age safely and healthy," thus she already had the customer base. More importantly, De spoke about the importance of identifying your first set of customers and then go into listening mode so that you can truly understand what your customers need (not want). Lastly, Dr. Piali spoke about sweat equity, where she and her husband used their own funds to support the first two years of their business, then as they began to network, they were able to connect with 30 angel inventors, whom are all passionate about their product and service.
As the panelists and audience of women anxiously played tit-for-tat with Q&As, the final question of the night was "What do you wish you would have known then before starting your business?" Quietly, each panelist thought to themselves about where to even begin to answer the question. Amrita of Date My Wardrobe, stated the importance of podcasts and TED talks, in that you can find free valuable information about anything regarding entrepreneurship, business, finance, etc. Kathryn from Buca Boot wished she had known about hidden costs such as invoicing, payroll, subscriptions, taxes, etc. This would have helped her budget more and tighten her revenue projections. For Dr. Piali, it was all about paying attention to how a team works within a business setting. Everything from individual and group attitudes, dynamics and relationships does play a major role in the success or failure of your own company. Furthermore, De sums it up best by giving these three pieces of advice:
- Trust your instincts
- "Before you build a business, build a network."
- Be honest about your own strengths and weakness as a person and a entrepreneur. If you don't have certain skill sets, can you learn it fast? If not, hire someone who can do it effectively.
I thank these women for re-assuring me that women entrepreneurship and innovation is at the helm of changing the way the world sees us and how we see ourselves.
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