Last week I sat down (online) with inspiring women from The Motherhood, SCORE and Sam’s Club plus business owners Tabitha Birdsong (owner of Miss Birdsong’s Sweet Tooth) and Veronica Jacobsen (owner of Baby Love).
I learned so much and left with a burning
desire to amp up the business side of my business.
Here’s a glimpse into what I learned…
The American Small Business Championship
I was so impressed when they told me about The American Small Business Championship (hosted by Sam’s Club and SCORE) which addresses the unique challenges and obstacles faced by small business owners by providing expert training, resources, mentoring and networking opportunities to small business owners.
This year, The American Small Business Championship selected 102 champions from 47 states. The Champions received a $1,000 Sam’s Club gift card, all expense-paid attendance at a regional Championship Celebration and Symposium, SCORE mentoring for one year, and significant national publicity.
SCORE Offers Free Business Mentoring
Amazing, right! SCORE connects entrepreneurs with free business mentors. Yes, please! I signed up for a mentor as soon as I heard about this priceless opportunity. You can request to meet with a mentor in person or get free advice via email. AMAZING!
I’m meeting with my mentor in person during the week of May 18.
Click here to connect with a SCORE mentor!
6 Ways to Work Smarter
During out meeting, our presenters shared the following ways to work smarter. I’m all about working smarter (and not harder)…
I LOVE the idea of getting my biggest things done before 9am. I love sleeping in, but I think it’s time I start shifting my morning schedule around so I can be more productive in the early morning – before my kids wake up and before my email inbox starts exploding with messages.
Characteristics of Successful Business Owners
Our presenters, who have worked with many small business owners, shared this insight. Success business owners…
- Have determination that drives everything that they do.
- Are open to feedback and open to using the information they hear to better themselves.
- Are able to forgive yourself.
- Stay true to their mission.. no matter what.
- Have passion and drive.
Opportunities For You…
- Find a mentor and access free tips, tools and resources for small businesses > www.score.org
- Attend an American Small Business Championship Regional Symposium > www.championship.score.org
- Learn how Sam’s Club helps small business owners grow, save and prosper > www.samsclub.com/giving
How will you amp up the business side of your business today?
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Sam’s Club and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.
Get the big things done before 9AM – YUP! I started doing this last October. Today is day 193 (or thereabouts) of me getting up 2 hours earlier and walking my talk. This morning it was straight to my writing. I have more to do before I go to “work.” 🙂
What a great post! I love the 6 Characteristics for Working Smarter — especially owning up to your “junk” hours. Uh-huh, I’m guilty!
Thank you Stacey for this insightful article. I feel so affirmed as a successful business owner just by reading and now can amp it up with your great tips. Blessings
Hi Stacey, I so related to the characteristics of a small business owner. Thanks for sharing the 6 ways to work smarter and the other resources. A couple of things I’ve found helpful to work smarter is to plan your next day at the end of the previous one (e.g. make a list of your key activities the night before) and prioritizing the activities as A – essential to move my business forward/to move toward a key goal: B – Important and C- Nice to do/but not essential. Another is building some time into each day to do something you enjoy (e.g. taking a walk in nature, connecting with a friend, doing yoga …). That way when you return to work you feel more focused and energized.
Thanks Stacey for sharing your wisdom and opening up this discussion.
Stacey, This is such a supportive post. Feels good to be in the flow of productivity and it also feels healthy to check in and make sure I’m not burning myself out by working all the time.
Stacey,
Great information about business resources we all can use! And it’s great to look in the individual neighborhoods and cities because many times there are business chambers that will provide additional resources and tips too!. I like you enjoy sleeping in too, but I’ve recently began a new morning routine where I start my day an hour earlier and then in the first two hours of my day, I fill it with self care and creative things. I now take my dog for a walk or get outside in some way. Then I take time to write and/or doing something create (as I’ve recently began painting). I also use this time to journal for 15-20 mins. This has changed my perspective on my day in a HUGE way because this allows me to “make time” for those things I REALLY truly love. I love my job/work too however, I was finding that too often I would be wanting and waiting for time to write OR do something I wanted to do until later in the day and too many times it wouldn’t happen OR the timeframe of doing these things were cut too short. And I decided that I would kind of “flip it upside down”. Then once I’ve completed these things, I can onto doing the other things in my business and it’s been great to see the increase of focus and productivity.
Stacey, thanks for the great info! I’d heard of SCORE a while ago, but haven’t gotten to look into them. I guess this is a gentle nudge from the Universe that I’m supposed to check it out. Very informative and helpful!