Notes:

Latest blog posts from Cute Little Store

The "W" in S.W.O.T.
If you've read a business book or two, especially one about writing a business plan, then hopefully you've come across the concept of "S.W.O.T." analysis. S.W.O.T stands for "Strengths" "Weaknesses" "Opportunities" and "Threats". This is something not only to include in your business plan, but... Read more...
Published a year ago

Speaking of plans... where's all that data coming from?
So you've started writing your business plan and you've hit the financial section and said to yourself "strongemEek/em/strong! emWhere's this data going to come from? Is selling this much in my first year or five years realistic? How is any bank or investor going to believe my numbers? /em"br... Read more...
Published a year ago

"A plan? I don't even have a pla." **
Interesting article posted to BusinessWeek.com today:br /br /"a href="http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2007/sb20070604_580423.htm"Rethinking How Women Build Businesses/a"br /br /It's a worthy read (for both women and men). One interesting part that stood out: br /br /em"...and... Read more...
Published a year ago

Do you know who your customers are? (...and who are you?)
Who buys your products and services? Do you know these people? Do you know how they found out about you? Do you know why they're buying from you and not your competitor?br /br /emstrongAre you meeting their needs?/strong/embr /br /The last question is the most important and the reason why... Read more...
Published a year ago

Other ways to look at your sales data...
Last week's blog about how to figure out how your business is doing got me thinking about other ways to track data and I came up with this idea...br /br /How about amount of sales per employee? I don't mean specific employee by name. I mean divide your sales for any given month by the number of... Read more...
Published a year ago

How you doin'?
How's business?br /br /If you're in business for yourself, you've been asked this once, twice... okay anytime anyone who knows you sees you this is probably the first question they ask.br /br /I always answer "fine" or "good" or something else pleasant and upbeat - any other answer isn't all that... Read more...
Published a year ago

"Ye Olde Pot and Bead"
Speaking of names...br /br /That was one of the ideas for the name of my business - Ye Olde Pot and Bead. Obviously it didn't stick and looking back, I'm very glad.br /br /Overall, I've been very happy with the name "The Pot Bead". It wasn't taken already, the URL was available, and it was... Read more...
Published a year ago

What's in a name?
Naming your business is an important step when you startup - very few businesses ever change their name after they've started operating. This is something that requires a lot of thought.br /br /I've been asked more than once if a name idea was "cute". It seems that a lot of folks are just looking... Read more...
Published a year ago

Ask for it!
I was recently involved in a presentation of Women in Business. One of the women presenting discussed how in general, women don't ask for what they want. Whether or not that's a true statement that defines a gender, it's definitely true that negotiating is a very difficult thing for a lot of... Read more...
Published 2 years ago

Starting with nothing...
Last night I was asked to give a short presentation on my business as part of a panel of "Women In Business." The following is a short except:br /br /When I started The Pot Bead I started from nothing. br /br /What I strongudidn't/u/strong have:br /ullistrongFormal business background/strong -... Read more...
Published 2 years ago

Cute Little Store E-book edition now available!
"Cute Little Store: between the entrepreneurial dream and business reality" is now available in e-book format. Have you read all the great reviews on Amazon but want it sooner and cheaper? Fantastic! Just a href="http://mignogna.org/cutelittlestore/buy.html"click here to purchase it now/a. Read more...
Published 2 years ago

Tidbits from this month's Inc.
Inc., "The Handbook of the American Entrepreneur," is one of my favorite magazine's right now.br /br /While this month's issue's main focus was on "Going Global," I found a few other tidbits worth passing on to other small business owners:br /br /1. Do you understand your credit card merchant... Read more...
Published 2 years ago