On Monday, I attended a business group meeting with several local mom entrepreneurs. A friend had requested that I meet with them to see if there were any good fits for my consulting services. I’m so glad that I attended, because it reminded me why it is important to be around a variety of people with different types of businesses who are also at different stages of their businesses.
I love the energy of business beginners. A couple of the women were just starting their businesses. I could relate to them, because my I’m partnering with my husband Reggie on a new mobile responsive web development business for 2015. Since all of the participants were moms and several were running work from home businesses, it was great to be able to help flesh out some ideas and give some direction based on my (almost) decade of being a work from home mom. I was even able to connect with a couple of the women who don’t have their own websites yet. Hopefully, I will be able to help them build an online presence in 2014. Even if it’s just a placeholder page, it’s important to have an online presence. One of the moms mentioned that they do a google search of any business that they are considering and it makes them suspicious if they can’t find the business online!
I love the energy of local business owners. Several of the women owned offline businesses and were passionate about residents shopping locally. I understood their passion because it is their livelihood AND it is essential to support local businesses in order for them to stay in business. The point that I stressed though is that “should” is not enough. Local business owners have to be deliberate in attracting the attention of local residents. I’ll be honest…I need to have a good motivation to get up and go shopping at a local store if the alternative is getting something delivered to my home at a least expensive price. That is why the local stores that tend to get my consistent business are the ones that are convenient/on my way to things or that have provide such exceptional service that I don’t think twice about paying a premium price.
With a little creativity, it’s possible for local business owners to come up with ways to stand out in the crowded market though. For instance, one of the moms at the breakfast had a lingerie shop. I encouraged her to have store specials and events…i.e. free bra fitting workshops; bras for backless/open back dresses information sessions during the prom season; etc. Also, since there are a lot of tweens/teens in that area, she could do a special “my first bra” fitting event and make it a memorable, bonding time between moms and daughters. There really are a lot of simple, cost-effective ways to stand out from both online and offline companies that offer similar goods or services. If online or chain stores can beat your business on convenience or price, then you definitely need to consider how you can make up for that in customer experience!
In any event, it was great to start off the week meeting with such a talented group of women. It will be exciting to follow up and see how their various businesses – from therapy to vegan cakes – grow in 2014.
{Post image credit: built on Sheila Scarborough’s Flickr photo}