SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com » Business Inspiration

5 Things You Could Do Today to Generate a Sale

Melinda Emerson — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:30:13 +0000

It’s May. That means it’s National Small Business Month and it’s time for you to get serious about your business. Answer these questions about your business: Have you updated your business plan? Are you using your business plan to run your small business? Do you have monthly/weekly sales goals? Do you know by the 15th [...]

7 Businesses to Start For Under $500

Melinda Emerson — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:30:40 +0000

When you see a friend’s kitchen clutter, do you dive right in to bring order it? Are you the go-to girl for hair and makeup advice? Are you “that guy” who can fix anything technical or mechanical? If you’ve ever considered becoming your own boss, this could be the right time to turn your talent [...]

Smallbizchat Celebrates 3 Years of Helping Thousands of Entrepreneurs

Melinda Emerson — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:30:39 +0000

Today marks the third anniversary of my Twitter talk show #Smallbizchat. We launched the weekly #Smallbizchat, in April of 2009, as a peer-to-peer mentoring program to help early stage entrepreneurs get answers to their small business questions. The goal was to provide information to help end small business failure. With 82% of small businesses going [...]

Are You Doing Your #1 Job as an Entrepreneur

Melinda Emerson — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:25:27 +0000

Your skills as an entrepreneur can make the difference between a booming enterprise and closing your doors far too soon. Your #1 job as a small business owner is to sell. Your job is to motivate, inspire and convince customers, potential investors, and often family that your business idea is worthwhile. It typically requires passion [...]

12 Bible Verses Every Small Business Owner Needs For 2012

Melinda Emerson — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:30:23 +0000

I normally do this post at the top of the year, but I was inspired to wait until now. With Easter upon us, I though this post would be particularly meaningful at this time of year. My religious theme for 2012 is, “Either I win or I learn, but with God’s help I never lose.” [...]

How to Communicate Your Business Vision

Melinda Emerson — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:30:28 +0000

As a business leader, it’s your job to craft a vision for your business. Once you know what that is, you need to be able to communicate it to a wide audience including your customers and your employees. Even the interns need to know. Why? Because your need to share a vision that everyone understands, [...]

When You’ve Done All You Can, Get Up!

Melinda Emerson — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:58:03 +0000

There comes a time in every entrepreneur’s life when you just catch a bad break. You work really hard on a deal. You thought it was yours. Then at the last minute, after nearly a year-long sales process, you loose the contract. This especially stings when you’ve spent hours studying the customer and cultivating an [...]

What Whitney Houston Can Teach Us All About Business

Melinda Emerson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:30:50 +0000

Over the last few days the world has been reeling over the untimely death of pop icon Whitney Houston. As a teenager I grew up on a steady diet the late singer’s hits. My favorites among them are Greatest Love of All, Saving All My Love For You, I Have Nothing and I Will Always [...]

How Using A Vision Board Can Help You Achieve Small Business Success

Melinda Emerson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:30:29 +0000

If you look at personal or small business success, in retrospect, it all started with a goal. And depending on the size of a goal, there can be a wide spectrum between that goal and what can be defined as “success.” So how can that gap be bridged so it is manageable and your goal [...]

Ready to dream big in 2012?

Melinda Emerson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:05:45 +0000

Are you ready to dream big in 2012? This is the perfect time to get a clear sense of what you need to do better in your business. Setting annual sales goals is fine, but you know me. I am all about the 30-day sales goal. As in, how much money do you need to [...]