Shelly Sun is the CEO and co-founder of BrightStar, a premium healthcare staffing company that provides the full continuum of care from homecare for newborns, disabled adults and seniors, to supplemental staffing for corporate clients such as nursing homes and physicians’ offices.

At BrightStar’s inception, Shelly, along with her husband and co-founder JD, risked everything to pioneer a company that would offer more to those in need.

In 2005, BrightStar launched its franchising efforts, becoming the first and only franchising company in the country to specialize in both medical and non-medical care and healthcare staffing. In three short years, BrightStar grew from one corporate office to over 150 locations nationwide, and is now on track to open 400 locations by the end of 2011, as well as pursue their international expansion.

Below is an extract of the interview with Shelly Sun.

Tell us about yourself, how did you get started as an entrepreneur? And, what made you get started as an entrepreneur?

My husband’s grandmother became ill in late 2001 and needed assistance with a variety of home care services, ranging from companionship to skilled nursing. We called many companies, including a national franchise system and found it extremely difficult to find a company that offered all of the services she needed.

Though we found and hired a non-franchise national company that said they could offer all of the services, the customer service was not what we hoped for – they didn’t answer their phones after normal business hours and our concerns were not handled as we wanted.

Grandma passed away the day before we got married in 2002, at which point we spent time reflecting on what we were originally looking for all along – a caring and trustworthy caregiver and a company that offered 24/7 service and the full range of non-medical and medical services that grandma needed. This led to the creation of BrightStar.

Tell us about your company. What does it do and what problem does it solve for your target market?

BrightStar is a full-service healthcare staffing agency that provides medical and non-medical homecare to private clients within their homes, as well as supplemental healthcare staff to corporate clients. BrightStar’s well-qualified, attentive caregivers provide peace of mind to clients and their families. We work to understand the needs of our clients and provide customized care to match them with a qualified, pre-screened caregiver who is compatible with their needs. BrightStar is one of the few home healthcare providers that offer both medical and non-medical homecare available to all clients 24/7.

What was your startup capital?

$100,000

How did you finance your business?

We risked their entire personal savings to launch the business in 2002.

Who is your target market and what is your marketing strategy?

One of our main target markets is the “sandwich generation” – those in their mid-30s to mid-50s who are not only raising their children, but also caring for their aging parents and other loved ones; more specifically we want to target women in this age group, as they are often primary caregivers in many situations.

We can market both our LifeCare service line (care for disabled adults, veterans and seniors) and KidCare service line (care for newborns to teens) to this demographic as they very well have needs in both these areas.  Our secondary audience is medical facilities and the staff in those facilities that make the staffing and discharge decisions, as we want to sell our Staffing service line so that our caregivers can work in those facilities and also marketing our LifeCare and KidCare services for those heading home after a hospital stay.

Our marketing strategy is a mix of print and online, varying from outdoor advertisements (billboards, car wraps, bus stop signage), to print advertisements (newspapers, senior resource guides, church bulletins) and online media through our website, search engine optimization and pay-per-click campaign.

What is your business model?

I saw an opportunity to differentiate our services in the market by offering the full continuum of care which meant undertaking the complexity of licensure in each state. By understanding the needs of caregivers to continuously earn a living, the original model integrated healthcare staffing also to allow caregivers to keep their skills current working part-time in facilities while being able to do the work they love providing one-on-one care in the home the majority of the time.

Your company has revenues of over $ 10 million, how long did it take for you to reach these numbers?

Our actual system-wide run rate is $110 million and it took us just about seven years to achieve that milestone, which we’re very proud of.

What systems and procedures do you need to put in place for you to achieve robust growth?

On the personal front, I aim to pursue information and advisors to continue my own professional journey, but also to create a rich fabric of edification, insight and perspective. I’ve led my team through a series of obstacles this past autumn when feedback from our Franchisees indicated their satisfaction level had waned.

I never wavered and tasked my team to determine the critical few deliverables from the tedious many, ultimately ensuring our focus remained aligned with our stakeholders. This was no easy task and a 49 item to-do list (due within three months) was born.  My capacity for risk is high, and I invest in talent and technology development to support ambitious and aggressive plans to become the industry leader. I place a high value on people and outpace my competitors with regards to job creation and goal setting.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

Our investment in technology was necessary to allow both sides of the business to be integrated and seamlessly operated with low overhead.  Using our credibility in franchising and our investment in technology, we are reinventing ourselves again to grow into additional brands using the technology platform as a jump start as well as scaling a technology company to sell the ABS system to staffing businesses and franchise businesses under a new brand that will be launched in 2011.

This allows for our 2011 split into both new franchise models as well as enabling our technology for sale on the open market in a SaaS model under a multi-tenant, ‘skinable’ platform.  We are also looking into a small-scale assisted living facility pilot program for 2011 and 2012.  We are planning to launch 7 new brands over the next 10 years, approximately 1 every 12-24 months, to allow for current owners to expand their service offerings, as well as allow for new owners to come into our system.

How often do you prepare or update a business plan?

We review our strategy quarterly with a formal review with a broader group and our board annually.

What are your future plans?

We will launch a total of 7 brands starting in 2011 and then add 1 every 18 months (approximately) through 2019 building towards a system-wide revenue potential of $2B by 2014 and $4-6B by 2019 with 12-20% year over year growth through 2030.

Do you have an exit strategy to walk away from the business someday?

Not at this time, no.  I love what I do and enjoy enabling business ownership for others that really make a difference in the lives of others and in communities every day.  Providing peace of mind for thousands of families every day, creating jobs and empowering business owners makes every day worthwhile and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else this meaningful and fun.

What advice would you give somebody who wants to start a business that grows into a large multi-million dollar enterprise?

Surround yourself with mentors, remain tenacious and never be afraid to ask for what you want. Set new personal and business goals every year that stretch you and your business.

This is an interview with David Ciccarelli, co-founder/Chief Executive Officer of voices.com. David was nominated for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Business Development Bank of Canada and has also presented Voices.com as a New Voices winner at DigiFest, an award recognizing Voices.com as an industry leader that provides digital media products and innovations that contribute to Canada’s economic and cultural future. In 2000, David graduated from the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology with an Honour’s Degree in Audio Technology.

Tell us about yourself, how did you get started as an entrepreneur? And, what made you get started as an entrepreneur?

David Ciccarelli, CEO voices.com

I’ve always been fascinated with music and sound.  When looking at higher education options, audio engineering seemed like a program that would satisfy both my logical and creative sides.  Upon completing the audio engineering program, I started a local recording studio in London where I recorded music groups of all varieties, as well as commercials for radio and television.

This commercial work led me to explore other ways to utilize the equipment and collaborate with local voice over talent.  Soon, the recording studio website had requests to represent a guy from New York, someone else from Los Angeles a French-speaking native from Quebec and the idea became clear – create a online meeting place where businesses and voice over talent can connect.

Tell us about your company. What does it do and what problem does it solve for your target market?

Voice over is an integral aspect of any company’s marketing mix, whether the application is something as simple as on-hold message, as elaborate as casting for a cartoon series or videogame, or as prestigious as a national commercial. Realizing that voice-over is a common need for all businesses, institutions, and non-profits, Voices.com positioned itself early on as the ultimate web service poised to serve and fulfill those needs, a market said to be worth over 12.3 billion dollars by 2010.

Clients need a consolidated, searchable database of the best and most diverse voices, able to create broadcast-ready audio content, without the headaches, costs and inefficiencies of the existing model. Simply put, clients need to lower the transactional cost of procuring voice talents, while at the same time require a secure method to process payments for the procurement of voice recording and production services.

While skilled at their craft, voice talents are poor marketers and struggle with finding and landing new jobs. As part of this weakness, many freelance voice talents have yet to build their own website, and have little knowledge of Internet marketing. Voice talents need a single online destination where they can easily create a professionally designed website, add sample voice recordings and sell their services to potential clients.

Furthermore, voice talents need a simple method for obtaining payment, issuing invoices and a mechanism to handle a non-paying client.

Voices.com satisfies the market needs of both parties, delivering an easier, faster and better way to conduct business. Voices.com delivers better results for clients in a more efficient manner than traditional methods. With tight budgets and looming deadlines, Voices.com provides a simple solution to getting work done on time and within budget.

What was your startup capital?

With less than $100,000, Stephanie (my wife and co-founder) and I hired a web developer, built the website, purchased online ads and installed a telephone system to receive customer service telephone calls via a toll-free number from around the world.

How did you finance your business?

We used a combination of national banks for long-term loans (we had two 4-year loans and paid them off early) as well as credit cards to fund day-to-day purchases.

Who is your target market and what is your marketing strategy?

Common Sense Advisory recently stated that the total industry revenue for the language services industry, including language translation and voice-over recording, was more than $10.9 billion worldwide in 2008, and is expected to reach over $12.3 billion by the end of the decade.

Based on industry research from AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), there are 300,000 union voice talent in North America. Additionally there are an estimated 1,000,000 non-union voice talent who are semi-professional and are also providing voice-over services on a freelance basis.  This totals more than 1,300,000 professionals servicing the industry.

Target Market

• Advertising Agencies
• Corporate Marketing Departments ( Small – Medium Sized Businesses )
• Talent Agencies and Casting Directors
• Recording Studios and Audio Production Facilities
• Professional Voice Talents and Actors, Radio Personalities and On-Air Talent
• Amateur Voice Talents and Aspiring Actors

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

We started the company as InteractiveVoices and in 2007 changed the name to Voices.com for branding purposes.  Being an Internet company, I was on a quest to acquire a better name and one that described what we did.

Surprisingly, the previous owner of Voices.com hadn’t developed the site and it presented an opportunity for us to make an offer that was quickly accepted.

We spent the next year focused on branding and spreading the word about Voices.com – and the activity that consumes the majority of our efforts today.  I can say with confidence that acquiring the name Voices.com, then seamlessly making the operational transition has been the single biggest turning point in our business.

How often do you prepare or update a business plan?

I have a business plan that is updated throughout the year.  Typically, this is done every quarter to ensure that we’re aligning our marketing campaigns, product development and customer service operations with the corporate objectives for the year.

What do you include in your business plan?

To keep things simple, I include one page per section for the following:

• Executive Summary
• Product and Services
• The Market
• Sales and Marketing Strategy
• Customer Service and Support
• Product Development
• Operations
• Management
• Human Resources
• Legal
• Finance

What are your future plans?

This year, we’re going to continue to work on our mobile website (http://m.voices.com) as well as expanding into new geographic markets.

Do you have an exit strategy to walk away from the business someday?

In the foreseeable future, both Stephanie and I are happy building Voices.com to become a world-class Internet business.  We have so many ideas and current plans in motion that would be hard to abandon. Ask again in 10 years when my to-do list is shorter.

What advice would you give somebody who wants to start a business that grows into a large multi-million dollar enterprise?

There are three things really:

1. Know Your Numbers – Understand what really drives your business.  Is it amazing customer service or is it a network of partners and resellers?  Know your key performance indicators.
2. Create a Culture of Ideas: We believe that ideas can come from anywhere and that there’s no such thing as a bad idea.  At a minimum, start an idea list and revisit it every once in a while to see if there are new ways to serve your customers.
3. Measure Your Success on the Success of Your Customers: Customers are the best judge of the value your company delivers. They are also the best judge of the service they receive. Give them an opportunity to express how they felt when working with you.

Starting a business is easy with this step-by-step program. Click here to check out The StartUp Secrets Homestudy Course.

Have you ever had a crazy idea and wondered if anyone would pay you money for that crazy idea? Well, Anthony Morales and Kristen Carney had the crazy idea of selling handwritten thank you notes online. But they weren’t sure if anyone other than themselves would use such a service.

So they gave themselves 8 hours one Sunday to launch ThankThank Notes, a service that helps businesses send handwritten thank you notes to their customers. In their first week of doing PR, they made 3 sales–proving that someone would actually pay them money for their crazy idea.

Here are the 5 steps that the two entrepreneurs followed to launch ThankThank Notes in 8 hours.

1. Solve Your Own Problem

Anthony and Kristen’s first company is Cubit, a web tool that provides demographic data in seconds. When they first started Cubit, they decided to send every paying customer a handwritten thank you note. As Cubit grew, it became really hard to find time to sit down and write out the notes. They started looking for an online service that would customize and hand-write thank you notes for them, but they couldn’t find a service that was both web-savvy and meet their needs. So they decided to start the service that they wanted.

2. Launch a Minimum Viable Product

Anthony and Kristen’s dream was an API that would integrate with their Cubit application and would automate the sending of handwritten thank you notes. Since they were really busy with Cubit and only had 8 hours to build their note service, the team had to cut scope drastically.

For the first hour, one person would throw out an idea, like “We should let users submit custom designed note cards,” and the other person would chip away at the idea–”That sounds awesome, but what we can launch in 8 hours is a single note card design purchased in bulk from Office Max.” When the first hour was up, they decided that the minimum viable product that they could launch that day was a website, an order form and a way to take money.

3. Use Free and Cheap Web Tools

Since the team wanted to launch by the end of the day, they didn’t have time to build from scratch. Anthony set up the website using WordPress and an inexpensive theme from WooThemes. Kristen used Wufoo, a simple form generator/processor, to create the order form that allows users to set up thank you note scripts and upload their contacts. Then, they hooked the WordPress website up to the Wufoo form up to a PayPal Account. Instant commerce.

Next, they called a few dependable college students that used to intern for them at Cubit and asked the students if they’d be interested in making a little money on the side handwriting thank you notes. The students said “Sure.” Instant labor force. The team proceeded to Step 4.

4. Drink Margaritas

Anthony made a pitcher of margaritas, and they toasted their new venture.

5. Do PR During Your Lunch Hour

After launching the site, Anthony and Kristen got busy with Cubit for a few weeks and didn’t do anything with ThankThank Notes. One day, Kristen decided to do some basic PR for the site while eating lunch. She submitted the site to a handful of start up directories. Several of the directories covered ThankThank Notes, and 3 people clicked on the buy button in their first week.

The future for ThankThank Notes could be bright, but the team has a long way to go. First and foremost, they need to figure out how to acquire customers in a scalable fashion. “The positive is that we’ve got a minimum viable product that solves a problem that businesses will actually pay money for,” says Kristen. “Now we can focus on how to get more of those customers. If we can do that, then we’ll be gold.”

Join Our Home study Entrepreneurship course StartUp Secrets Today. And, learn the skills required to be an extraordinary entrepreneur.

IQ Tech Pros’ Founder and CEO, Kashif Aftab, has grown his company from its start-up days and helped transform the organization from a simple consulting company into the world’s largest full-service IT integration network, offering IT services globally.

Mr. Aftab’s love of computers began at age 9, when he wrote his first code in BASIC. Kashif graduated from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania majoring in Accounting Information Systems and Marketing. He also passed his CPA exam in Maryland.

Prior to venturing into the world of entrepreneurship, Kashif worked at PepsiCo, PNC Bank and Mellon Bank.

Tell us about yourself, how did you get started as an entrepreneur?

I am a serial entrepreneur with 12 years experience starting, operating, selling and acquiring companies in the IT services and Health Care space.

I especially love the world of technology and computers. In fact, I wrote his my first code in BASIC at age nine. I wanted to be an entrepreneur as long as I can remember, because my family has been in business for the last hundred or so years and that allowed me a close look in to the world of entrepreneurs. I found being an entrepreneur was like an artist presented with a clean canvas. They do their own thing and create something out of nothing, which was really rewarding and cool.

My chance came in 1997 during the dot com boom, my partner and I saw an opportunity in the IT consulting business and the outsourcing trend which was hot at the time. Utilizing our expertise in IT and our access to overseas resources, we were able to provide customers with solutions they needed to address their IT issues.

Tell us about your company. What does it do and what problem does it solve for your target market?

IQ Tech Pros is the world’s largest full-service IT integration network. We have over 15,000 certified IT consultants and integrators and around 2,500 partners in our network. Partners can access the network to extend their capabilities to bid very large and complex IT projects.

We also provide resellers with the resources they need to bid for these mega-projects – they often have never dealt with large projects because they didn’t have the bandwidth to handle them independently. IQ Tech Pros operates transparent to the end client so the reseller remains in complete control of the account. We also work with vendors to extend the capabilities of their resellers so that the vendors’ products can be bid into more and larger deals.

The biggest problem we see is that large projects come out and include four or five integration components. Most resellers specialize and can only handle two or three.

They can’t complete the deal are left trying to find partners – who may end up trying to bid the project direct – or, more often, they just pass on the deal. Even if they had the resources, VARs often don’t have the time to bid and don’t know how to price it. As a part of the network, VARs and vendors can tap into the network to get the resources they need to price, bid and complete even the largest and most complex IT projects.

What was your startup capital?

I started IQ Tech Pros with approximately $100,000.

How did you finance your business?

It was self-funded.

Your company has revenues of over $ 10 million, how long did it take for you to reach these numbers?

3-4 years

What systems do you need to put in place for you to achieve robust growth?

1. Recruiting good people
2. A robust marketing program
3. A well-oiled Sales Organization
4. Top of the notch delivery teams
5. Excellent Customer Service
6. Unique offerings which solve the customers problems

How often do you prepare or update a business plan?

We prepare a new business plan every couple of years.

What do you include in your business plan?

1. Mission statement
2. Description of our business
3. Short-term and long-term goals
4. Potential customers
5. Competition analysis
6. Financial analysis
7. Marketing plan

What advice would you give a young entrepreneur who is just starting out in business?

You have to be mentally tough to face the peaks and valleys that are faced by any business. Patience is key and keep an open mind. Finally, always learn from your mistakes.

What books or training programs would you recommend for entrepreneurs?

• The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes
• Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
• The One Minute Manager
• Putting the One Minute Manager to Work
• Leadership and the One Minute Manager
• One Page Management
• The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey
• Gung Ho
• One Minute for Myself
• The One Minute Manager Gets Fit
• Raving Fans
• Situational Leader
• The Game of Work
• Dress for Success

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Today’s interview is with Kevin Labick, CEO and Founder of Empathy Lab, an interactive agency based outside Philadelphia that focuses on eCommerce and broadband solutions for fortune 500 and fast-growth organizations.

Tell us about yourself, how did you get started as an entrepreneur? And, what made you get started as an entrepreneur?

I started my first company at the age of 25.  I was a project manager for an up and coming web design firm in silicon valley and was leading a big website build for a major media company.  One day the client called me up and said “We hate your firm and we’re going to cancel our contract.  If you start your own company, you’ll have our business.“ I quit the next day.  It wasn’t until years later that I came to realize how much my life’s trajectory was changed by that phone call.

Tell us about your company. What does it do and what problem does it solve for your target market?

My current company, Empathy Lab, is a digital strategy and execution firm.  We help Fortune 500 and fast growth companies leverage the digital channel – using the web, mobile, kiosk, and TV — to drive business success.  We primarily focus on eCommerce and broadband solutions.

What was your startup capital?

I used my severance package from a previous employer.

How did you finance your business?

We secured a line of credit early on but never used.  It took six months to pay back the seed money I originally put in.  Since then, the company has been funded solely by the profits we’ve generated.

Your company has revenues of over $ 10 million, how long did it take for you to reach these numbers?

We broke the $10m mark at our four year anniversary.

What systems and procedures do you need to put in place for you to achieve robust growth?

We sell our time and deliver projects so time tracking and project management systems have been critical to our operations.  Over the years we eventually graduated from small tools to a mature solution that ties into our accounting system.  This gave us the visibility into our financials we needed to confidently continue our fast growth rate.

What are the most crucial things you have done to grow your business?

We started the company knowing that sales was the engine of our growth.  We built a focused direct sales organization and created a corporate culture that celebrates and value selling as a day-to-day activity.  Most importantly, we realized there was no reason to go it alone and for years have been cultivating channel sales partners who regularly connect us to large-scale opportunities around the world.

How often do you prepare or update a business plan?

For our first three years, we never made time for this.  By year four we saw it as critical but were unsure how best to use a business plan to drive our behavior.  This year , our fifth year, we have our version of a business plan in place, parts of which we update on a monthly basis.

What do you include in your business plan?

Financial forecast, account plans, sales plan and strategic road map to achieve our five year vision.

What are your future plans?

Our future plans include continued growth and expansion, further differentiation in the marketplace, and a move towards value pricing.

Do you have an exit strategy to walk away from the business someday?

The market for service companies in the digital space has gone up and down pretty dramatically over the years.  We feel this makes it hard to plan an exit strategy.  Our self-imposed mandate is to continually position the company for maximum valuation so we can have the option at our disposal should we believe the timing is right.

What advice would you give somebody who wants to start a business that grows into a large mulit-million dollar enterprise?

First, small thinking leads to small actions so it’s important to have big goals from the outset.   If you want to build a business that becomes significant over time, you need to visualize this from the beginning so you will consciously and unconsciously take the steps that lead you to this destination.

Second, pick something you are truly passionate about because you are about to dedicate the vast majority of your time, your energy and perhaps your financial future.  It needs to be part of your DNA.

About Kevin Labick

Kevin Labick is founder and CEO of Empathy Lab (www.empathylab.com), an interactive agency based outside Philadelphia that focuses on eCommerce and broadband solutions for fortune 500 and fast-growth organizations. Their clients include Verizon, Dow Jones, Clarins, David’s Bridal, Rogers Communications, Comcast, Sony, Payless Shoes and NBC Universal.

Today’s interview is with Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation Business Services, Inc. (MyCorporation.com) on how she built a business as an employee and then bought out that same business.

Tell us about yourself, how did you get started as an entrepreneur? And, what made you get started as an entrepreneur?

I am a law school and business graduate from Pepperdine Law & Business School.  I always thought I would be a lawyer focused on providing legal services to small and growing businesses.  That was my practice area, with a special focus on intellectual property.  I enjoyed every moment of working with entrepreneurs and realized this was an area of passion for me.  When I was asked by one of my clients, MyCorporation, to become in-house counsel, it was perfect.

I could fulfill both my business and legal aspirations.  Soon thereafter, I was involved with the negotiations of the sale of MyCorporation to Intuit for $20mm for the then-owners of the company.  After acquisition, I was appointed as the general manager of the business and 5 years later, the opportunity to purchase the business arose.  I jumped all over it.  I was ready and excited to not only run the business, but truly “own” it in every sense of the word.  What a great experience – the acquisition and 100% ownership of a business that was formerly owned by Intuit.  We remain great partners, which is the best of both worlds.

Tell us about your company. What does it do and what problem does it solve for your target market?

MyCorporation is an online legal filing service that offers a “business in a box.”  We solve for entrepreneurs who know their business, but not necessarily the legal nuances of running it.  We also work to provide a comprehensive, cost-sensitive solution to incorporating or forming an LLC, including services like Quickbooks and domain names in our bundle so that the entrepreneur can focus on what they do best.

Our focus is on customer service.  We do everything we can to do the best that we can for our customer.  We work hard to leave our customers feeling that this was the easiest part of getting their business started.

What was your startup capital?

My husband, also a law school and business graduate, runs his own business and is an entrepreneur in his own right.  With savings from the last few years, we were able to purchase the business from Intuit and really hit the ground running.  We also took out a line of credit on our house for the “just in case” matters that might come up.  We wanted to be ready.  We haven’t needed the additional funds and have been able to continue to grow the business based upon our long-time customers and reputation in the market.

What systems do you need to put in place for you to achieve robust growth?

We are continuing to work to refine our annuity services and systems.  We grew extensively within Intuit, and the systems to manage the increase in volume and customer data have been in the process of growing ever since.  We continue to focus on improving customer support, including the ability for customers to manage their own information and to retain copies of documents in our repositories.  These are huge opportunities for us.  We continue to work on improving those capabilities within our system.

How often do you prepare or update a business plan?

We think through our business strategy and document in a plan for the upcoming year, but we tend to review and revise every 6 months.  We want to stick with our plan, but make changes as new opportunities present themselves. We want to make sure that we don’t get stuck on a plan that needs to change – either because of opportunities, market pressure or the economy.

What do you include in your business plan?

We include our business goals as the primary focus in our business plan.  Then we go about finding a balance between strategy and the tactical approach to get there.  We found that at Intuit it was a bit more about strategy and the actual implementation so complicated that the business goals were not reached.  As such, we want to make sure that our strategies are within reach and can be produced.

We regularly work on improving our organizational structure.  We seek to continually evolve our team to make sure that the core competencies of our team members fit our business needs.  Our team members also like to diversify their experience, so we focus on giving opportunities to team members who seek them out.  This can include rotations in different divisions or changing of day-to-day responsibilities.

We also stay apprised of the market and competition by performing a bi-annual review of the market, our competitors, products and services.  We evaluate new business opportunities and evaluate them against our then-current priorities and identify ways to integrate new opportunities into our service offering.

Do you have a formal board of directors in your company?

We do not have a formal board of directors.  Our advisory team consists of our Director of Finance, Director of Sales, Director of Operations & Director of Technology.  We also work with and meet frequently with partners for strategy sessions.

What advice would you give a young entrepreneur who is just starting out in business?

It’s not easy to be an entrepreneur.  Not only are you getting your business up and running, your operations solidified and your marketing strategy off the ground but you are also trying to make sure you’re managing your business properly and minimizing liability.  The following are some tips to young entrepreneurs who are just getting started out in business:

1. Incorporate before doing business:  For liability reasons, it’s wise to make sure you incorporate or form an LLC before the business takes off.  Incorporating or forming an LLC can help protect personal assets by separating the business from your personal affairs.  If anything were to go wrong with the business, it’s wise to make sure your house, car and personal assets are properly protected.

2. Consult a tax professional:  If the type of business entity you should form is not clear to you, it’s wise to speak with a CPA.  CPAs can help you understand tax implications and how the different structures can help you protect your assets as well as save money on taxes.

3. Learn your market: It’s wise to know your market.  Understand who your customers are and target them.  One of the best ways to do that is to emulate a business in your industry that you believe is doing a good job.  Take the items that are successful and combine them with something that makes your business unique.  You don’t have to reinvent the wheel entirely.  If your business idea is novel, leverage the expertise of other entrepreneurs and business owners within the same genre as your offering.  Getting out there and talking with people can be one of your greatest assets early on.  Plus, you may generate customers in the process.

4. Be creative:  No matter what industry you’re in, don’t be stagnant.  Stay ahead of the curve and constantly be on the cutting edge.  Communicate with the youth to see what’s up and coming in terms of marketing and social networking.  Don’t rest on your laurels, make sure you’re on top of the next steps for your business.

5. Spend your funds wisely:  Many small businesses make the mistake of spending too quickly.  Either they spend what others have invested in their business, or they spend everything that comes in the door.  That can be helpful in the initial growth stages, but it may not be the recipe for long-term success.  Make sure to invest more heavily in areas in which you get a higher return and take smart risks otherwise.

6. Enjoy your business.  A strong, positive business leader can take the business to new heights.  Stay optimistic and focused.  Your team is looking to you for answers.  Provide them but don’t be so stubborn that you are unwilling to make changes to your plans when necessary.  Take time to step back and evaluate where you are and where you could be.  Don’t get so caught up in the details that you can’t get perspective.  With that said, it can’t just be about making money.  You have to be enjoying what you do.  With that, the success will come!

What books or training programs would you recommend for entrepreneurs?

I believe that growing networks of contacts and experts are a great avenue for entrepreneurs.  Talking with real people who have already been there are the best conversations that a new entrepreneur can have.  Groups like EO (Entrepreneur Organization) or Business school alumni groups can be the starting point for these experiences.  I’m on a few boards of directors, so networking with others in similar positions and with similar circumstances are invaluable experiences.

About Deborah Sweeney

Deborah Sweeney is CEO of MyCorporation Business Services, Inc. (“MyCorporation.com”),  Deborah Sweeney is an advocate for protecting personal and business assets for all consumers. With her experience in the field of corporate and intellectual property law, Deborah can provide insightful commentary on the benefits, barriers and who should consider incorporation and trademark registration.  She also has extensive experience in the start-up and entrepreneurial industry as she has been involved in the formation of hundreds of thousands of MyCorporation.com’s customers.

Ms. Sweeney joined MyCorporation in 2003 after serving as outside general counsel for 5 years.  She received her Juris Doctor and Masters in Business Administration degrees from Pepperdine University and is a member of the American Bar Association.

Deborah has served as an adjunct professor at the University of West Los Angeles and San Fernando School of Law in the area of corporate and intellectual property law. Because of her extensive knowledge, Sweeney has long served as a speaker and panelist on legal issues affecting the world and growing businesses.

Colleen Meheen is a free spirited entrepreneur who’s lived her life her way and has followed her heart all the way.

This is her success story as told by her.

I was always a free spirit, and as an artist, I chose to learn my trades and skills in real life through extensive international travel and interaction with a variety of cultures around the world.

All through my early twenties, I pursued knowledge and learning through watching, asking questions and observing the needs and desires of those around me. This pursuit lead me to a wonderful marriage, and two thriving businesses at the age of 27 years!

I believe that all things are possible to those who believe, and also to those who work very hard to see their dreams manifest into a reality to serve a greater good!

My main website is www.elora-purestyle.com where I offer a wide range of merchandise all geared to support women and children with the healthiest and best lifestyle products that are responsible, healthy, clean and luxurious products all with an affordable price point!

Here you will find merchandise that supports optimal health and wellness through customized nutritional products, created here in America at a pharmaceutical grade, then you will find fun gifts and accessories to enjoy, and finally the “frosting” of apparel and natural mineral cosmetics and patent pending cellular skin care that will offer the best in quality and health!

Elora L.L.C. has a huge platform of philanthropy that was inspired by my extensive travel through Africa and other third world nations! Please check out the Philanthropy category at the site to view the organizations we support, as how much these foundations give back to the world we all enjoy both through humanitarian outreach and environmental conservation!

Success is not only the financial rewards of hard work, but even more the legacy and impact you made on the world for the better of those we share life with, and the generations to come!

Colleen Meheen is happily married and lives in Dillon, Colorado in the United States. You may contact her by visiting her website www.elora-purestyle.com.