Clarity and Vision

"On a clear day, I can see forever," are words from an old song that rang through my car this morning. It seemed appropriate on this cool, sunny day with crystal blue skies abounding. As a Central New Yorker you know, not every day is a clear one. As an entrepreneur you know, you must have a clear vision of your business to be successful. But entrepreneurs don't always know what they are doing, how their business is progressing, or what lies ahead. Some days the future of our company is as crystal clear as this beautiful morning, on other days it seems shrouded in midst. How do you feel today about where you are? How clear is your vision for yourself, your business, your future? Today's Women TIES wisdom, on this beautiful crystal clear day, provides suggestions to help you clarify your entrepreneurial vision.

Remember You Are Doing Something That Counts: Women entrepreneurs differ from men in many ways. One way we differ is in the type of businesses we choose to create and the true purpose in creating them. Women are generous, intelligent, giving souls. For the most part, we create businesses that we know will 'help' others. Whether it's a fantastic product or service, many of us had an altruistic reason for starting our business. Although growth, expansion, and income are all desired outcomes for an entrepreneur, women know doing something useful with our lives is really what counts. Remind yourself today how you and your company are truly making a difference in the life of your clients.

Accept Disappointments And Move On: Sometimes we can't accept where we are today because our vision is clouded with mistakes that have occurred that we simply can't get over. Each of us has experienced disappointments with a bad company decision, unfortunate business relationships, and failure to achieve corporate benchmarks. But entrepreneurs are people. People make mistakes. But as smart women we know, you can never go back, only forward. Think about a few business disappointments, realize what has occurred, accept them, and keep moving forward.

Dedicate Yourself To Your Business Again: An entrepreneur must be dedicated to their business to sustain it over time. It doesn't mean the business we envisioned ten years ago, needs to be the same business today. Life changes everything, everyday. Sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad. A company changes as the world we live in changes. To sustain a successful business, entrepreneurs must dedicate themselves to their ever-changing company. Take an hour this week to analyze what has changed in your business for the good and bad. Revise your vision if you have to and dedicate yourself to it.

In entrepreneurial spirit, Tracy Higginbotham

Strategic Planning Tips

As I sat at an event this morning on strategic planning,the presenter started the program with the following quote:"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Many women entrepreneurs begin their entrepreneurial careers by creating a strategic plan. Strategic plans are essential to start-up, growing and mature businesses because the plan guides the company in the right direction. Unfortunately too many of us get so busy running our businesses, we forget how essential it is to review our strategic plan. A strategic plan shouldn't sit on a shelf once it is completed like it's a once in a lifetime project. A smart entrepreneur knows a strategic plan is an ever-changing, useful document that must be reviewed several times a year to be effective to the entrepreneur. Today's Women TIES wisdom provides some strategic planning tips for women entrepreneurs.

Review Your Mission Statement Once A Year: Your mission statement
which describes your corporate purpose should be reviewed once a year. As competition comes and goes, as new business opportunities present themselves, and as your business evolves, your mission statement might need to change. Find time during a slow business period, to review and update your mission statement.

Review Financial Projections Every 90 Days: In order to keep a company on track with its financial projections, an entrepreneur should review financials every 90 days. Look at your profit and loss statements and your cash flow tables to see if you are on track. Adjust accordingly if you aren't on schedule. Analyze why you aren't or why you are. Create a 90 day plan so the next time you take a look at your standings you hit your projections.

Create A Value Statement: A value statement should include the five most important values your company stands for. Your management staff or advisory board can define them, and then they should be shared with employees. These values should then be seen and felt by your customers.It's essential that the value statement really represents you and your organization.

In entrepreneurial spirit, Tracy Higginbotham, Women TIES

Wisdom For The Week

Women have been learning from women all their lives. Whether it was in the kitchen of our grandmother's house, on the playing field with our athletic girlfriends, or in the classroom of female instructors, women have learned alot from other females. This is especially evident in entrepreneurship. Where the corporate environment tends to breed competition and the inability for women to share with each other, the entrepreneurial environment breeds openness and collaboration. Women are supportive, encouraging, and willing to share their knowledge with other women. It's the reason we are succeeding faster than men. Last week when I was in the midst of 500 women in two days, I walked away with more fortitude, strenghten and vision that I have had in a long time because women inspire me. Today's advice is based on three pieces of wisdom I learned from three special women over the past week.

Know your purpose: No matter how hard we try, we will always attract people who are jealous or envious of our endeavors. If you are truly achieve your goals, insecure individuals will try to make you look small so they can look tall. The best think you can do is to: know who you are; know who your true friends are; and have a strong purpose. Your purpose is not defined by what others think of you, it is what you define for yourself.

Support from the old and the new: Women come in and our of our lives. Some stay for the long haul, some for a defined period of time, some for just a day. No matter the length of time, we learn something from every woman we meet. Old friends know our soul and new friends see our current energy. Both are important to sustain us.

Let go and follow your instinct: Sometimes the women in our lives push us to think bigger than we would have if we didn't meet them. Sometimes women alittle bit older than ourselves have the exact wisdom we need to rise above our difficulty. Never stop inviting these women into your life. The wisdom from someone with a few more years of experience can lend the right perspective to our day.

In entrepreneurial spirit, Tracy Higginbotham, Women TIES