Start your Own Thing: Becoming an English-Speaking Female Entrepreneur in Bologna
-
Upload
giacomo-guilizzoni -
Category
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
-
view
271 -
download
4
Transcript of Start your Own Thing: Becoming an English-Speaking Female Entrepreneur in Bologna
Becoming an English-Speaking
Female Entrepreneur in Bologna
Giacomo ‘Peldi’ Guilizzoni - IWF Bologna - 20 Nov 2014
Do The Time
Have you done your 10,000 hours?
Have you found your secret sauce yet?
Do others think you’re ready?
Maybe start by just reading, learning, getting out of your comfort zone…do some remote jobs! :)
Prerequisites
Have your paperwork in order (Residenza, Codice Fiscale, Carta di Identita’, Permesso di Soggiorno)
Make sure you’re in a good place financially, running on empty doesn’t work. A good rule of thumb is one year of costs covered.
Have a VERY supportive family / environment
Commit and be ready for anything
Motivations
Hard to find a quality job / your job didn’t transfer
Need flexible hours
Want to create a better working environment than the one you’re in
Now is the perfect time to follow your passions!
Perks
Flexible hours
Work from home / anywhere!
Total control
A chance to make a real impact
Gives you an identity, you’ll be so proud!
Idea Validation
What makes your idea special? What makes YOU special?
Get out there!
Competition is good
Use the competition’s marketing material + your twist.
What’s the natural size of the company to execute on this idea?
Can it be bootstrapped or does it need funding?
Business Plan
Don’t worry, it’s easy
Goals:
Clarify your ideas
Circulate your idea to anyone who’ll listen
Give you the strength and confidence to get started
Business Plan Structure
1.Core Beliefs
2.Mission Statement
3.Target Customers
4.Business Model
5.Revenue / Costs / Cash Flow Projections
6.Product
7.Long Term Vision
8.Competition
9.Motivations
10.Funding Sources
11.Open Questions
– Steve Blank
“No Business Plan Survives First Contact With A Customer”
http://steveblank.com/2010/11/01/no-business-plan-survives-first-contact-with-a-customer-%E2%80%93-the-5-2-billion-dollar-mistake/
Find Your First Customers
Product or Consulting?
If product, careful about customizing too much for early customers
Careful about partnerships!
You haven’t really started until you have at least a couple of lighthouse customers
Setting up the business
Italy is a little weird (albi, unions), but things are better now.
All you need to start is an accountant: ask around, people know one for sure. Try to find someone who has other customers like what you want to become…or just settle for one that speaks english. ;)
Do NOT work for free or under the table. Just don’t do it.
Costs
for many things, main fixed cost is the accountant, few hundred Euros / year
website hosting is cheap
bank account
biggest cost will almost always be PEOPLE
taxes
Contracts and Invoices
Careful about spec work - http://www.nospec.com/
Preventivo (Quote / Estimate)
flat rate or by the hour
milestones (half and half, etc)
don’t sell yourself cheap! Gross is roughly 2x net.
Confidentiality and IP
Invoices are EASY
Choose your clients wisely, be picky!
video source: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8831
Challenges
Get used to feeling in over your head
Gotta roll up your sleeves, do the research and execute
The buck stops with you
Challenges
Italy has its own challenges
Medieval guilds, unions, byzantine rules…
“Who you know” more than “how good you are”
Mentality is a little behind on some things
Those are also opportunities!
Cultural Issues
“The cultural value entails that the man/husband be the bread winner. A woman exhibiting her entrepreneurial prowess is presumed as wanting to take over the leadership role of the husband.”
“Male children are usually groomed on running the family business and carrying on after the demise of the father while the female children are usually left out of this entrepreneurial grooming process.”
“Most people still live with the mentality that certain businesses or tasks are better handled by men.”
“Careful, guys love thinking you’re coming on to them…”
Balancing Business and Family
"It can be overwhelming to manage your time, communicate effectively and stay organized while
developing your business skills. No one hands you a resource book — you have to be self-disciplined. As an entrepreneur, you love what you do, so taking a break is
challenging. But you need to work on your business, not in it. Delegate relentlessly, and inspire people to want to do a job for you." – Michelle Touchstone, founder of Pixie Dust
Naturals
The expectation to succeed at everything
“Men are judged by how well they do in their careers, while women are judged by how well they excel with family,
friends, 'looking their best' and, if they work, their career.”
You have to be tough and decisive
“Toughness is a good thing, yet it is considered good only in men. When a woman is tough, men can’t stand it. I like
being tough; tough and smart.” – Lilian Vernon
Lack of Role Models
"The main challenge for female entrepreneurs is just like the challenge for female engineering students: There just
aren't enough of us. There aren't enough women to be role models, act as sounding boards, do deals with — in short,
to create normalcy for women in leadership positions."
Fear of Success, and Failure!
"Work hard at ignoring that inner voice that may discourage taking action, speaking up or getting outside your comfort
zone. It's something I struggle with myself, but I know fundamentally that I wouldn't be a CEO today if I hadn't
taken chances to assert myself.” - Sarah Bryar, CEO, women's eyewear boutique Rivet and Sway
Emotion and Nurturing Skills Can Affect Your Business
“For men, a business is mostly about the bottom line, but for women, it's more than that. We get emotionally
connected, and that can hold us back from making the tough decisions. Male board members and investors get
frustrated when we're not as quick to fire or make dramatic business changes that could impact employees' families.” -
Delia Passi, CEO of WomenCertified
Collaboration and Collabatition
“Let’s face it—women are natural networkers. They love to talk, mingle, and rub elbows. This is the very reason why
husbands rarely ever manage the social calendar. In today’s business environment, mastering social media is mandatory,
and the ladies absolutely have a leg up!”
“Collabatition is collaboration with your competition in an effort to move both companies forward. Women love to work
together. We naturally gravitate towards creating relationships and partnerships. We like to do things in groups, we like to involve people in what we’re doing.”
Natural Marketers
“Women are natural marketers. They are so passionate and enthusiastic about what they choose to do that they just do not stop talking about it. They don't forget to emphasize the benefits of their services to their potential customers. They
understand how to accentuate the positive.”
Multi-tasking
“Women are known for juggling many tasks at the same time and still being able to produce excellent results.
Conversely, the guys are masters at focusing on one thing. Still, the advantage in today’s distracting environment goes
to women.”
Intuition
“They call it “women’s intuition” for a reason. Women in general can size up another person much faster than her
male counterpart.”
“Men definitely follow their gut, but women have a much more sensitive sense of intuition. ”
New Company Culture
“Instead of trying to fit ourselves into corporate environments that weren’t designed for us, we are able to create corporate cultures that are conducive to the type of lives we lead. We want companies that make it easy for us to have a family, to live the lifestyle we want and support
our values.”
Patience and Tenacity
“Ladies, we don’t give up do we? We work our tails off. We work a full day, come home, take care of the family, the dog,
clean the house, it never ends.”
“Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to be tough. There is a reason why women carry and deliver
babies. We are tough! We have to be! The beauty of it is, we can be tough and we can be tender. ”
It’s a journey
Start by reading a book or two
Then read two dozen more…
Maybe take that online class!
Mistakes don’t matter that much, what matters is how quickly you learn from them and fix them
This will make you a better person
Good Luck!
Special Thanks Melanie Lacide Olivia Cremin
Elizabeth Francis Francesca Fabbri
Anna Mariotti Mariah Maclachlan
[email protected] - Slides at http://goo.gl/RXhSpx