I am the featured Venture Mom!

As a solopreneur, I constantly need inspiration. Nothing is more inspirational than hearing the story of other people who have started their own successful business. Its even better when they are women and I can relate even more when those women are moms. As working moms and wives, there's is not much time left in our pies (think pie chart) for much else, especially running a business. So when I stumbled upon a website called Venture Mom a few months back I sighed in relief. "I'm not alone" I thought to myself. People (usually customers) ask me how I came up with the idea for Gumdrop Swap. So, after reading a few of the stories about Featured VentureMoms I decided to submit my story. I heard back from Holly (woman behind the site) and she interviewed me for a future feature. Which you can read here. Her site also allows you to submit your business in her online directory of Mom Ventures for FREE! I highly recommend that you sign-up for her newsletter. That way you'll never miss a featured VentureMom. She also shares tips and advice for those who are just thinking about starting a venture of their own. Holly can be hired for speaking engagements. She is based in my state of Connecticut but willing to travel and inspire!

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Dusting Off the Old Stilettos

Being a curvy woman, I've never mastered the art of walking in stilettos. I prefer a more comfy shoe seeing that I spend a lot of time on my feet. But www.stilettowoman.com has nothing to do with thin-heeled shoes and everything to do with celebrating being a woman and facing the world with your chest out and shoulders back (the posture that wearing stilettos demands). If you are a business woman, you NEED to visit this site get a copy of the magazine (in print and in PDF version). The website is professionally designed, easy to navigate and full of inspiring stories, articles and so much more.

I submitted my business to be featured and (surprise!) I was accepted. So, here it is my interview http://www.stilettowoman.com/2011/02/stilettology-meet-gabby-fludd-gumdrop.html
I won't hog all the limelight. There is a link to submit your business for consideration. I was also interviewed by Stiletto Woman's founder, Karlena Wallace in a podcast for The Women's Information Network.

 

She was such and gracious host (although she didn't get too many words in between my babblings). I felt comfortable like I was chatting with an old friend. Her tips read like advice from you best gal pal and I love that! I would love to hear your comments!

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DIY Small Business Accounting Made Easy

 When you are running a small business one must wear many hats. As solopreneurs, we're always looking to save money and do things ourselves to cut cost. Many things are worth hiring a someone else to do. Lots of administrative duties can be outsourced because, lets face it, our time is often more valuable elsewhere. I highly recommend hiring a CPA to file end-of the-year taxes. Tax laws change and professionals know about all kinds of write-offs we may not know about. But how do you handle the day to day numbers? If you are a public speaker or consultant, you may not have daily revenues or expenses to track. You are doing yourself a disservice by saving receipts and check stubs all year and waiting until the end of year to tally everything. You may be in for a shock.

Since I run a retail business, Gumdrop Swap, I have to record data daily. I wasn't sure if I should invest in a program like Quickbooks. I've heard good things about it but I just didn't want to purchase it yet. I designed a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel with my basic skills in formula making. It was beautifully colored and prettified and then... my laptop was stolen (my mistake for not backing that document up and I encourage you to back up everything! Even email it to yourself if you don't have another drive to save things on.) I knew I wouldn't be able to duplicate that Excel spreadsheet so I went on the hunt for a (free) or cheap one online. I figured if I could find a sample one I could tweak it to my needs. I stumbled upon a site called Basic Accounting Help. I read a few articles and then there was a claim to have free spreadsheet for download. I bet this is a scam or virus, I thought to myself. But I dared to download it and I was so glad I did! There was a simple but sophisticated Excel workbook that has 12 months and an end of year summary. You plug and play to tailor it to your needs. It was better than the one I had designed from scratch! So, I am sharing this with you. The woman behind the scenes is named Vickey and she'll answer any questions you have. She is passionate about helping small businesses. Soak up her advice. All she asks is that you sign up for her Small Business News (enewsletter) then she'll send you a link to download the spreadsheets. Feel free to tell her you learned about her from my blog. I told her how much I appreciated her and that I would spread the good news.

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