If you cannot find a women’s business ownership organization in your area or presently cannot afford the money for a membership in a business ownership organization, then start one on your own. Check the availability of a local community room—many banks or public libraries have such meeting rooms that can be used free of charge. Schedule a meeting date and then send press releases to your area media inviting entrepreneurial women or those interested in starting a business to attend. The purpose of your firstmeeting can be to introduce one another and your businesses or ideas and decide how organized you would like to be.
At future meetings, invite a speaker—we had a man who started a Web design business, volunteer to speak to our group, who gave us some excellent Web page design tips. Other community business groups, for example, like chapters of SCORE (Senior Core of Retired Executives) often have business speakers available free of charge. Go to http://www.score.org to see if a local chapter exists near you.
Though our group only meets a few times a year, we exchange contact information and feel comfortable to often phone one another to ask questions about business problems or to network about other business-related information. We may or may not use one another’s businesses services or products, but we do refer one another’s businesses to potential customers. Plus, we have the bonus benefit of forming lasting friendships. It’s a sample of what we women do best—network information—only this time it’s for our businesses.
Author Bio: Priscilla Y. Huff, is the author of the soon-to-be released book, "101 Best Home-Business Success Secrets for Women." For comments or feedback, e-mail pyhuff@cynet.net
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