Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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October 27, 2009

Going It Alone as an Entrepreneur

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 8:59 am

Guest Post by Debba Haupert

debba-haupert-girlfriendology-founder-sq

It’s somewhat ironic, I know. But I write a write a blog and run a business about female friendship – all by myself. In theory, I should have started Girlfriendology LLC with a girlfriend (or two) and collaborated in building the brand and company. I should have women who share the work load and assist me in creating a business around women supporting each other. However, the reality is that I’m a passionate entrepreneur and I didn’t know anyone else crazy enough to start it with me, so I jumped in the entrepreneurial pool alone!

As entrepreneurs, we’re often alone. We typically work long and strange hours from home or finally get dressed to have occasional meetings in coffee shops. We wake up with ideas and do the research to explore them. We create and market products and solutions, and we generally are accountable to only ourselves. That’s a great scenario if you’re self-motivated and prefer not to deal with group decisions. It’s also a wonderful arrangement if you’re creative and dedicated to seeing your dreams become reality.

Self-motivated, creative and dedicated – I am, and I’m very thankful to be that way. But that doesn’t mean I HAVE to go it alone. I have received amazing support from other entrepreneurs in several groups that I’ve started or joined. For example, I’m working on eCommerce for Girlfriendology.com (to sell girlfriend gifts). I knew of several other women in town (Cincinnati) who sell products online. I also tweeted about it. Two weeks ago seven of us met to talk about our online stores, what worked/didn’t, technologies, trends and prep for the coming holidays. We plan to do this on a monthly basis as well as feature each other on our websites. I’m also part of an entrepreneurial group, LegacyConnection (www.legacyconnection.com) that shares resources for entrepreneurs as well as keeps us accountable in weekly group calls.

In addition to these groups, I am blessed with great girlfriends, supportive guy friends and a wonderful husband. My girlfriends share feedback, connections and ideas; my guy friends often look out for opportunities for me and my husband, who is a writer, has edited copy, helped with events and had many brainstorming conversations where we strategize on my business as well as his.

So, I don’t feel so bad that I ‘should have’ started Girlfriendology with a girlfriend. I have the support and assistance of a ‘village’ of friends who care about me and my business. As I share on Girlfriendology, if you need a friend, you to need to be a friend. The same goes for us entrepreneurs. Reach out to others, get to know their businesses and collaborate. Life (and business) really is better together with the support of friends and family.

How do you go it alone, but do it together as an entrepreneur?

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Debba Haupert is founder of Girlfriendology . She considers herself a ‘marketing mutt’ based on her 20 years of corporate marketing (from designing consumer products, studying trends in Europe, to writing an award-winning book, selling products on QVC and being a bank VP). She founded Girlfriendology LLC in January 2006 as a way to support and inspire women. She is a passionate entrepreneur and student of social media with over 850 blogs, 150 podcasts/BlogTalkRadio shows, 15000 Twitter followers (primarily ‘girlfriends’), and 1000 LinkedIn connections. And she loves Liz Strauss and is honored to call her a girlfriend! (-;

——–
Thanks, Debba. The respect, admiration, and friendship is mutual. I’m grateful to have met you.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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12 Comments to “Going It Alone as an Entrepreneur”

  1. October 27th, 2009 at 9:45 am
    Chris Cree said

    Great post Debba! I think that is one of the most important business lessons that new entrepreneurs should learn as fast as possible.

    Business is very much a team sport. And since the rising tide raises all the ships in the harbor, the faster you get on the right team (even especially as an entrepreneur) the more successful you will be.

  2. October 27th, 2009 at 10:39 am
    Rena said

    I am running a pet community wiki site (http://ThePetWiki.com) all by myself. Without the support of a wonderful husband and family, I don’t think that I could have gone it alone. I truly love animals, but my friends are a bit animal phobic, so it was either do it by myself or stay in an unfulfilling job for another 10 years. My friends are supportive of what I’m doing, but they just don’t get it. I’m just starting out, so I haven’t found my entrepreneurial support group yet. I’ll make that a priority now. Thanks for the great post.

  3. October 27th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
    Ms. Freeman said

    I am a beginning entrepreneur (actually I have been one since childhood much to my parents dismay when I sold off many of my toys and house wares to go skating with the neighborhood kids), but none the less I am taking it seriously as an adult and am definitely going it alone and starting with only the leftover cash at the end of payday (bill day).

    It is a hard work and once I get to a point that I can step back and hire another set of hands I most definitely will, but until then I am in a row boat maneuvering around the big ships :)

  4. October 27th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
    Lydia, Clueless Crafter said

    I’m afraid to reach out for fear that I’d either be ignored or back stabbed.

    How do I confront this fear and prevent it from happening?

  5. October 27th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
    Jim Campbell said

    Lydia, you won’t be ignored by all and only back stabbed by a few. Just keep your eyes open but mostly focused on what you want the results to be. When people notice your leadership capabilities and confidence they won’t mess with you. They will step aside. If you don’t feel that you possess those virtues yet, never fear. They can be developed. You merely just need to locate the determination. If you or anyone else is seeking an earning vehicle visit htt://www.LikeSoup.com and see if this might be something you might like to consider for yourself.

  6. October 27th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
    Tito philips, Jnr. said

    Im an entrepreneur and have a friend who goes along with me on the entrepreneurial journey, I am comfortable with him because we both share the same values when it comes to business.

    Other than him, it’s hard finding people with the right mindset for business in the part of the world i come from …most are in biz for the short run only and seldom appreciate my values or philosophy as regards biz. This is why i spend most of my time online collaborating with other like minded people out there …thank God for the internet!

  7. October 28th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
    Daniel Johnson, Jr. said

    I’m very grateful to call you a friend, Debba! You’ve built a great brand in Girlfriendology.

  8. October 29th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
    Todd Smith said

    It’s a funny thing being an entrepreneur, isn’t it? We’re alone, yet our success depends so much on building relationships.

    Maybe this path brings the introverts out! :)

  9. October 30th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
    Carole said

    My husband and I are also entrepreneurs. We have our hands in several businesses, each with varying degrees of success. With the internet the way it is, setting up an online store to sell something is relatively easy. We set one up for our pet clothing site by using a Wordpress theme called Market theme. It was fast and easy to use.

    The only tricky part is finding the right product to sell. Not to mention all the additional work of marketing, branding, networking, etc. It’s hard work but it sure it worth it to see something you’ve worked so hard on grow and become something successful.

    Thanks for you article. I found it very encouraging.

  10. October 31st, 2009 at 10:09 am
    Jan Tallent said

    When I started looking on the net 12 years ago to get my home based office services business more exposure, there were very few women marketing on the internet and really no way to reach the few who were unless I just stumbled across them by accident.

    My first mentor, of course, was a man and he was a great coach, taking me virtually “by the hand” and helping me to dodge the scams and crooks online and teaching me how to make a presence for myself in yet another *world* dominated by men.

    I got lucky that same year and met a lady who became my forever mentor and a good friend and she and I supported each other as we were still only two of the very few women anyone was hearing about that was working on the net.

    The next year I made a new female friend who was as “newbie” as I was and together we started learning all we could about marketing and reaching out to those who had more experience and we became best friends. After several emails, chats in ICQ and many phone calls, we decided we just had to meet face to face and she drove all the way from Florida to Missouri to meet me and my family, spent a week here with us and left knowing we were forever friends and sister soul-mates who were lucky enough to have interacted and connected in a medium where without it we could never have run across each other.

    Eleven years later she is still my very best friend, sister soul-mate and my partner on some or our shared businesses. We each work “alone” but are always there for each other and so even when we are feeling overwhelmed and under-appreciated, we know there is someone right there.

    Thanks so much for this site and your great story, Debba!

    Jan

  11. November 3rd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
    Veronica said

    I loved that post. It reminded me of myself, the dedication, the creativity, the hours, the joy. I’m still working on the team part. There are times when I know things could have happened faster or easier if I had even a small team around me. How do you create that without funds? Is everyone donating time and techniques, or is it paid team members. I keep doing things on my own because I think I can’t afford the help… for now.

    V.

  12. November 3rd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
    Veronica said

    I loved that post. It reminded me of myself, the dedication, the creativity, the hours, the joy. I’m still working on the team part. There are times when I know things could have happened faster or easier if I had even a small team around me. How do you create that without funds? Is everyone donating time and techniques, or is it paid team members. I keep doing things on my own because I think I can’t afford the help… for now.

    V.

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