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With experience in everything from working on movie sets to launching her own handbag line, Sarah Shaw realized that she wanted to share her successes and failures with other entrepreneurs so that they could learn from her ups and downs. And so, entreprenette.com was born. The goal in founding her site, she says, was to share her hard-learned, hard-earned knowledge with women entrepreneurs in order to help them tap into their inspiration and realize their dreams.

Moolahoop: Tell us a little bit about what you do. Sarah Shaw: “I coach women on starting product based businesses. We go through everything from how to conceptualize the product and make it if they don’t have prototypes already to getting the products into stores, celebrity hands and magazines.”

Moolahoop: How did you get your start in this industry? Sarah Shaw: “After graduating from college, I worked in the movie business for about twelve years. I worked in the costume department and I didn’t see my future there. I was getting bored with my job but I definitely never thought in a million years that I would be an entrepreneur. I am actually third generation entrepreneur in the US and probably 4th or 5th generation back in Europe. Both my grandmothers were fashion designers. I had no interest in being an entrepreneur and then I came up with this idea for a handbag in 1997 and I started making them at night on my dining room table. I didn’t tell anyone about it because I was embarrassed that I was even contemplating making bags when I didn’t know anything about sewing. I could hem a pair of pants but didn’t know anything about pattern making and I certainly couldn’t draw.

So here I was on my own trying to make this bag that I envisioned that was cut with pink shears and stitched on the outside so that you could see the details. After months and months of figuring out how to create it, I finally perfected the technique. I had to get up at 6 in the morning and go to different vendors and manufacturers who could do the work for me. I finally figured out how to do it and I launched my company called Sarah Shaw Handbags. In 5 years it grew to be a million dollar company. We sold to over 1200 boutiques around the country including all the major department stores. I made bags for Julia Roberts for Oceans Eleven and America’s Sweetheart. We had a bag in Legally Blonde. All of these different avenues with celebrities helped me grow the brand much more quickly because it got me a lot of media exposure and huge store sales. Nordstrom and Bergdorf Goodman bought from us once we got into all these different movies. Then after 9/11 I lost all my financing and had to close that company. In 2004, after I had finished crying the loss of my brand, I patented a closet organizer for handbags. I had a business partner at the time and we just did online sales. I wanted to start selling to stores, because in my mind that’s where the big money was but she wanted to open our own store. We ended up going our separate ways when we were unable to agree. With all my experience, people were constantly telling me that I should teach others how to launch products. It sounded the craziest idea I had ever heard. I had no idea how this concept worked and what people would be expecting from me or willing to pay me. So I hired a coach myself to teach me how to build a service-based business and I have been coaching with Entreprenette full-time ever since. I really love helping other people either create their product or tweak it or figure what their secret sauce is how they can best market it and sell it. “

Moolahoop: So what does entreprenette.com offer in terms of coaching for entrepreneurs? How successful has it been? Sarah Shaw: “I offer a combination of written and audio content. It is a 10 week program and includes private coaching. The site was really successful from the beginning. I reached my sales goals the first time out. I belonged to Ladies Who Launch, where I had been teaching for 4 years, and some other networking groups. I reached out to all of them and built an email list through these organizations.”

Moolahoop: How has social media changed your delivery and content? Sarah Shaw: “I got my first private client through Twitter, actually. I also really believe in blogging. My blog posts are the real deal and people see that I am generous with my information. I am not just talking about something that I learned how to teach. I have real world experience.

Moolahoop: Who are your customers now? Sarah Shaw: “ I just do product based businesses, whether new or existing. Many of my clients come to me and say ‘I have a product that I have been creating for about a year and now I have a whole garage full of stuff and my husband is going to divorce me if I don’t learn how to sell it. Can you teach me?’ And then there are the people who are just starting out or who are rebranding. I have several people who have shut down their companies and are relaunching with a whole new concept or a revisited concept. Redoing their website and doing it right this time. They are trying to give themselves the best opportunity to do well. Those are interesting companies to work with because they know how to do everything but need help fine-tuning.”

Moolahoop: What is next for you? Sarah Shaw: “ I am working on a book proposal. I am really excited at the prospect of writing a book and getting it published. I have read a ton of self-help and DIY start-up books. Many are written by professors who teach the topic at school but have little actual experience. These books are quite dry and technical but they don’t have the real stories of ‘this is the disaster that happened to me and this is how I survived and made a million dollars.’ My book will have real anecdotes of my experience and strong advice on how to leverage PR to get more visibility.”

For more information on business-related topics, check out MoolaHoop’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MoolaHoop1

Our mission is to help women fund her big dreams for her small business and we’d love to help you too! Start here! http://www.moola-hoop.com/

About MoolaHoop:

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.

Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Alexandra Perez, founder of Bari Studio, says that fitness has consistently been an important part of her life. “I’ve always belonged to gyms, liked to be outdoors and enjoyed the endorphin high of a good sweat session,” she says. After graduating from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, Alexandra immediately took a job in financial and management consulting in the oil and gas industry. Constantly traveling (mostly internationally), fitness became a grounding force for her. A frustration with the set of workouts available to her and a desire to tone her body in new ways eventually led Alexandra to craft her own fitness regime which would come to be known as the Bari method. Now, what started as a small workout class in an NYC studio, has grown to a fitness craze with a cult following and studios in California, New Jersey and New York. Here, Alexandra talks the ups and downs of starting your own company and how crowdfunding shaped her business.

Q: What prompted you to start your own fitness method? What is unique about your program?

A: While working in consulting, I found myself balancing a million different workouts in order to look and feel the way I wanted. I would go for a run one day, do a weights class another day, do pilates another day, try to hit the elliptical another day. The thing is, I didn’t look or feel the way I wanted. I wasn’t getting enough cardio or muscle sculpting because I couldn’t find a method that offered the right recipe, especially if I only had a limited amount of time each week to dedicate to my workouts. I decided to take my fitness plan and my body into my own hands and little by little started crafting what Bari’s method would become. That’s how our method became multidimensional - combining the right amount of cardio with purposeful muscle sculpting - to ensure a smart, strategic and uniquely effective workout every single time you step into the studio. You’ll never leave Bari feeling like we missed a part of your body; you’ll never leave Bari feeling like you need to do more.

Q: What were some of the challenges (expected or unexpected) that you faced in starting your own business?

A: In my opinion the biggest challenge that start-ups face is finding the right talent. I believe you can build a company and brand that attracts the right people, but I don’t think that’s easy to do, especially not at the beginning when you’re going through major growing pains. I was incredibly fortunate to find my two main company directors very early on, and I don’t think I could have grown Bari to where it is now, or kept my sanity, without them. I would encourage entrepreneurs to try to get this right from the start and really care about the people more than anything else. My mother once told me, “your business will always give you a second chance, people will not.” I’m glad I listened.

Q: What led you to crowdfunding?

A: We’re community driven at our core - Bari is named after an indigenous tribe in Venezuela - so calling on our tribe of clients, friends and even strangers who believed in what we were doing held so much more meaning than any other approach to fundraising. 

Q:  Tell us a little bit about the process of building and running your campaign.

A: We needed $5,000 to trademark our brand. That amount seemed exorbitant at the time and we just didn’t have the cash to invest, so we turned to you guys and the experience was more than we could have asked for. We carefully chose rewards by putting ourselves in our client’s shoes - and then actually asking our clients for feedback. “Would you be interested in this?” If there was any hesitation, we removed it from the menu immediately. Throughout the campaign we were very verbal about it in the studio and made sure everyone who was part of the Bari tribe knew what we were doing and understood why. It was incredibly exciting to watch people jump in to help.

Q: What are some of your tips for running a successful campaign?

 A:

Never sit back and watch. Be an active participant of your campaign online and offline

It’s OK to get creative with your prizes - but don’t get so creative that the prize loses real value

Make sure your audience knows why you’re crowdfunding. Why do you need what you need? The more you can connect with your audience in a meaningful way, the quicker they’ll give and the more they’ll give.

Q: What’s next for Bari?

A: We’re doing great and keeping ourselves busy! We just expanded to two new locations - Newport Beach, California and Summit, New Jersey - and we’re so excited to bring Bari to these communities. We’ll continue to expand over the next few years. In the near future, we’ll be rolling out some very exciting multimedia and digital offerings that will allow people to access Bari from anywhere in the world.

Q: How do you sneak in a workout with all the work of running a business?

A: I’m just like everyone else who struggles to squeeze in that daily hour of sweat; I have to schedule my Bari workouts just as I would any other meeting or else they don’t happen!

To check out the Bari method and learn more, visit http://www.thebaristudio.com/

For more information on business-related topics, check out MoolaHoop’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MoolaHoop1

Our mission is to help women fund her big dreams for her small business and we’d love to help you too! Start here! http://www.moola-hoop.com/

About MoolaHoop:

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.

We had the opportunity to interview, Stacey Brooks Delo. She is a hardworking mom and gave us an inside look at her balancing act! 

Journalist. Connector. Passionate believer in asking for what you need to strike the right balance for yourself in the workplace. She is founder of Maybrooks.com, an online community for working moms, where smart moms – at all stages of their careers – find flexible jobs, get inspired, and connect with each other. Our tools harness the powerful word-of-mouth network among moms, and enable them to help each other find flexible careers.

Q: Tell me about a day in your life.

These days my day is beginning early as my little guy is climbing out of his bed on his own and padding around until I hear him. But in general the day begins as a family with everyone going to their various places for the day. I work between drop off and pick up in the late afternoon, then we have dinner, then I work after the kids go to bed.

  Q: Take a picture of your desk and explain why you have what you have. Is there anything there that motivates you?

I have my great-grandmother’s old typewriter. The site is named for her and it reminds me of why we started the site.

Q: How do you recover from a tough day? Is there anything that can instantly turn your day around? 

Talking to a good friend who has known me a long time and knows how to keep me motivated. Also my kids!

 Q: If you got to play “hookie” from work one day, what would be on your list of fun things to do?

Play tennis. In my dreams I’m really good.

For more information on business-related topics, check out MoolaHoop’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MoolaHoop1

Our mission is to help women fund her big dreams for her small business and we’d love to help you too! Start here! http://www.moola-hoop.com/

About MoolaHoop:

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.

From strawberry shortcake to home furnishings to a fitness business, Melody Biringer has trotted down virtually every entrepreneurial trail in existence. With 23 business ventures under her belt — "a few of them even successful!" — you might call her a lifelong “start-up junkie.” Her current entrepreneurial love-child is Urban Campfire, a movement to create a different conversation, produced by the CRAVEcompany.

Q: What’s your favorite part of business/being an entrepreneur?

I love the innovation--making up something that someone hands you money for the value you created.

Q: Tell me about a day in your life.

Lots of email but I hate that answer.  I try and incorporate a walk into my day to get off my computer.  The best days are when my husband or a friend goes with me.   If I need to create some content I head over to my local coffee shop to focus. When it is an event day (note: I schedule most of our events at night, since I am not a morning person) I take it easy during the day to build up my energy to be in a great mood all night long. 

 Q: What inspires you?

Entrepreneurs doing cool stuff inspires me.  Traveling anywhere outside of my hood to scratch for ideas inspires me.   Long lunches or dinners with vulnerable conversation inspire me.

 Q: How did you fund your business?

I am a scrappy entrepreneur so I fund all my projects from something I created that brought in some funds.  I rob Peter to pay Paul most of the time.

 Q: Take a picture of your desk and explain why you have what you have. Is there anything there that motivates you?

My desk is my laptop in my lap on my couch, in bed or at the coffee shop.  I am as paperless as a person can be. Between my laptop and my phone I can handle everything in my life.   I wished I didn’t have to handle mail anymore.  I have a continuous pile of mail that builds up until I throw it all away!

 Q: What are three hard-to-spot pitfalls that are critical to avoid?

Don’t try to do everything yourself, figure out what you do best and outsource EVERYTHING else. 

Know when to quit, if it’s not working after trying several ways it’s never going to work…Move on. 

KISS Keep it Simple Sister, we all like to over complicate everything.

Q: How do you recover from a tough day? Is there anything that can instantly turn your day around?

Hanging out with a friend that I can vent to and get it off my chest and then change the conversation to fun.

 Q: If you got to play “hookie” from work one day, what would be on your list of fun things to do?

Gather a few friends and head to the beach to make s’mores!

 Q: If you could do it all over again, what would you skip, and/or what would MAKE CERTAIN to do twice?

I would skip years of managing people when I don’t like it.  Thinking I would get better at it, thinking it was necessary.  I would hire just the right consultants that believed in me and pull out of me what needs to be pulled out…..Over and over again.

Our mission is to help women fund her big dreams for her small business and we’d love to help you too! Start here! http://www.moola-hoop.com/

About MoolaHoop:

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.

We’ve all read the statistics. Compared to men, women are less likely to consider themselves deserving of promotions, are less likely to fight for a raise and are generally more likely to underestimate their capabilities in the workplace. At MoolaHoop, we connect with successful women every day. Our aim is to help them to feel more secure in their accomplishments and ambitions. Female confidence stems from empowerment, and it starts at a young age. Appropriately, Valentina Shoes is working to achieve this very goal in a fun and creative way. We sat down with their founder, Tina Hambly, to talk about her brand and how MoolaHoop helped bring it to life. 

It all began with Hambly’s daughter. From the artwork she brought home from school to the inventive outfits she pieced together, Hambly was inspired by her daughter’s moments of creative self-expression. It wasn’t long before she decided to launch a company. Her goal? To use fashion to empower young girls by fostering individual expression and creativity and building confidence.

She decided to launch a site where girls could create custom shoes. “One day, in the middle of building the company my daughter got dressed for school wearing two different color TOMS – one black, one blue,” recalls Hambly. “It was the ultimate moment of expression and confirmed what I was doing.”

Not unlike style-savvy and comfortable TOMS, Valentina Shoes offers a wide variety of espadrilles in a host of colors and patterns. Once you’ve picked a color, the next step is to personalize them. Girls can choose to use a monogram, motif, slogan, or even draw their own picture. The possibilities are boundless, just as Hambly intended. “I want to foster passion and creativity and bring happiness to all girls,” she says. “And always let it be okay to wear two different shoes.”

Of course, building a business from scratch wasn’t without its share of hard work. True to her entrepreneurial spirit, Hambly took a risk when she pulled her campaign from another crowdfunding site and started over on MoolaHoop. She saw crowdfunding in general as a positive way to raise funds for her business, but realized MoolaHoop specifically was a better fit for her because of its specific commitment to women.

The switch turned out to be the right choice and Hambly quickly surpassed her goal of $10,000. Importantly, Hambly spent a lot of time asking strangers for help in designing her business plan and understanding the financials, including making a number of cold calls and emails. She was surprised by the amount of people who were willing to help and offer useful advice. The lesson? “Don’t be afraid to ask,” she says. “Get rid of the fear of that road block.”

To learn more and to order your own pair of customizable shoes, visit www.valentinashoes.com.

View Valentina Shoes’ successfully completed MoolaHoop project here: https://www.moola-hoop.com/project/view/2370.

About MoolaHoop: 

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.

When you’re running a small business, marketing can pose a major challenge. How do you spread the word about your product or service without breaking the bank? Take a look at Instagram. Currently, over 75 million Instagram users post an average of 60 million photos a day. As of last year over 25% of all Fortune 500 companies were actively using the social network. This year, that percentage will rise. With numbers like that, Instagram has quickly become one of the most valuable resources to connect with potential customers and build brand recognition. Here we share our tips to best leverage the power of Instagram’s network: 

1. Devise a Plan

Before you start to post images, come up with a defined content strategy. Your personal Instagram account may be full of pictures of your pets, but you need to be more strategic with your business account. A good place to start is looking at other accounts similar to the one you are building. If you have a food product, look at what other brands like yours are doing. What works and what doesn’t? A few good questions to ask yourself before you begin posting:

What kind of images will I share? Think about including some behind-the-scenes content (of your product being made or a service you offer being performed). People love to feel like they are getting an inside look into something. 

How often will I post? Certain times of day (early morning, lunch time, early evening are also more active. Think about this when planning your posts)

As you start to post pictures, you will see what your followers like and you can refine your strategy.

2. Take Beautiful Pictures

Once you have decided what kind of images you want to post, the next thing to consider is their quality. Nobody likes a dull, out-of-focus image. Instagram users have become very picky about the images that they “like.”

Be honest with yourself about your photography skills. At the very least, invest in an up-to-date smartphone with a good quality camera. If you don’t think your photography skills are excellent, this may be a good time to leverage your friends and family to help you.

Instagram users are now accustomed to seeing photos that have been enhanced with filters and other editing tools. The app itself offers some filters but we recommend you edit your photos prior to posting them. An excellent editing app is Camera+ (available for $1.99 in the iTunes app store).

3. Use Hashtags (but strategically and sparingly!)

As with Twitter, Instagram users can search using hashtags to find new and interesting content. To expand your reach, it is important to use specific and more generic hashtags in your captions.

Specific hashtags are ones you devise for your business based on your company’s name, products, services or other features. For instance, MoolaHoop uses hashtags like #smallbizbigdreams and #shemeansbusiness in our posts

Generic hashtags are farther reaching ones that can help your account gain traction and engagement. An example of this would be using tags like #yoga or #yogadaily if you have a yoga studio.  

DO NOT overuse hashtags. Posts with ten or fifteen hashtags below them look clunky and lack sincerity.

 4. Stay Consistent

Once you have begun to use Instagram, make sure to stick with it. Continue posting new content. Once a day is a good goal at first. Engage with your community. Respond to comments and check out the pages of your followers. People like to feel like there is a human presence behind the Instagram account. If you stop posting, your audience will stop engaging with you. 

Instagram marketing doesn’t make sense for every company. Check to make sure your potential customers and competitors are engaged with the platform. If they are, get involved. You may be shocked to see how valuable a strong social network can be to your business growth. 

Image Sources: Thanks to artist LoveMaegan. 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/53269208062581528/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/38491771788834988/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/136445063680946973/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/136445063681625100/

For more information on business-related topics, check out MoolaHoop’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MoolaHoop1

Our mission is to help women fund her big dreams for her small business and we’d love to help you too! Start here! http://www.moola-hoop.com/

About MoolaHoop:

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.

At age 26, Jolene (Jojo) Collins decided to get serious about her health. Her first step was a month without refined sugar. Missing some of her favorite sauces and condiments, Jojo began to create small batch sriracha chili sauce at home as a substitute for her previously beloved store-bought brand. The sauce turned out to be a hit, and in 2012 Jojo, a self-described surfer girl, decided to dive into entrepreneurship, launching her company love hard, inc. with her signature sriracha. Of course, it wasn’t long before Jojo outgrew the capabilities of her home kitchen appliances. “I needed an industrial blender that could puree entire chili peppers, seeds and all,” she says. “I landed on the Vitamix XL which runs a few thousand dollars that I didn’t have.” Her solution? Crowdfunding.  Read on for Jojo’s tips for running a successful campaign (and a few of her favorite ways to enjoy her signature sauce): 

MoolaHoop: What were some of the initial challenges you faced when starting your own business?

Jojo Collins: What weren't the challenges? Everything was so new. It was (and still is) a steep learning curve. I remember sitting on my bed, surrounded by papers related to my certificate of incorporation. I couldn't afford to have a lawyer do it, so I was figuring out how to do it myself. I threw my hands up in the air and started crying. Eventually I pulled myself together and figured it out.

MH: Tell us about the process of building and running your crowdfunding campaign?

 JC: I'm a collaborator - I think the more we can create webs of networking and mutual benefits the better communities and economies we can create. So the first thing I did was started building incentives that both gave supporters an experience but also connected them to local businesses that I believed in - like Justin Phillips Beer Table restaurant ( http://www.beertable.com/ ) - he hosted a three course meal integrating jojo's sriracha into each course and pairing it with a fancy beer of choice. It turned out beautifully and also brought people to Beer Table.

Beyond that, I tried to make rewards that reflected the spirit of my brand. Our highest price reward was for a custom batch of jojo's Sriracha that would be completely hand-crafted and stamped with a uniquely designed stamp (drawn by a local artist and friend) just for this batch. The batches were amazing and we also released them for sale and told the story of their creator, the batch and the stamp we chose. It was really personal and to this day some of the most special batches I've ever made.

  MH: What are some tips you would offer to future crowdfunders?

 JC: Get ready to work for your money! It's easy to think that crowdfunding is easy money, but it's not. It takes time and effort to create a successful campaign and execute it well.

I asked a friend from Brooklyn who had just successfully completed a crowdfunding campaign to get his band's album recorded what he did to make it work. He said to post about it every day on Facebook. I was shocked.  I thought that would be obnoxious or annoy people, but he responded with something really smart. He said, "These are your friends, family, supporters - they want you to succeed." And he was right. I posted every day - trying to mix it up, be fun, funny, engaging (even made a silly video when we had raised half our funds). People shared my posts and helped get the word out, especially as we came down to the wire.

 If you're lucky enough to earn your money, now you have to be a person of your word and make sure people get their rewards in a timely manner. Be organized and make sure every person is taken care of. Figure all of this work into the pricing of your rewards and campaign in general - it might mean needed to hire help, or just being able to pay yourself for the extra time.

MH: What’s next for your company?

JC: We've grown exponentially since our crowdfunding campaign. Our next move is to open a facility in Denver, Colorado (the birthplace of jojo's) and continue to grow the business. We're working on some exciting collaborations and enjoying staying connected to both the people and businesses that helped us get our start as well as carving out some new territory for ourselves.  

 MH: Where can we buy your product online?

 JC: Currently you can buy it via our Etsy store:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/loveofjojo

But we’re also re-launching a new web store soon so keep an eye on lovehardinc.com

 MH: What is your favorite way to enjoy jojo’s sriracha?

JC: You mean besides putting it on everything? What I love most about Jojo's is that it (quite literally) spices things up. Take something as classic as a slice of cheese pizza - spread some jojo's on it and it's a whole new world. For me, it's all about breakfast. I love steel cut oats with melted cheese and an egg - throw some jojo's on top and you're set. If you're feeling really fancy, cut up fresh avocado and garnish with cilantro. If you need extra substance, add some beans. 

For more information on business-related topics, check out MoolaHoop’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MoolaHoop1

Our mission is to help women fund her big dreams for her small business and we’d love to help you too! Start here! http://www.moola-hoop.com/

About MoolaHoop:

MoolaHoop is a rewards-based crowdfunding platform that enables women entrepreneurs seeking to raise funds for their small business. MoolaHoop enables women-owned, -managed and –led small businesses to easily engage their “crowd” of existing customers, potential customers, family and friends in order to raise funds for their business.