Networking 101: You know Somebody That Knows Sombody

In my Venture, Building, & Sustaining a Successful Enterprise course we had the pleasure of having guest speaker Eric Mathews, co-founder of Mercury Technology Labs, a venture creation, innovation connector, and business development organization. He informed us of some important lessons that he learned from his experience as an entrepreneur. One thing that stuck out to me was on average, entrepreneurs fail 3.7 times before their fist success. I’m already past fail #1 (Yeah! I think ) so I’d like to hope I’m still on the right track. He also said that even though one may fail, it is best to fail fast and continue on while youth is an advantage. Another word of advice from Mr. Mathews was “Do it now!”, which is kind of where I was conflicted. After seeing something that I was so passionate about and that my audience loved so much not make it due to lack of financing sort of chipped away at my drive. However, with this class I hope to build a solid business plan that will make investors want to jump at the chance to be involved in my future fortune 500 media company.

Dr. Fabian introduced me to Lorretta McNary a local TV host in the Memphis area and we have a meeting set up this weekend to discuss working together to help build each other up to reach our business goals. It seems as if she has the resources I need and have the some of the resources she needs which will hopefully be a perfect fit. I also have been networking and was introduced to Yvette George another TV host and radio personality in Memphis. Ms. George has been an evolving figure in the entertainment business since 1990 and I look forward to meeting with her as well to gain as much knowledge of the entertainment industry as I can while constructing my business plan. So the main things I pass along to my classmates and other entrepreneurs is your network is important to your net worth and never stop going but know when to change directions.

Check these links for more information on these remarkable people in the Memphis Area:

http://www.ericmathews.com/about.html
http://www.yvettegeorge.com/about_yvette_george.htm
http://www.lorettamcnary.com/about.html

New Business Blues

My dream hasn't always been to start a huge Media Company providing entertainment for the masses, but as I got older the passion to follow my dreams became my motivation to push forward. After deciding how to best use my talent & enthusiasm for writing I decided a magazine would be it! ...right in the beginning stages of the recession. In my mind I could do anything; and I can with proper planning and a solid foundation & network. Unfortunately, beginning a new magazine is hard work, stressful & EXPENSIVE. However, it can also be very fun, lucrative, and rewarding. In my case, the bad outweighed the good. Advertisers had become hesitant and/or cheap because of the recession which lead to lack of funds being the pitfall for my dream.

My go-getter personality also has its pros and cons. I am open to taking risks but sometimes move hastily and expect everyone to be able to keep up. This may have affected my organization by relying on split second decision making without having a contingency plan or
taking the time to weigh out options.

When re- launching My Future Fortune 500 company I will avoid these previous drawbacks because I made the mistake once and learned from it, hopefully. I will take the time to plan, build a solid team, and raise sufficient funding to survive the 'new business blues' which is trying to build a brand, a customer base, all while paying for the overhead costs to do so.