Anyone who has ever started a small
business will understand what I mean when I say it’s tough to decide where to
begin. Although you have the idea, the drive, and the "how to"
manual, you are overwhelmed with so many decisions to make. You also have
limited dollars for start-up. Depending on the nature of your business, these
dollars often have to stretch further than what may seem possible. One of the
things you know you must do is set up a web site. Yet, when you consider what
you must allocate for, say, equipment, supplies, and unanticipated expenses, a
web site falls at the bottom of the priority list. Soon it’s relegated to the
wish list.
One day, while having coffee with my friend and
colleague Rebecca St. Martin, I admitted that I wanted a web site to promote my
bath and body line but knew I could not afford one.
"You may be surprised," she said.
"Tell me what you’d like to achieve with your web site."
"I’d like to sell my products," I
said, wondering if there was more to having a web site than I had thought.
"Do you know how you’d like to market
them?"
No, I didn’t know.
"Do you have a particular customer in
mind?"
I had a vague idea.
"Do you know what image you’d like to
convey?"
No, I hadn’t thought about that.
As we talked, it occurred to me that I had some
homework to do. Rebecca asked crucial questions that I needed to answer. The
only way I could answer them would be to do a business plan. Theoretically I
knew the importance of writing a business plan, but it was the first thing I
pushed aside. I preoccupied myself with seeking a chemist and a team of
individuals to help me create and launch my line.
Rebecca met with me again, helping me brainstorm
about my market, customer, and image. She listened carefully and respectfully
while adeptly steering me in the right direction.
"What will make you special? Why should
people come to you?"
During our brainstorm session, she took notes
and used them as reference points later in our discussion. At the beginning of
our discussion, I had felt apprehensive and embarrassed because I had no
business plan. By the end of our discussion, I discovered that Rebecca took me
through a necessary planning process that would enable me to write that plan.
She not only helped me understand the connection between the plan and a web
site but also clarified for me how to get the most from a web site at an
affordable price.
For small business owners, the service that
Rebecca offers is invaluable. What is unique about this service in our hectic,
time-is-money culture is the relationship building that Rebecca believes is
fundamental to OmniStation.
When I expressed surprise at the amount of time
she committed to helping me develop my plan, she replied, "I want your
business. It’s important to me that you trust and like me, and that I trust
and like you. I enjoy getting to know my clients. I can’t help you achieve
what you want with your web site unless I understand your problems and
concerns."
Given her confidence, commitment,
professionalism, and patience, Rebecca has won my business, and I don’t
hesitate to refer her to my friends and colleagues. The process I underwent
with her educated me about how to start a business right: I transferred that
web site from the wish list to the priority list.
Pamela R. Fletcher
Fletcher and Associates, Inc
