Start your Own Thing: Becoming an English-Speaking Female Entrepreneur in Bologna

Start Your Own Thing!

Giacomo ‘Peldi’ Guilizzoni - IWF Bologna - 20 Nov 2014

Becoming an English-Speaking

Female Entrepreneur in Bologna

Giacomo ‘Peldi’ Guilizzoni - IWF Bologna - 20 Nov 2014

First of all…are you 100% sure you want to start your own thing?

Working Remotely

is REAL

is EASY

is AWESOME

…but just in case you need a refresher…

Ok that’s great and all…but I want my own thing!

Do The Time

Have you done your 10,000 hours?

Have you found your secret sauce yet?

Do others think you’re ready?

Maybe start by just reading, learning, getting out of your comfort zone…do some remote jobs! :)

Just help me start my own thing already!

OK, let’s DO THIS!

Prerequisites

Have your paperwork in order (Residenza, Codice Fiscale, Carta di Identita’, Permesso di Soggiorno)

Make sure you’re in a good place financially, running on empty doesn’t work. A good rule of thumb is one year of costs covered.

Have a VERY supportive family / environment

Commit and be ready for anything

Motivations

Hard to find a quality job / your job didn’t transfer

Need flexible hours

Want to create a better working environment than the one you’re in

Now is the perfect time to follow your passions!

Treat it as an experiment, not as a way to make money.

– My friend Luis Arias

“Money should be a consequence, not a motive.”

Perks

Flexible hours

Work from home / anywhere!

Total control

A chance to make a real impact

Gives you an identity, you’ll be so proud!

The Idea

Don’t Look for an Idea. Look for a problem!

Idea Validation

What makes your idea special? What makes YOU special?

Get out there!

Competition is good

Use the competition’s marketing material + your twist.

What’s the natural size of the company to execute on this idea?

Can it be bootstrapped or does it need funding?

Business Plan

Don’t worry, it’s easy

Goals:

Clarify your ideas

Circulate your idea to anyone who’ll listen

Give you the strength and confidence to get started

Business Plan Structure

1.Core Beliefs

2.Mission Statement

3.Target Customers

4.Business Model

5.Revenue / Costs / Cash Flow Projections

6.Product

7.Long Term Vision

8.Competition

9.Motivations

10.Funding Sources

11.Open Questions

– Steve Blank

“No Business Plan Survives First Contact With A Customer”

http://steveblank.com/2010/11/01/no-business-plan-survives-first-contact-with-a-customer-%E2%80%93-the-5-2-billion-dollar-mistake/

Find Your First Customers

Product or Consulting?

If product, careful about customizing too much for early customers

Careful about partnerships!

You haven’t really started until you have at least a couple of lighthouse customers

Setting Up The Business

Setting up the business

Italy is a little weird (albi, unions), but things are better now.

All you need to start is an accountant: ask around, people know one for sure. Try to find someone who has other customers like what you want to become…or just settle for one that speaks english. ;)

Do NOT work for free or under the table. Just don’t do it.

Other Consulting Figures

Lawyer

Consulente del Lavoro (payroll person)

Notary

Costs

for many things, main fixed cost is the accountant, few hundred Euros / year

website hosting is cheap

bank account

biggest cost will almost always be PEOPLE

taxes

Contracts and Invoices

Careful about spec work - http://www.nospec.com/

Preventivo (Quote / Estimate)

flat rate or by the hour

milestones (half and half, etc)

don’t sell yourself cheap! Gross is roughly 2x net.

Confidentiality and IP

Invoices are EASY

Choose your clients wisely, be picky!

Alright, you got paid!

Quick congratulatory break

I could get used to this!

Finding more customers

Word of mouth

Testimonials from first customers

Marketing!!!

Marketing?

video source: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8831

– Steve Martin

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

Your Online Presence!

You are part of an existing community that cares about

the same problem you’re trying to solve

Where does your community hang out?

Sites, Lists, Events…

Now you have a business!

OMG that’s AMAZING!!!!

Whudathunkit?

I got news for you…

Ecosystem

Company

Support

Marketing

Product

Vision

A book to start with

Community

Challenges

Exhausting

Finding customers

It’s your delicate baby

Juggling life and business

Challenges

Get used to feeling in over your head

Gotta roll up your sleeves, do the research and execute

The buck stops with you

Challenges

Italy has its own challenges

Medieval guilds, unions, byzantine rules…

“Who you know” more than “how good you are”

Mentality is a little behind on some things

Those are also opportunities!

As a Woman

Cultural Issues

“The cultural value entails that the man/husband be the bread winner. A woman exhibiting her entrepreneurial prowess is presumed as wanting to take over the leadership role of the husband.”

“Male children are usually groomed on running the family business and carrying on after the demise of the father while the female children are usually left out of this entrepreneurial grooming process.”

“Most people still live with the mentality that certain businesses or tasks are better handled by men.”

“Careful, guys love thinking you’re coming on to them…”

Balancing Business and Family

"It can be overwhelming to manage your time, communicate effectively and stay organized while

developing your business skills. No one hands you a resource book — you have to be self-disciplined. As an entrepreneur, you love what you do, so taking a break is

challenging. But you need to work on your business, not in it. Delegate relentlessly, and inspire people to want to do a job for you." – Michelle Touchstone, founder of Pixie Dust

Naturals

The expectation to succeed at everything

“Men are judged by how well they do in their careers, while women are judged by how well they excel with family,

friends, 'looking their best' and, if they work, their career.”

You have to be tough and decisive

“Toughness is a good thing, yet it is considered good only in men. When a woman is tough, men can’t stand it. I like

being tough; tough and smart.” – Lilian Vernon

Lack of Role Models

"The main challenge for female entrepreneurs is just like the challenge for female engineering students: There just

aren't enough of us. There aren't enough women to be role models, act as sounding boards, do deals with — in short,

to create normalcy for women in leadership positions."

Lack of Investor Confidence

“Men fund people who look and sound just like them"

Fear of Success, and Failure!

"Work hard at ignoring that inner voice that may discourage taking action, speaking up or getting outside your comfort

zone. It's something I struggle with myself, but I know fundamentally that I wouldn't be a CEO today if I hadn't

taken chances to assert myself.” - Sarah Bryar, CEO, women's eyewear boutique Rivet and Sway

Emotion and Nurturing Skills Can Affect Your Business

“For men, a business is mostly about the bottom line, but for women, it's more than that. We get emotionally

connected, and that can hold us back from making the tough decisions. Male board members and investors get

frustrated when we're not as quick to fire or make dramatic business changes that could impact employees' families.” -

Delia Passi, CEO of WomenCertified

Collaboration and Collabatition

“Let’s face it—women are natural networkers. They love to talk, mingle, and rub elbows. This is the very reason why

husbands rarely ever manage the social calendar. In today’s business environment, mastering social media is mandatory,

and the ladies absolutely have a leg up!”

“Collabatition is collaboration with your competition in an effort to move both companies forward. Women love to work

together. We naturally gravitate towards creating relationships and partnerships. We like to do things in groups, we like to involve people in what we’re doing.”

Natural Marketers

“Women are natural marketers. They are so passionate and enthusiastic about what they choose to do that they just do not stop talking about it. They don't forget to emphasize the benefits of their services to their potential customers. They

understand how to accentuate the positive.”

Listening

“The key is to ask questions and really listen.”

Multi-tasking

“Women are known for juggling many tasks at the same time and still being able to produce excellent results.

Conversely, the guys are masters at focusing on one thing. Still, the advantage in today’s distracting environment goes

to women.”

Intuition

“They call it “women’s intuition” for a reason. Women in general can size up another person much faster than her

male counterpart.”

“Men definitely follow their gut, but women have a much more sensitive sense of intuition. ”

New Company Culture

“Instead of trying to fit ourselves into corporate environments that weren’t designed for us, we are able to create corporate cultures that are conducive to the type of lives we lead. We want companies that make it easy for us to have a family, to live the lifestyle we want and support

our values.”

Patience and Tenacity

“Ladies, we don’t give up do we? We work our tails off. We work a full day, come home, take care of the family, the dog,

clean the house, it never ends.”

“Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to be tough. There is a reason why women carry and deliver

babies. We are tough! We have to be! The beauty of it is, we can be tough and we can be tender. ”

– Anonymous ;)

“Being an attractive young blonde didn’t hurt.”

Are you sufficiently terrified yet?

Good.

It’s a journey

Start by reading a book or two

Then read two dozen more…

Maybe take that online class!

Mistakes don’t matter that much, what matters is how quickly you learn from them and fix them

This will make you a better person

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Good Luck!

Special Thanks Melanie Lacide Olivia Cremin

Elizabeth Francis Francesca Fabbri

Anna Mariotti Mariah Maclachlan

[email protected] - Slides at http://goo.gl/RXhSpx