Ms. Boss International

Starting today I will be bringing you a special edition of The Ms. Boss Report titled Doing Business With Africa.  Ever since I started working on the Liberia project where I will be building a women's business center I've learned a lot about doing business with other countries in Africa.  As I learn more I will be covering such topics as:

• Emerging Markets broken down by countries
• Ease of doing business in Africa
• Myths about doing business with Africa
• Import/Export rules and regulations 
• Creating joint ventures
• Finding investment partners
• How to recognize good opportunities
• And so much more

Africa is a continent.  Within the continent there are 53 countries.  We will be bringing you information on the countries with the best opportunities and the easiest to do business with..

So make sure that you stay tuned to The Ms Boss Report-- http://www.TheMsBossReport.com

Until Next Time

Make It A Great Day

Audrey

Hi everyone.  As you may all know I am planning a trade mission to Liberia in November.  MBI has been given some land to go there and build a women's business center.  This project is really near and dear to my heart and completing it would mean so much to me and to the women of Liberia.  I am having a fundraiser to help with the cost of the trip and to start the process for building the center.  I would be very grateful if you would purchase a ticket to this event and also pass this flyer on to your friends and families. Also can you post this flyer to your Facebook if you have one. If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 973-419-0631 or visit www.TheNewLiberia.com.  

As entrepreneurs we are very creative people.  One of the problems with this is that we loose focus somewhat easily.  We love new ideas and want to check them all out, but doing this can cause us to fall behind in the business that we are currently doing.  I remember wondering why my income was not what I expected it to be.  I had written the books, and I was doing some marketing, but my sales were horrible.  I had to step back and re-evaluate what I was doing.  What I realized is that I was trying to focus on too many things. I was trying to run what I told myself was 4 different arms of my business, but in reality they were really 4 separate businesses altogether.  So what I decided to do was bring people on with me to take over the other arms of my business which allowed me time to focus on my core business.  I also totally eliminated one of the arms, because after my evaluation I realized that it just didn't make sense anyway and to top it off it made me miserable to do it.  Now I have complete clarity and I am able to stay focused.  I get so much more done this way.  Instead of having to figure out a marketing plan for this and for that I sit in a meeting or do a phone conference to see where we are and my team take over from there.

If you ask any successful entrepreneur what does it take to be successful they will probably tell you a few things that are helpful, but I am sure that one of those things will be staying focused.

Well that's all for now.

To order the I Have Entrepreneur A.D.D. shirt above click here

Until Next Time

Make It A Great Day!
Audrey

http://www.MsBossInternational.com

I love to see those who have become so successful give back in such a great way.  Serena built not just one school she is on her second one.  This is a blessing to the children in Kenya.  Take a look at the video below.

Bentonville, AR (BlackNews.com) -- Existing small business owners and entrepreneurs with hopes of starting up continue to seek access to capital in the form of bank loans, yet are still struggling to land credit. Only half of small businesses that tried to borrow last year got all or most of what they needed, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business. In the mid-2000s, 90% of businesses said they got the loans they needed.

To help support small business and its business members, Sam's Club has announced that it is testing an online program with Superior Financial Group, the Nation's leading Small Business Administration (SBA) lender, which would make $5,000 to $25,000 loans available to its members who qualify. In a November 2009 state of small business survey conducted by Sam's Club, nearly 15 percent of its business members reported being denied a loan to run their operation, up from 12 percent in April 2009.

The Sam's Club small business loan pilot will focus on serving Main Street minority, women and Veteran owned small business owners as well as micro-entrepreneurs under the SBA's Premier Outreach Express products such as Community Express, Patriot Express and Export Express loans.

Sam's Club members who apply for a small business loan online during the pilot will receive a $100 off the application fee, a 20 percent discount and a 7.5 APR, which is 25 basis point discount. The terms of the loans will remain at 10 years, which is common to help keep monthly payments low. There is no penalty for early repayment. Business memberships cost $35 annually at Sam's Club.

For more information or to apply, visit:
www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageName=sbaLoanProgram

Yesterday when I was hosting my radio show Business With Breakfast I talked about making adjustments.  Every Saturday during the Fall and Winter months I bowl in a league.  When I first started bowling a few years ago I sucked.  But as time went on I improved.  One of the things that I learned from bowling is that when the ball does not go the way you want it to you sometimes have to make a small adjustment until it hits the head pin and you get that strike you were striving for.  Maybe your first adjustment brings you a little closer to the head pin and you have to make another adjustment and if that is the case that's okay as long as you see the head pin and believe that with every adjustment you make you are that much closer to getting the strike.

The same thing hold true for business.  Sometimes you have to make small adjustments to hit your goal.  You have to remember that your business is always a work in progress.  You will always be making adjustments for one reason or another.  If you are just starting out you will have to make adjust to grow the business.  If you are a successful business owner you may have to make adjustments to expand the business or sell the business.  The thing about adjustments that you must understand is that it is okay to make them.  Making an adjustment to your business does not mean that you have failed.  It simply means that you have figured out that your business is not progressing as you would like and in order for that to happen you have to change some things.

I hope that this article help you in all parts of your life.

Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!

Have you ever had times when it seems that nothing is going as planned? Well I have. It seems like everything I try to do there is a road block thrown in my way. When this happens it can easily mess with you frame of thinking and cause you to stall. You will find yourself procrastinating and not feeling motivated to do anything. What I find helpful when this happen is to just stop everything that you are doing and find a quite place grab a good book or a book you've meaning to read, but just haven't had a chance to and read. I did this a few nights ago. I was working on a project and everything seemed to be going fine, but then the problems started coming at me like meteors from the sky and I was so tired of ducking and dodging them until I just went home and pulled out my book No Matter What by Lisa Nichols went to my bedroom and started to read. As soon as I did this I started to feel better. I was also able to put things in perspective and plan my attack on the problems that hit me for the following day.

I hope that this little tip help you when times get a little tough.

Until Next Time
Make It A Great Day!

Audrey

I just finished up a great show with Marlene Bracho who owns ThirdGeneration Ent. Beverage company.  She talked about how she got started in the beverage business which allowed her to branch off with her own company 3 years ago.  She produces sugar free teas that are distributed to about 500 schools in NYC.  She was also able to ink a licensing deal with Nickelodeon for her teas.  To listen to show on demand visit http://www.businesswithbreakfast.com

I had the opportunity to attend The Digital Empowerment Summit yesterday in Newark, NJ. It was powerful. The guest line up was like the who's who on the red carpet. The list included Mayor Corey Booker, Pastor David Jefferson, former Mayor of Atlanta Shirley Franklin, former Mayor of Miami Manny Diaz, our own NJ celebrity Randall Pinkett, Hill Harper, Malik Yoba, Jackie Reed and Bob Slade of 98.7 Kiss FM. These were only a few of the powerful people who attended this event which was held to bridge the digital divide in Newark. The Alliance For Digital Equality was started by Julius Hollis, because he wanted to make sure we all stood on a level playing field by making sure that technology is available throughout the inner cities of the U.S. The Alliance maintains that the key to expanding opportunities for all communities is through Digital Empowerment.

ADE is opening up Digital Empowerment Councils around the U.S. Some of the cities including Newark are Houston, TX, Atlanta, Ga, Chicago, IL, Charleston, SC just to name a few.

I am excited about this movement and will do everything I can for help make sure that people see the opportunities that technology has to offer and how they can use it to turn dreams into reality.

The first council meeting for Newark will be held on May 5th. God willing I will attend and let you know what's happening here.

Starting May 2010 we will start taping The Ms. Boss Show.  The show will profile women who are in business, authors who write about business and marketing and those who have inventions.  The show will be distributed throughout the internet on the Ms. Boss Web TV Network. 

Stay tuned for more information about the show and to check out the upcoming guest list.