SmallBizResource Blog -- Women in Business

Wednesday's Woman: A $1 Million Business Plan

Posted by Gayle Kesten Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008, 03:11 PM ET

If you're looking for a role model in business, then do yourself a favor -- forget Oprah and Martha Stewart.

"They're way too big and going to places we're not going to go," says Nell Merlino, who launched Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence, a near decade-old nonprofit provider of resources, business education and community support for women entrepreneurs.

This isn't to say you shouldn't aim high. Merlino -- the brains behind Take Your Daughter to Work Day -- also has lofty goals: She's on a mission to get 1 million women-owned businesses past the $1 million threshold by 2010. Merlino's 3-year-old Make Mine a Million $ Business program has so far signed on 60,000 women with those very intentions. "Those are the stories that move so many women to sign up for what we're going," she explains.

According to Make Mine a Million, which recently launched a resource-packed Business Answers portal, less than 3 percent of women-owned businesses are currently at the million-dollar level: "Research has shown that businesses of this size or greater contribute significantly to the U.S. economy by creating jobs for employees, income and wealth for owners, and are taken seriously by financial institutions."

So how do you get from here to there? That where Make Mine a Million (or companion program Micro to Millions if you make less than $250,000) comes in. The application process to join is detailed online and involves the extremely valuable process of writing a business plan, Merlino says. "When you run a business, you get involved in the day-to-day," she says. "You need an external pressure to get things going. Most women business owners don't have a plan. We have found that having to be accountable to someone in addition to yourself is pretty helpful."

Merlino describes business-plan writing as "liberating, setting you on a path to growth and expansion by simply sitting back and answering some questions." Questions like: What is my business? What's my cash flow? Who's my target market? How will I make money? How much can I handle myself? When do I need a team?

Without a plan, don’t expect to grow your business to $1 million, Merlino warns. "You can get to $200,000 by yourself, and then at some point you need other people," she says, adding that delegating is where women entrepreneurs most struggle. "Too many women think they have to do it all by themselves," Merlino says. "You have to figure out what you're best at and who you can hire to do what isn't the best use of your time and talent."

By now you should know the two words that can help you figure that out.

Do you have a business plan?

---

Previous Wednesday's Woman articles:
>> Tips Before Putting Your Honey on the Payroll
>> What Working Women Want Mo$t
>> Do Wedding Bells Cause Last Name Hell?
>> Meet Mytopia Co-Founder Galia Ben-Artzi
>> Hear Our Ringtones Roar
>> The Makings of a Smooth Maternity Leave
>> A Rocker Girl's Journey to Tech CEO
>> Why So Many Women Are Bolting From Tech
>> Meet TodaysMama CEO Rachael Herrscher

The Wednesday's Woman series is written for today's community of hard-working, small-business women, featuring profiles, industry trends, research, work/life balance issues and other topics of interest. As always, send your ideas to Gayle Kesten.

Women in Business

This is a public forum. CMP Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. CMP Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of CMP Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in CMP Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.