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Informationen zum Autor Clara Villarosa Klappentext A bulletproof! step-by-step plan for turning your business brainstorm into a money-making reality At age fifty-two ! after years of working her way up the corporate ladder! Clara Villarosa found herself out of a job. But she didn't let that get her down. Instead! she put her gifts to the test and started her own business! which became one of the country's best-known independent specialty bookstores-The Hue- Man Bookstore. Now! twenty years and two successful stores later! Clara is a highly sought-after business coach and expert in the industry. Down to Business expands on Villarosa's proven "First 10 Steps to Entrepreneurship for Women" to offer women everywhere a targeted plan to help them launch the small business of their dreams. This book includes advice on: ?How to develop realistic business ideas by researching the industry ?Analyzing a competitor's marketing approach and attracting your ideal customer ? Accumulating the start-up funds you need! from recruiting investors to using loans wisely ?Scouting the ideal location ? Creating a sound business plan-and beyond-with a simple! step-by-step strategy Packed with stories of businesswomen at all stages of the game-from a beer connoisseur-turned-brewer to an avid reader-turned-literary agent-Villarosa brings together inspiring! real-life stories with her award-winning business savvy. Encouraging and empowering! Down to Business will get you motivated to dust off your dream and get your plan into action. INTRODUCTION I was at the lowest point of my life in 1983. After I had worked my wayup to vice president of Colorado’s largest bank, my manager calledme into his office. Avoiding eye contact and reading from notes he hadscratched on the back of an envelope, he told me I was fired. I was thehighest- ranking black woman in the entire bank, and the word was I hadpushed too hard, talked too much, and rubbed too many of my whitecolleagues “the wrong way.” That night, as I cried myself to sleep, I wondered, at age fifty- two,what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Like many women, I had bumped hard against the glass ceiling. Mypersonality was too big for the confines of corporate America. But in thecold light of day, I also had to admit that I had grown as tired of working“for the man” as he had with me. The very traits that had irked mycolleagues— being a pushy, assertive, independent thinker, fast on my feet, with a tendency to stir things up— were the qualities of which I wasmost proud. And I soon learned that these were the very traits that makea successful entrepreneur. These gifts had been passed down from myown mother, a dynamic self- starter who had run several businesses out ofour home on the south side of Chicago in the thirties, forties, and fifties. So I brushed back those bitter tears, and by the following year I hadregrouped and launched what was to become one of the country’sbest-known independent specialty bookstores. Even though I had neversold a book in my life, my store, Hue-Man, became a small-business successstory. My entrepreneurial flame burned bright, but in 2000, after nearlytwo decades in the business, I was burnt out. I had served as the firstblack person on the board of the American Booksellers Associationand had become a major player in the publishing industry. I was theAfrican-American go-to girl for agents and editors and had hosted someof the hottest black authors, including James Baldwin, Toni Morrison,Alice Walker, Terry McMillan, E. Lynn Harris, Maya Angelou, WalterMosley, and Colin Powell. But I was tired. So I sold the store in Denver;I planned to move to New York to be close to my daughters and grandchildren,and coast into retirement. But before I could book that Caribbean cruise, entrepreneurshipagain came calling. I...
