Her Business….

By LaTasha West

                Beyonce said it, and I am inclined to agree, Girls run the world!

Chatting with the CEO in Pajamas series seeks to provide information and real world advice. Over the next few weeks I will share interviews that I have done with ladies who are running their own businesses and doing so successfully.  These women are wives, mothers and business owners willing to share a small piece of their journey with you.

I hope this series encourages, motivates and inspires you to believe.

This week I chat with Adrienne Adams, Business Coach & President of It’s Not Enough to Dream.

Let’s jump in:

LaTasha: How old were you when you started your first business? Tell me about it.

Adrienne: I actually was not a child entrepreneur.  Selling lemonade and candy didn’t interest me at all. Becoming a business owner didn’t have much appeal until I graduated from college in my early twenties.  I had decided to be a stay-at-home mom, but I still wanted to have some income earning potential.  I briefly ran a home day care.  It didn’t work out.  But that was the first time that I wrapped my mind around being able to do something where I could serve other people, make money and still be able to place the needs of my family first.  It took a while to find the right fit.

LaTasha: Have you made any costly business mistakes? If so please share.

Adrienne: Well, I try to stay away from terms like “failures” and “mistakes.”  If a toddler falls while learning to walk, they didn’t make a mistake.  They didn’t fail.  It’s just a part of learning and perfecting the process. 

With that said, yes, I’ve had several times where I’ve had things not work out as planned while I was learning and perfecting different business processes. 

I remember spending a nice amount of money on a business system that didn’t quite work out the way that we envisioned.  We spent weeks and weeks waiting for our contractor to develop it and took time to pay for it and we don’t even use it today.  When everything was said and done, it wasn’t the tool that we were looking for.  Some things you can only learn from trial and error.  And sometimes it takes experiencing things that you don’t want to get clearer on what you do want.

LaTasha: Do you believe social media has helped your business grow? Please explain.

Adrienne: Absolutely.  Right now, we have chapters in four different cities.  We were able to connect with women for our group and launch new chapters using social media exclusively.

LaTasha: What has been your proudest moment in business to date?

Adrienne: The day when our payroll company sent a direct deposit to my bank account.  And then I got the check stub at the office.  I felt so legit.

All of us entrepreneurs have essentially the same dream.  To earn a living helping people in the way that makes us feel warm and fuzzy.

And for so long, we’re doing the work.  But the earn a living part is missing. We want real businesses, not the kind where we break even or just make a couple of dollars.  We want paydays and check stubs.

So the moment when it all came together was most definitely a proud, dream-come-true kind of moment for me.

LaTasha: What advice would you give to someone considering making the jump in to entrepreneurship?

Adrienne: People have to understand that entrepreneurship is hard work.  Everyone wants to skip to the end where they are sitting on an island sipping a cold drink and the money is in the bank.  That doesn’t come right away.  It takes time to learn and build and get into the flow of how things operate.

I’ve seen business owners get frustrated and quit because they have to work through the middle.  Companies aren’t built overnight.  Entrepreneurs should set daily goals and celebrate all of their progress.

It’s also very important to be true to yourself and do something that you really want to do and that you do well. That’s how your business ends up being a blessing to your customer.

If you want to learn more about Adrienne or her business “It’s Not Enough to Dream”, visit:

Website www.itsnotenoughtodream.com

www.facebook.com/pages/ItsNotEnoughtoDreamMagazine

www.facebook.com/adrienneadamsdreamcoach

Twitter handle https://twitter.com/mrsdreamcoach

LaTasha West is an entrepreneur, speaker and certified small business development coach. To learn more visit www.latashawest.com.