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President's Corner
Just a quick reminder to everyone of some upcoming
opportunities, in case you've been out of the
loop:
We are currently booking for
our Fall Wine Tour
and networking activity. This should be a fun event
aboard the Majestic Coach. The tour is set for
October 8th, and the cost is $25, with limited
availablity. You can sign up below or on the WBO
website.
Secondly, we are thrilled that
MARY CANTANDO, author of The Woman's
Advantage
will be our
speaker for the Annual Dinner, on October 24th at
Travis Point Country Club. Be sure not
only to sign up for the dinner and awards banquet,
but to invite all your friends and fellow business
women. It's going to be a wonderful, inspirational
evening. You can also sign up for this event on the
WBO website.
Lastly, we are calling all
business who would like to have a Booth as part
of the Expo at the Annual Dinner. Please
contact Jeanne Loveland, of Café
Marie, to reserve your table.
Enjoy the last days of summer and things begin
to wind back up again for us all.
| Meeting Update |
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Creating a Winning Plan to Run Your
Business
A Banker's insight into the
importance of business planning
Presented by Jennifer Leach, Branch Manager
and Key 4 Women Representative
Only one in 11 adult women are entrepreneurs.
You can join that group and be effective.
How?
Your business plan is "key"-- its your roadmap, puts
numbers to ideas, forces you to ask yourself the
tough questions before a protential investor/funder
will, can be used to guage your progress, and shows
you are serious to outsiders.
There are a number of Free or Low Cost
Resources to help you with your Business
Planning: SBDC, SCORE, Local colleges,
chambers or, business association courses, web
resources, informational programs/events, Active
Money CD, or informal Board of Advisors (if you have
one).
Where can you find funding for your business?
Personal Assests including leveraging your home
equity, Friends and Relatives, Contractual Sale of
Business, State based economic development
matching programs. Consider bartering or trade
arrangements, establish trade credit, look for the
best loan opportunities, consider a partner or angel
investors.
And very important-- Build a relationship with
your Banker.
Start that conversation, realizing that the
relationship you are developing goes both ways and
involves some shared goals.
Here are the 5 toughest questions your banker will
ask:
- Do you have a 5 year business plan?
- What steps do you need to take to achieve your
5yr plan?
- How well do you understand the fundamentals of
credit?
- How will you stack up against your competition?
What makes you distinctive?
- Can you describe the depth of your management
team and staffing plan?
And importantly-- Pitfalls to avoid when applying
for a loan
- Asking for too much or too little
- Not "owning" you business plan-- too much
outside input in development
- Trying to hide weaknesses-- Full disclosure is
best policy
- Pay attention to early warnings that things are
off track-- ask for assistance before things get too
bad
- Kidding yourself-- fine line between optimism and
fantasy
- Not taking advantage of free assistance
resources
- Not submitting a complete loan package
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| Upcoming WBO Events |
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Monthly Meeting, Tuesday, September 5,
2006
Monthly Meeting, Tuesday, October 3,
2006
 Fall
Wine Tour, Sunday, October 8, 2006
Visit with friends and enjoy our van as we travel
to the local SE Michigan vineyards- Lone Oak, St.
Julian, Cherry Creek, and Sandhill Crane. Cost is
$25
per person. Come, enjoy the colors, company, and
taste the wines!
Annual Awards Dinner and Expo,
October 24, 2006
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| Opportunities |
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Lake Forest Golf Club is one
of the Sponsors, and the venue, for the
SafeHouse Center Fundraiser, September 15,
2006. The funds from this event go to support the
24 hour emergency response capability of
SafeHouse.
For additional
Sponsorship
opportunities, starting at $250, get your name in
print and more, while supporting a very worthwhile
Women's organization, or to register for the event,
contact Gilda Johnson of Lake Forest at 734-994-
8580 or SafeHouse at 734-973-0242 or look it up on
the web at www.safehouse.org.
WBO's NANCY RAY AWARD is given to
support entrepreneurial women who are starting their
own businesses. WBO has provided a downloadable
application for this award. So, if you qualify, please
apply! Criteria:
- You must be open for business
- You must be predominantely (51% or more) a
women owned business
- You must submit a Nancy Ray Founders Award
Application (found on the WBO site)
- You must submit a copy of your Business
Plan
Your completed application, along with your business
plan, should be sent to Nancy Ray Founders Award,
WBO, PO Box 1936, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Deadline:
October 8, 2006.
The recipient of the award will
receive one year's membership in WBO of
Southeastern Michigan. The
award will be presented at our Annual Awards Dinner
and Expo, this
year on Tuesday, October 24th.
You do not have to be a current member to
apply.
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| Spread the Word – Lori Shepard, Simply Scrumptious Catering |
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ENJOY A CATERED EVENT
Simply Scrumptious is different from other caterers.
The difference is FRESHNESS. Everything is
made
fresh to order using only the finest, freshest
ingredients available. We never use prepared foods.
All food is cooked fresh for your event, at your event.
Simply Scrumptious is DIVERSE. Many
different ethnic
and theme foods are available. Family recipes and
special requests are always available for you to share
with your guests.
Simply Scrumptious provides PERSONALIZED
CATERING. Each event menu reflects the desire
of
the client. Together we will create the event you
envision.
Simply Scrumptious bakes all it’s own pastries, pies,
and cakes fresh to order.
Let Simply Scrumptious take the stress out of your
event or celebration planning by creating a special
meal for you, your guests and/or business colleagues.
Try the difference today.
Call to schedule your upcoming wedding event,
party, or business event.
Lori Shepard, Executive Chef
4765 Joy Road, Dexter, MI 48130
734-646-4586
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| Business Challenge |
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Within the next month, go into your
personal bank
and introduce yourself. Meet the branch manager
and start building your relationships.
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| New Members, Please welcome... |
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Cindi Klement
Mary Bortmas, Unforgettable Photos
Gwen
Briston, Gwen's Cake Decorating & Etc.
LLC
Theresa Woods, TeeTee's Place
Angela
Reihn, Edward Jones Investment
Linda Pickl,
Autoform, Inc
Note: If your listing is not in the WBO
Member
Directory on our website, or there are changes to
the listing that need to be made,
please contact Hillary Handwerger or Lisa Hudy with
your newest information.
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| 2006 Member Discounts |
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TLCI, Website Design, Development,
Consulting, SEO, Marketing, 12% off, 662-0154
Healing in Motion, JB Myofascial
Release, 25% off,
913-4816
Helping Hands Computer Solutions, Computer
and Business Support, 10% off, 995-6875
Contours Express, Women's Fitness, $100
off, 761-8663
Cafe Marie of Ann Arbor, Breakfast/Lunch
Cafe, 20% off, 662-2272
Ann Arbor Diet Center, Personalized Weight
Loss Services, 10% off, 327-2800
University Bank, Banking/Insurance, 1 year
free membership, 741-5858
AFFILIATE OF
NAWBO
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WBO members meet monthly, on the first Tuesday
of the month at Lake Forest Golf Course.
Please join us. Meetings will start at 6:00
beginning with our August event.
Find out more....
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