Welcome to Margin
On a rainy
Monday morning over cups of hot cocoa I recently had the pleasure of meeting with
Karen Ranus, Director of Volunteer Services and Community Outreach at Saint
Louise House in Austin.
Saint LouiseHouse helps single
mothers and their children overcome homelessness by providing a stable
environment and supportive services.
One comment
Karen made truly struck me. She said that when we picture homelessness we
picture single men. It’s because we see
them time and again on the street; Men holding “I will work for food”
signs.
But in
truth this is not the largest population of homelessness in Austin (the US?) As it turns out the largest population of homelessness
is single women with children. These are
the ones without a warm place to sleep every night.
What my conversation
at Saint Louise House had me ponder was perception.
Just like
men seem to be the face of homelessness, extremely successful entrepreneurs seem
to be the face of small business.
Online, in
magazines and books, on television, while networking or listening to a keynote address
we’re introduced to these crazy successful entrepreneurs. And often times they’ve created this success
in a very short period of time.
I’ve been
in small business for over 20 years first owning bakeries (which I sold in
2005) and then this consultancy. In
between I counseled entrepreneurs through a local non-profit for close to 7 years.
My
experience seems to match the current statistical information – and that
picture is that small business still fails at a very high rate or underperforms
projected revenue.
I started this
consultancy because I wanted to make a difference in this picture – especially for
sole proprietors and small LLC’s. I want the perception to become the reality. I want
to make it less stressful and more fun by making the business more dependable
and more profitable. I want to expand its capacity for greater contribution.
I’ve seen the problems. I’ve lived the problems of small business. And I know the solutions.
My mission
to make it easier is called MARGIN.
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