I always dreamed of heading my own PR/Marketing firm.  Being my own boss…sashaying into my trendy office in my Cartier sunglasses and Diane Von Furstenberg wrap-dress, ready to sit down with the head of some company…any company.  I could picture it, me strolling across the bamboo floors of my office to mentor a young associate or speaking to a roomful of marketing/pr execs about case studies in marketing.  I had the name of my company already picked out: SHARPER STRATEGIES (a play off my name).  I could smell the success.

Apparently, what I conveniently forgot to picture was all the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears that go along with entrepreneurship….and let me tell you, before you see any money you will see blood, sweat and tears …especially tears!  It would be a looong time before I smelled success (depending on how YOU define it), and I still haven’t seen a Diane Von Furstenberg dress. 

Fast forward several years later (ahem)…SHARPER STRATEGIES is up and running.  Additionally, I work for an organization that is charged with growing and developing start-up companies.  Over these past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn a great deal about entrepreneurship and growing a business.  And, I’d like to use this blog as a platform to share best practices and resources with you.  We will explore topics including:

  • Capital Access
  • Writing a Business Plan
  • Marketing/PR
  • Your Website
  • Intellectually Property
  • Private Equity
  • Your Competition
  • Social Media
  • Resources and Organizations for Small Businesses
  • Fiscal Responsibility
  • Human Resource issues
  • Obtaining Federal State and Local Licenses
  • Commercial Real Estate
  • And many more….

I will be sharing some of my own personal experiences and pulling information from industry professionals.  Let me know if there are any topics that you’d like to address…in the mean time, let’s move one step closer to growing our businesses!

 -Stefphanie