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| Posted on Saturday, September 13 @ 00:00:42 PDT |
Meet Melinda Emerson, founder and president of SmallBizLady Enterprises.
Her firm is an education training company that specializes in training entrepreneurs how to start and grow their business. SmallBizLady Enterprises also develops curriculum for Fortune 500 brands that have outreach programs targeting small business owners.
Emerson’s company has crafted eight of the courses for one of her biggest clients, Verizon, on its Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Platform. It’s a free platform targeting minority women business owners, who want to learn how to sell and grow their brands online.
“Its all centered around our mission which is to end small business failure,” Emerson said. “Theres tons of people out here teaching people how to start a business. Im trying to teach people how to stay in business and thats what I specialize in doing.
The interview has been condensed for clarity.
How did you get into this business?
I started my first business in 1999 after a five-year career in TV news. I was a television producer for Channel 6 and Channel 10. I also worked for the NBC station in Pittsburgh, in my hometown, prior to coming to Philadelphia. But after 5 years working in the news business, it was like I got my dream job, but I hated it.
I knew that there was something else I could do with my talents and Oprah Winfrey was actually the first journalist I ever saw start a business, and it was because of her that I even had the idea and even the courage to pursue my own company. I did really well with that company. At one point, you know, we were number 29 on the Philly 100 list, which is like the mini Inc. 5000 list that they used to do in the city.
I realized that there was a niche in an area of marketing thats called B2SMB (business to small and medium-sized business) marketing, which is all about helping major corporations sell things to small business owners. And considering the fact that theres, I dont know, 30 million small business owners, its a decent market to specialize in. And so weve built our whole business around that and sometimes um Im still asked to be a keynote speaker we sell a lot of books, but we build a lot of curriculum and marketing programs for brands and and you know my mission is to end small business failures so most of the campaigns that I developed for my corporate partners are around educating and supporting small businesses, not necessarily directly selling them stuff, so. Its worked out for me.
What are some other highlights of your career?
The New York Times called me and asked me if I would be a columnist for the Youre the Boss blog and I wrote for them for two years after that. And so many other opportunities came, so many partnerships with corporate brands. I mean, here we are 17 years later. I have traveled all over the world training entrepreneurs. Last summer, the State Department sent me to Cambodia to train women entrepreneurs in Cambodia. I have been to China. I have been to Singapore. I have been to Nigeria. I have been to Panama, all over Europe. Teaching people how to start and grow successful small businesses. So, what I can tell you is, its true what Oprah said, God can dream it bigger for you than you can dream it for yourself.
Where are you from originally?
I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, actually, but I came to Philly in 1995, one year out of college, and so I claim Philadelphia in my heart and my home.
What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting their own business?
If I had to do it all over again today, I would buy an existing business or I would invest in a franchise business. I wouldnt start a business from scratch again.
Theres too many baby boomers trying to sell their businesses, theres lots of inventory out here, and its not as expensive as people think.
Where do you see your company in the next 5 to 10 years?
Well, I think Im going to do my business another 10 to 12 years, where were trying to go now is, I am growing my school, Smallbizladyuniversity.com. I also have a private membership site for women entrepreneurs called Small Biz Lady Academy. And starting next year, were going to be certifying small business lady coaches around the country and around the world, so I am going to license my content to others who want to grow coaching businesses and build a brand particularly around sales, one of the things we really excel at is teaching people how to sell. We have a sales accelerator program and we train people on how to build capacity within small businesses.
What do you think is your secret to longevity and deal with the changing demands in your industry?
I believe that relentless consistency has been the key to my success. But the other key to my success has been that Im a lifelong learner. I have pivoted, I have shifted, I have invested in coaches, I have invested in training and I have taken something like AI by the horn.
When I realized that AI was going to be the next big thing out here, I doubled down on it. Im not worried about becoming extinct, but I am worried about not being as productive as I could be, and so, I think that its really important for people to look and see and ask AI directly, am I, is my business going to be irrelevant 3 to 5 years from now? Thats a real question that everyone should be asking. And if the answer is yes, then they need to figure out right now what their pivot story is going to be.
How can potential clients get in touch with you?
Well, my nickname is the Small Biz lady, so you can just Google that and youll find me, but my name is Melinda Emerson and you should connect to me on LinkedIn or head over to smallbizladyuniversity.com, and thats where you can find out more about how we help small business owners.
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