Open

Nov 18, 2009 -

Nell Merlino is the Founder, President and CEO of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, a national not-for-profit that provides resources to help women grow their businesses into million-dollar enterprises. She was also the creative force behind Take Our Daughters to Work Day, the founder and President of Strategy Communication Action, Ltd. (SCA), and the author of Stepping Out of Line: Lessons for Women Who Want It Their Way in Life, in Love, and at Work. And she is probably the last person I’d expect to say that what’s helped her be more resilient in this economy is taking more time off.

“This past year, for the first time, I took two vacations – one week off in the beginning and one at the end of summer, and it helped to take the pressure off,” she told me.  “It also helped me to refocus. I tell the business owners we work with that you need to keep your eye on your strategic vision and your health. We tend to let both go during difficult times.  So it’s good to take some time off to refocus and relax.”

Through Count Me In, Nell leads a global movement to help empower women entrepreneurs to help grow their businesses.  Count Me In’s Make Mine a Million $ Business program reaches women entrepreneurs around the country with a goal to inspire one million women entrepreneurs to reach annual revenues of $1 million in the next decade.

When I asked how these business owners are faring, she said, “I think more people are realizing that hunkering down is not the right way to go. You have to be out there growing your business. And, I’ve seen a lot of people who are going to have a better year than they’ve expected.”

Nell said that for her own organization, “Things are starting to look better.  May and June were tough, so we took on both a strategic growth consultant and a business coach to help us deal with growth issues.  Some people think this is the opposite of what to do, but this makes sure you have the energy and confidence to keep moving forward.  You have to be ready to seize opportunities.”

They changed staffing roles to respond to what clients needed, and during a lapse in live event attendance, they turned their focus to online events and social media. “The limitations, though, are that people are less likely to discuss their fears online where anyone can read it.  So we were excited by the turn-out we saw at an event in Florida last month. We went from very low attendance to now seeing numbers much closer to normal.  It’s really encouraging.”

Nell had invited the attendees to share “What keeps you up at night?” and found that many questioned whether or not they should close their businesses, or how what’s going on with larger corporations will trickle down.  “What we see in the media can be very confusing. There’s this notion that there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way, but the same answer simply does not apply to every company.”

What she advises business owners is to:

• Go back to basics:  “Remember why you’re in business, why you started – what problem did you set out to solve?  Is there a way to do it better?”
•  Stay in touch with your customers.  “Is there a way you can help them more?”
• Learn more about collections.  “Learn how to deal with your customers on this.  Have the collections conversation early on so you’re less likely to be in a bad situation.”

And, take a vacation.  “You have to recognize that there are limits to what you can do to control what’s going on around you.  You should recharge, relax and refocus.  Take a break; spend time with your family.  It can help your business and set an example for your customers and employees.  We need to remember that life drives the economy; not the other way around.”

You can learn more about Count Me In and Make Mine a Million $ Business at www.makemineamillion.org, and you can find Nell Merlino on Twitter @nellmerlino.

If you have a story on what has helped your company in this economic environment, please e-mail me at marcy@openforum.com or follow me on Twitter @marcyshinder.

For additional opportunities that can help you grow your business, I invite you to visit OPEN’s new Web resource for practical information on government contracting: OPEN For Government Contracts.

Photo credit:  Linda Russell