Three new businesses launched this month by recent graduates of the Women’s Small Business Program, (WSBP). WSBP is one of several programs run by Mercy Connections whose mission is to nurture self-sufficiency through education, mentoring and community. One is a cloth diaper service, another is a floral hair pin company, and the third is fitness retreat service.
Program Coordinator and graduate Ali Marchildon says, ‘WSBP has been teaching women how to write business plans for 22 years. We’ve graduated close to 1500 women, 150 of whom are currently running successful businesses. These three new businesses are opening their doors in the toughest economy since the Great Depression by starting small, designing or bartering for their own websites, keeping low inventory, and basing year one operations out of their homes.’
Cyndi Sullivan graduated from WSBP last fall and is launching Smarty Pants, a cloth diaper service. (http://www.smartypantsvt.com) She is a stay at home mother of three and washed her own diapers for years, as there wasn’t a service available. Her website and video went live last week and the service will begin this summer. Sullivan’s latest blog post states, ‘The days and weeks to come will be filled with preparing our laundry facility. We have chosen to make this business a part of our home. This allows us to keep overhead under control for everyone. But make no mistake. This is no ‘home laundry business’. We’ve got some amazing industrial grade, state-of-the-art in energy efficiency machines that will be delivered to this humble basement of ours in the coming weeks. (In fact ‘ about an hour ago, contracts for the machines were signed and sealed!) We are so excited to choose a system that will give our future clients the kind of diaper service we only dreamed of having.’
Kristin Humbargar owns Posy Pins, LLC, a charming floral hair pin company. Humbargar just completed designing her new website that links her blog, Facebook page and Etsy shop. While still in the middle of writing her plan, a buyer for Garnet Hill ‘friended’ her on Facebook. Things moved forward quickly and her colorful bobby pins were offered in the Growing Up Garnet Hill catalogue for the 2010 holiday and 2011spring seasons. Humbargar came back to her business planning roots last week to speak to the current cycle of WSBP students as part of a graduate panel. While sharing stories of her first year she states, ‘I can’t emphasize how important it is to listen to your customers and follow your product down the path it points to. My daughter’s friends treat their Posy Pins like trading cards. They have so many that I came up with a new product to carry them inâ ¦.a packet full of posies.’ (http://www.prettyontop.com/)
The third business and website launched this month is a mountain bike/yoga retreat service called Single Track Mindfulness. Co-owner Jennie Date finished WSBP in May of 2010 and will be offering her first Vermont retreats this summer. Her new homepage states, ‘Singletrack Mindfulness strives to provide you with a unique experience that combines the fun and freedom of mountain biking with the inner reflection of yoga. Our retreats invite you to be fully present and devote complete attention to self-awareness and personal goals.’ STM full-service retreats feature local organic cuisine along with the guided physical adventure. (http://www.singletrackmindfulness.com)
‘We are always excited to learn of our graduates opening doors,’ says Marchildon. ‘WSBP nurtures a vibrant community of women business owners who network with each other, shop from each other and promote each other. Our latest graduates are making clever and consistent use of social media tools and are finding savvy ways around the challenges of building a business when traditional lending opportunities for start ups are scarce. They know how to take smart risks and have the foundation to see it through and make it happen. This is a particularly exciting month for WSBP graduates and a significant contribution to the growing micro-business community that keeps Burlington alive and well.’
Three new women-owned businesses launch this month
Submitted by tim
on