My goals...

I am going to put myself out there and take accountability for when I meet/do notmeet/exceed my expectations. I am going to list my goals and what I plan to do to accomplish those goals. As of this moment, other than securing a home, I want to focus on my cake baking and decorating business. I ordered my business cards yesterday and should have them in the mail by the end of next week. OvernightPrints.com has a special that ends 11/30/07. If you buy 100 single sided cards, they are free of charge. You only pay shipping and handling. My cost was $9.66. I dont think that was too bad of a price. This site was easy enough for me to design a card I will be proud to pass off to others.

In order to promote my business:

• My sis/realtor and I will attend happy Hour events on Fridays and network



• I will pass my cards to friends and family and tell them to pass the word



• I will put a few business cards on the networking board in the gym I belong to



• I will bake cakes and give them to my friends to take to work to share with coworkers



• I will bring a new cake to work once a week to allow co-workers to test my product



• I will have flyers made and put them on cars located outside the malls and shopping centers (Perfect for the upcoming holidays)

I aso intend to perfect a new cake recipe every week and decorate a new cake once a week to tweek my piping skills. I am going to get on the ball and get the ball rolling!! I will let you guys know how each of my projects end with either pics or a review. Stay tuned for updates. I also intend to host a contest of some sort on this blog, where the winner will receive my always requested carrot-cake :-)

Entrepreneurship...

I am starting a business. Yep, I have decided to start a business with my brother as my business partner. This isn't something we just 'thought' of this past weekend. Nope. This is something we have been playing around with for a while. He would throw ideas out and none of his ideas ever 'spoke' to me. That is, not until we both came up with a home repair/home cleaning/yard care/possible commercial cleaning business. Yep. That's the business my brother and I will operate together. Oh!! Don't think I am forgoing my cake boutique. Nope. That's not until 5-6 years, remember?

Well, I am in the process of coming up with a name for the business. Once I have a catchy, yet creative name, I can THEN begin to create fliers and business cards. Now, I have been trying to figure out a name for the past 2-3 weeks. Yep, I know it's pitiful. But, I am very anal when it comes to doing things properly. With that being said, I will not choose a name for just because purposes. I am looking for name that will stand out from the crowd.

I am not too concerned with start up capital, because in the business we are going into, start up money is pretty inexpensive. We will simply buy what we need as we move along. We will both remain employed with the company with which we are currently employed, and funnel money we earn from our business back into the business for advertising and the such.

Research. I have been researching and have come across great tips and motivation for starting a business as well as saving money. I have also come across great articles such as This one . This article discuss several women who have overcome debt. It is very encouraging and includes a 6month comparison of their debt and retirement savings. This forum here, which is a continuance of the original article, has great sub forums on saving money, budget grocery shopping, investing, insurance and many others, all from female perspectives!!! I thought this was great. Okay, I know I rambled a bit in this post, but the gist of what was posted was to let you guys know, I plan on starting a business with my brother. I am STILL trying to come up with the perfect name, and I am always researching better ways to SAVE!!!

Before I forget, give a shout out to Dimples for reaching her emergency fund goal!! Go Dimp's!!