Buzz Marketing Group CEO Tina Wells knows a bit about being a young person with big dreams of launching your own business. At just 18, she launched her company to tap into the needs and interests of young people like her. Twelve years later, Wells and BMG have been recognized as leaders in the industry, having been featured in BLACK ENTERPRISE, Essence and Inc; winning the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year award; and boasting more than 9,000 young people who serve as "buzzSpotters" around the country. Now, Wells brings her expertise to BE NEXTERs on BlackEnterprise.com with her weekly column filled with tips, advice and feedback for young entrepreneurs. See her on our site each week! And follow her at on Twitter @fashiontw. For her first post, Wells offers up 10 Tips for Young Entrepreneurs.
Buzz Marketing Group CEO Tina Wells knows a bit about being a young person with big dreams of launching your own business. At just 18, she launched her company to tap into the needs and interests of young people like her. Twelve years later, Wells and BMG have been recognized as leaders in the industry, having been featured in BLACK ENTERPRISE, Essence and Inc; winning the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year award; and boasting more than 9,000 young people who serve as "buzzSpotters" around the country. Now, Wells brings her expertise to BE NEXTERs on BlackEnterprise.com with her weekly column filled with tips, advice and feedback for young entrepreneurs. See her on our site each week! And follow her at on Twitter @fashiontw. For her first post, Wells offers up 10 Tips for Young Entrepreneurs.more
KNOW YOUR MARKET: Knowledge is power. The more you know about something, the further your business will go and grow. For me, one of the biggest keys to my current success is understanding the teen and tween market more than anyone else. Every day I spend time getting to know this market even more. The learning is never done.more
CREATE A PLAN: My dad always said if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I constantly tell myself this as I begrudgingly write and rewrite business plans. Of course you may deviate from the plan (we all do), but it’s important to at least know where you’re going and what you’re going to do to get there.more
CREATE YOUR PROFESSIONAL TOOLKIT: When you’re just starting out, you may not be able to afford a fancy office, assistants, or email marketing campaigns. But companies like Grasshopper.com (a virtual phone service), Regus.com (virtual office space) and Emailstationery.com (email marketing) allow you to build your toolkit on a very small budget.more
BUILD YOUR NETWORK: Whether you’re opening up your own online boutique or opening up a store, you need a powerful network of people to support you. Networks take time to build. Join community organizations, networking groups, and local religious centers.more
CONNECT WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS: You have to do your own research to figure out where your customers are, what their needs are, and how your products or services fit into their lives. Until you can afford to do sophisticated research, sites like SurveyMonkey.com and PollDaddy.com allow you to create questionnaires to send to potential customers. Take advantage of these free services. But once you know what they’re looking for, it will be easier to figure out how to connect with them.more
SET REALISTIC TIMELINES: The first step is always building your plan, but the follow up consists of timelines and tactics. What are you going to accomplish in three months? Three weeks? Applications like Evernote allow you to creatively store ideas—even thoughts scribbled on napkins!more
ALWAYS BE INNOVATING: We’re living in one of the most technologically innovative times in history. We can see how quickly our lives have changed because of Facebook, Twitter, and so many other platforms. Your products and services need to quickly adapt as well.more
DEVELOP YOUR FAB FIVE: Your Fab Five is a group of entrepreneurs or thought leaders you rely on personally for advice. It should be a group of people who are personally invested in you—not people you email, looking for mentorship. These are the people who will tell you the truth at all times.more
CREATE BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE: This is something I’m still working towards. I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was 16 years old, and only in recent years have I started to understand what true balance means. I have a very big family (five siblings, 60+ cousins…) and spending time with them is very important to me. The concerts, recitals, graduations, impromptu card games…all of these moments are important to me, and there’s no business success that can replace these moments. Besides spending time with your family, find special things to help you balance yourself. For me it’s definitely prayer and journaling. When we quiet ourselves, sometimes we’re blessed with brilliant ideas.more