The Entrepreneurista- "Clutches and Cashmere"
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
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Last week, HerCampus Emmanuel welcomed Molly Fedick to the HerCampus family as a recurring blogger about life after graduation, starting a new business and surviving the city of Boston as a working girl! Here is Molly's first blog: Clutches and Cashmere!Clutches and Cashmere
Before I get into the logistics of starting a business, I must first expound upon the benefits of always keeping an arsenal of friends with awesome real jobs around--namely, friends who will send you presents when you feel on the brink of crawling under your covers and never coming out. Because when you’re starting a business, you need all the pick-me-ups you can get.This morning was one of those AM’s where everything seems to go wrong--not only did I have no milk for my cereal, I was also feeling the effects of a night spent soaking my sheets in nervous sweat over what seems to be a never-ending stream of issues and problems to figure out regarding my business--agghhh! Yesterday I found out my business checks had been returned to the sender--for no apparent reason. I need those checks in order to accept payments online, and the website is launching in two weeks, and my banker is MIA...seriously, when I decided to start this seemingly fun business, I didn’t think I would be chasing down checks!So, after stumbling into my office around 10, sans make-up and sans straightened hair--oh...I think I definitely left my straightener on...Just ran back to my apartment...yup. It was on.Finally back in the office. And, after freaking out about my milk, my apartment burning down, and, oh--how I will make money--I must say, coming into work and seeing a big UPS box was a pleasant surprise. Inside the box? A wrap-yourself-up-in-this-cozy-cashmere-sweater piece of apparel, and a black Olivia Harris clutch. Emma, the gift-giver of all things holy (ie, clothes and accessories), works for a fashion PR firm in New York and regularly scores swag like this. The fact she sent me anything at all was well beyond the call of friend duty (I mean, why wouldn’t you keep this stuff for yourself?!), but it was exactly what I needed to get me through the day.You’re probably wondering what exactly I do that is causing so much craziness and stress--so much, in fact, friends in other cities send me presents for no reason at all. My business, The Babysitters of Boston, is the first invitation-only online babysitting network--think of it as the Gilt Groupe of childcare. Every babysitter is a college student and pre-screened, and both families and babysitters must be approved to join. Sound like a billion-dollar idea? Yeah--I think so, too!I’ve been at this insane attempt at entrepreneurship since mid-summer 2010, a few months after graduating from BU, and the learning curve has been more of a vertical line. Even with two web designers who know what they’re doing (hey, Nick and Peter!), a programmer (what up, Josiah!), an accountant (hey, hey Lauren!) and an illustrator (ciao, Stephania!), I still feel like I’m winging it 99% of the time. I mean, did I think I’d spend hours entering client contact information into a CRM? Did I even know what a CRM is?! (By the way, it is a customer relationship manager. I’ll stop there before I put you to sleep.)In this blog, I will explain the ins and outs of starting your own business right out of college--the ups (making your own schedule! Being in complete control of your career!) and downs (no money! Maintaining discipline!). I am the only one of my friends “doing my own thing,” and truly, it can be scary being the “lone wolf” (with rhinestone-encrusted collar, obviously). But here’s the thing--despite being alone amongst my peers, this is definitely what I am supposed to be doing--it just feels right.Oh, and the cashmere sweaters and leather clutches don’t hurt, either.If you would like to fill out a babysitter profile and join in on the fun, visit The BofB Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Babysitters-of-Boston/108984752494111?ref=tsor shoot me an e-mail at molly@thebabysittersofboston.com<mailto:molly@thebabysittersofboston.com>
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