Our Victoria event at Silk Road Tea Co. was a pleasure, and we’re grateful to those who came as well as to Daniela, Silk Road’s co-owner, who made us feel welcome and graciously and efficiently organized seating and tea (both hot and iced) for everyone in attendance. I got a chance to chat with Daniela beforehand and learned that they’ve been in business sixteen years, and like so many of the women we talk to, grew the business very gradually in an effort to keep their financial risk manageable. They’ve recently expanded their shop into the space next door to their original location, doubling their floorspace. (Unfortunately we don’t have pictures, as their products are light-sensitive.)
Our favourite part of every book event is the question and answer period that follows our always-brief introductory remarks and reading — and this was no exception. We fielded questions from how to maximize the payoff when you earn a little press coverage, to how to manage a business that has snuck up on you over time (a common issue for consultants, who may take on a freelance contract or two, only to find themselves a few years later working full-time on a variety of contracts, without having created anything resembling a business plan.
It strikes me that perhaps we should bring the Q&A format to this here blog… so how about it? Any questions you’d like us to answer here? Post ‘em in the comments and we’ll do our best to tackle them.
3 responses so far ↓
1 kim // Jun 23, 2008 at 1:51 pm
hi gals-
i purchased your book a couple months ago and have found it so helpful as i write my business plan for a new venture i’m starting. one of the reasons is that its written in such a way that speaks to me like a friend not some business textboook! i was just wondering what do you think is more important in generating traffic to a brand new website - paying for SEO or Google AdWords? i’m in the states, not sure if that matters…
thanks for any insight and writing a business book that is actually interesting and easy to read!
2 Victoire // Jun 23, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Just heard about your book on another blog today, and heading out to purchase it tonight! If ever you guys are in the Ottawa area, drop by and say hello! Always love meeting fellow lady entrepreneurs! Also, we’d love to host a reading event similar to the one you held at Silk Roads - keep us mind, or let us know if ever you’re in O-town!
Regine
3 Lauren // Jun 24, 2008 at 12:14 am
Kim: Thanks so much for your kind words! Emira is going to tackle your question later this week. (She’s our resident SEO & AdWords expert, so you’re in good hands there.)
Regine: Hooray! We’d love to come to Ottawa, though we don’t have any immediate plans to hit Ontario. We’ll definitely keep you posted if we make it to your neck of the woods.
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