hwy120

Women Get Down to Business Plan

Randi Burton is developing a plan -- a business plan.

And it's already making a world of difference for the entrepreneur, who has made a business out of sewing pockets onto magicians' and clowns' clothing.

The business isn't exactly a service you'd find at the corner market. In fact,it was something mostly fed by word of mouth.

But that's all changed lately, as Burton, a La Crescenta resident, works her way through a six-month "Entrepreneur Bootcamp" hosted by the Women's City Club of Pasadena.

So far so good for Burton, one of the more than two dozen women -- and one man -- who fill the class every other week in Pasadena.

"I'm getting more in demand," said Burton, who works out of a studio in Arcadia. "Now I have a Web site. I've made brochures that outline what I do. It's really taught me how to focus my marketing, which I didn't know how to do."

Before, Burton admits she was just "winging it."

Not an uncommon story for Donna Chaney, a financial planner who helped establish the bootcamp after she and members of the club agreed to get one one going.

They'd had a luncheon speaker series. But Chaney and others wanted something more active -- workshops in which members could actually get something done.

So since July, a group of lawyers, marketing people, pocket sewers and others have come to develop a business plan.

Chaney and fellow instructor Lilli Cloud -- who runs a business in personal

branding -- are getting a first-hand look at how the economy is prompting many to take another look at business for themselves.

About a third of the students always wanted to start a business. Others are reluctant but want to learn how to create a plan, and the remaining third are using the class to reinvent themselves and revamp their skills, Chaney said.

Ultimately, developing a plan is about structure and empowering fledgling entrepreneurs to not shortchange themselves, Chaney said.

"It's about how to interpret the numbers, and how to use the numbers to help their business -- the building blocks," Chaney said.

With a group of participants from all kinds of backgrounds, the students use their professional experiences to learn from each other.

Burton, who took a chance on her business future after leaving a teaching job in professional education, is learning.

She just published a book based on a lecture she gave on the importance of a magician's wardrobe. And she now knows who her target audience is.

"This is really opening a new world for me," Burton said.

Wireless Business Solution Zee Tawasha