Conducted on one of the hottest days of the year (so far!), a picnic style meal was the refreshing respite from lingering heat. Piling plates with an assortment of subs, savory chips, freshly tossed salads and cold lemonade, the twenty-three attendees tucked into dinner. It was a perfect time to share backgrounds and introduce one another.
Neal Lubow, owner of Ideas by the Hour and co-founder of AHB prepared to facilitate the evening’s discussion. The main presentation began once all were settled in with Gloria's home-made pie and hot beverages.The presentation began following hand-out distribution. The usual format of the evening meeting was adjusted to facilitate the evening’s conversation. Reflecting on the hand-out content: Your Attributes: Marketing, Sales, Life, attendees were drawn into the holistic approach of the meeting content and encouraged to share their experiences.
Talking points of the conversation allowed members and guests plenty of room to reflect on the direction their businesses were traveling. The meeting had the quality of a cohesive mentoring session. Input from seasoned veterans & newbies provided skills to deal with economic variables and adaptability. Learning about another’s strengths, successes and long-time experiences fostered a valuable and innovative discussion.
More experienced business owners shared their knowledge on growth and changing focus. Blocks of the conversation highlighted the flexibility of Home Business owners
Additionally the importance of networking and retention, not just growing a client base was explored. Relationship building, mentoring one another as well as seeking out groups to extend the range of service proved valuable to many in the discussion.
Positive word of mouth, referrals and follow through were all components of the evening’s conversation. These items were fleshed out over the course of the evening, as was the importance of innovation and intuition.All acknowledged creativity and the ability to problem solve is a common thread across the range of home business owners. Several attendees were in agreement on a key question addressed in the hand-out: Are Sales and Marketing natural to you? A few folks commented they felt this would be an important area on which to focus individual attention.
Experienced Home Business Owners encouraged refining focus, finding a niche and making life’s work art. Becoming comfortable in self-marketing and promotion came with ease as focus became clear. An overall consensus was reached: finding a way to uncomplicate processes in both work and life was a valuable practice.Neal finalized the meeting with this summation: the group ‘owned’ valuable insight and encouragement while traversing building a home business. Sharing, relationship, mentoring and advising one another is a key component of the Association of Home Business.
The next AHB meeting will be held on June 19th, 2008 from 6-9 pm. Guest speaker will be Joe Rettke, owner of The Missing Link, 7215 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97213. (503 740 3539). Joe will address how he grew his business from a one-man transportable repair service to a brick and mortar business with international scope incorporating e-Bay as a business tool.Feel free to leave your comments about our meetings here. Or follow the link to the AHB home page for an overview of AHB and it’s members. Registration for the next meeting, address, maps and other pertinent information are available on the website.
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