0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

24 ● 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business
and donates its profits to organizations helping women. Juara Skincare
makes and sells Indonesian-inspired complexion products. Raffaele is a
makeup artist who sells a line of concealer and foundation. The only rule
is that members can’t compete directly with each other. In fact, they look
for ways to promote each other’s products as well as share distribution
channels and sales reps.
Raffaele said sometimes members benefit by asking if a vendor is reliable
or whether a boutique pays its bills on time. “We are all looking to increase
our distribution channels at a time when the channels have changed.”
Metta Murdaya, cofounder and owner of Juara Skincare, which sells
skin and body care products containing ingredients found in Indonesia
and elsewhere, said she looks forward to the monthly gatherings because
they “keep everyone energized.”
“The one thing we have in common is that we are female entrepreneurs
in the New York beauty space,” said Murdaya. “We meet to share
resources, sales reps, distributors, and press contacts.” She said they’ve also
held successful joint marketing events such as opening temporary “popup”
stores. (Juara provided the first prize for our “Great Ideas” contest.)
Two Minnesota-based entrepreneurs have taken the peer-to-peer
counseling model a step further by serving as vice presidents of each
other’s companies.
Michelle Massman owns a marketing and event management firm in
Minnesota. Every year, she produces a popular women’s trade show. She
also worked with me to round up sponsors for my book promotion tour and
crafted our social media strategy. One of her other clients is Shaun Johnson.
Johnson is the founder and co-owner of Tonic Sol-fa, LLC, an entertainment
company that owns and manages Tonic Sol-fa, a super successful
all-male a cappella group. Tonic Sol-fa performs at sold-out concerts,
sells thousands of CDs and song downloads, and produces popular holiday
specials for PBS. I attended their holiday concert in Minneapolis and
it was fantastic. A blizzard the day before did not stop fans from attending
the concert.
“When Shaun and I first met, we were inches away from being totally
burnt out,” Massman told me. “The first conversation we had lasted three
and a half hours. After that, we started looking at each other’s companies
in a different light. It is great to have someone to help you dig in and work
on new strategies.”