Monica S. Flores, 10K Webdesign
10K Webdesign, founded in 2004, provides full-service web design and development for green businesses, progressive organizations, and women entrepreneurs in San Francisco and Honolulu.
‘Ah ha’ moment that led to launching the business: : After working for 10 years, I realized that starting my own company would give my family and me more freedom and a bigger ability to make a difference.
Ideal customer/target market: We work with women in business and in leadership at organizations. We prefer to form partnerships and relationships with people who work towards a better world: most of our projects relate to environmental sustainability and green business; women, children, and families; and music, film and the arts.
First customer: We responded to a request for a proposal with a carefully organized bid, and got the job.
Measuring success: We count the successes of our clients as our success. We take benchmark measurements and review the change over time in terms of website visitors, signups and online sales.
Biggest struggle: Developing the internal fortitude to rise to the challenge of running and growing the company. I’ve found great personal challenge in understanding my limitations and learning how to trust in other people. Finding the right kind of people to work on our team is the other side of that struggle: we’ve been fortunate to have very special individuals come to us who are well-recommended and experienced in their fields — their expertise, clarity, and commitment inspire me to do my very best.
Surprise!: I’m most surprised by the wonderful ability we have to know our customers well and to work very intimately with them in developing goals for their business or organization. We count many of our long-term clients as our friends, and we feel directly connected to their success. For many people starting out, their website is their first step towards professionalism, so we feel strongly about doing the best we can to make sure the new website supports the business growth.
Promoting Sales: From the beginning, we’ve believed in spreading our message through personalized relationships, transparency and clarity about our values and our goals. We reach out through blogging, referrals, and person-to-person networking. Through channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, my blogs ASuccessfulWoman.com and GreenBusinessWomen.com and contributing at WomenonBusiness.com and TheGreenGirls.com, we’ve found customers and partners, and we’ve built a flow of referrals for potential clients who match our values and vision.
What you wish you would have known: Cash flow and how to manage business processes. There’s a difference between working “in the business” vs. working “on the business” — while I am a web developer at heart, I’ve had to learn much about finances, reporting, sales, marketing communication and human resources.
What keeps you up at night (business wise!)?: My field is constantly changing and evolving, so to keep my skills sharp I consistently need to understand the technology and learn as much as I can. The web development field changes every year. What is common today may be obsolete in the next generation, so the general attitude I take is to work within existing standards and to support our clients in reaching out and using the best available tools within their budget and timeline.
Ever tempted to throw in the towel and just get a job?: No, I think that the services we offer to our existing customers and our enhanced abilities for upcoming projects mean too much to us and to our clients. We choose to continually work on our customer’s behalf by staying focused, expanding our skill sets, and committing to the business.
Biggest Goal: I’d like to share the knowledge I’ve learned through publishing additional books in 2011. I’ve already written Fifty-one Ways to Build your Community of Clients Online for business owners who want to expand their website, as well as Social Networking for Women in Business and Thirty Steps to Starting your Green Business and my desire is to focus on emerging online tools for fundraising in the non-profit community.
Pricing: For your unit price, understand what it actually costs to create that unit, and then add a 10% to 15% markup. That’s a fair profit and will help you maintain a competitive edge. For service-oriented businesses, you must charge a per-hour or per-project rate that adequately covers your hidden costs like insurance, taxes, overhead, travel, and research time – I estimate that at three times the hourly rate you earned at your previous job.
Funding: We bootstrapped our company and put thousands of dollars on our credit cards. I’ve read that you add up what you think it costs for you to get started. Then double it. Then double it again. That is the amount you’ll need.
There are three steps I recommend for pursuing funding:
1) find paying customers as soon as possible – this gives investors confidence in your method and delivery;
2) create a turnkey type of product, or systematize your offerings so it takes you less time to provide the same quality: think royalties (on items like books or recordings or e-downloads), digital downloads, or any other automated item; and
3) focus on friends and family before soliciting angel or venture capital – everyone will want to see that you’ve committed yourself to the business.
A few good tips: What most helped us as a web design and development company was to meet in our geographic area with other professionals through structured networking like BNI. As we became more established, and worked with others in other regions of the country, we queried our existing customer base to understand what our clients needed, and we asked for referrals to grow organically. In our field, a personal connection makes the biggest difference: we strive to communicate and connect with like-minded people through social media outreach, individual meetings, and group events like conferences and training sessions.
The absolute best part of owning my business is: the freedom to choose how to act, both as an individual worker and as part of a global force for positive social change.
If I had to start over again, I would: clarify my timeline, intentions and measurable goals that I wanted – then I could gain a greater perspective.
I never imagined: the work I do truly makes a difference in people’s lives and livelihood and helps make a better world.
If standing on a rooftop facing crowds of aspiring or struggling small business owners, I would shout: “Hang in there, everyone. Focus on your strengths, envision the possibilities, believe in your ability and achieve your heart’s desire.”
