SCORE a big hit!!!

NEED HELP????? Call your local SCORE chapter! SCORE stands for Service Corps of Retired Executives. This should be a must see site for anyone just starting a business. They offer everything from FREE business classes to templates you just fill out for business plans etc.
    FREE!!FREE!!FREE!! Free is good when you are a new business...SCORE is an all volunteer organization. It's made up of both working and retires businessmen, executives, CEOs and the like.  SCORE is a branch of the SBA. (Small Business Administration)
I can not stress enough what a great program SCORE is! It sure helped me out! When we bought our first restaruant in Cope, Colorado- I had no idea of what kinds of records to keep, what forms I needed to get my tax ID numbers, and no idea where to go once I did get the information. With just a phone call, the SCORE chapter in Denver became my one-stop-shop! I also even had  a mentor!

Katy & Vernon Keel

  Washington County is in the middle of the sand hills. A lot like Regan, ND! The WCED contacted SCORE and brought in a 'Mentor' to talk to the business community. We were shown how to have productive brainstorming, taught networking skills, (waaaaaaayyy back then, social media didn't even exist!), basic business planning, co-branding and other valuable information. I have used all I learned from SCORE repeatedly.

   Once I became at least somewhat computer literate, I was able to use the internet to take FREE business classes from both the SCORE and SBA sites. One of the best ones was record-keeping.

The Bismarck-Mandan SCORE # is 701-328-5861   The address is 700 E Main, Bismarck  

Minot SCORE # 701-852-6883
Rapid City, SD SCORE # 605-394-1707
    http://www.score.org/  offers FREE  online classes in Marketing your business, How to motivate employees, Financial planning for your new business, Social media how-to's and more.
   The SCORE site also has FREE templates for you to print off for Business plans, Financial planning, Start-up costs, Balance sheets, Bank loan requests, Sales projections, Cash flow, Profit & loss and many others that you may need along the way.

   SCORE has all sorts of information on grants (http://www.grants.gov/ is one), venture capital, small business loans etc. Please note-the SBA and SCORE do NOT give grants, they help you FIND them!

  One of the great things about SCORE is that with just a single phone call you can arrange to meet with a mentor personally for help. You can also have a mentor out to speak to your group...as a community round-table- Boy or Girl Scouts-Schools-business leaders- Whatever your needs...they will come. It's a really great feature!

  Bismarck-Mandan SCORE   http://www.bisman.scorechapter.org/

     http://www.sba.gov/ is another great site. The SBA has links for FREE online small business training, starting a business, financing your venture, business law and more. http://www.sba.gov/ also has a link to great site that focuses on small business resources from the IRS. Don't let the word IRS scare you off...it's just good information!

    Another good site for FREE  business classes is http://www.u.about.com/On this site you can learn at your own pace with classes in Powerpoint, writing computer programs, simple desktop publishing, basic business skills and much, much more.

   I hope this information helps somebody else! Good luck!

Katy

Only in North Dakota....

        I was at work today and we were talking amongst ourselves about current events in the UK. Thinking to 'test' one of the youngsters ...I sagely asked her "What does the UK stand for?" And she promptly said THE UKRAINE!....Only in North Dakota would that be an acceptable answer!
       Which brings us to my own son....We had quizzed him at the dinner table
                  Us:  Where do Germans live?
                  Him: Germany
                  Us: Where do the French live?
                  Him: France
                                                   and so on.......until.....
                 Us: Where do the polish live?
                               And bless his little heart- with all the disgust only a pre-teen can muster- he looked at me like I was born a mayonnaise farm and said-
                 Him: DDDDUUUUUHHHHH, the North Pole!
Katy

Waitressing my way to the White House!

     I am seriously considering WAITRESSING my way to the White House. 

    

       For those of you who know me, you know this isn't just idle talk.That’s right, the big house on the hill. My goal is to prove you can get a job where ever you go. No matter what.

         I tend to get a little pissy (OK, maybe a lot pissy) when ever President Obama gets on the television and says WE the people need to find a way to provide more jobs for the unemployed.  I don’t really think it’s a matter of creating jobs, but more a matter of being willing to work at whatever job is at hand. As a small business owner my self, I resent that attitude that it’s only Tech or high paying industries that anybody wants.  Mr. Obama had a woman on TV once that said she couldn't find a job. It was implied that we need to find a way to creat a job for her. (and others like her that are out of work) My beef is; she could get a job if she really wanted one. It probably wouldn’t pay what she normally is used to, and might not be what she feels she is good at, but none the less–there are jobs out there. I personally feel it’s matter of survival of the fittest.
     Greed will keep you from getting what you want when you think you need it. A simple willingness to do whatever it takes, makes it possible to take the next step to getting back on track.
   I was taught that ‘any job was a good job, so long as it's a job well done and keeps a roof over your head’. My grandpa told me that. And it's as relevent today as it was in the 30's. What ever happened to pride in a job well done? Are we such a self-entitled people that we would rather lose our homes, than do a job that we might consider beneath us? I tell ‘ya what, I have taken some jobs that I maybe didn’t like or were way outside my comfort zone, but my kids were fed, warm and happy! And that was all that mattered at the time. Plenty of time while I slept to figure a way back out and to the top!
    Listening to the people around me, my own peers included, the general attitude seems to be ‘Why should I go be a clerk when I am a computer whiz?’  or ‘Why get off un-employment when I’m making more than a different job?’
How about PRIDE? Or SELF-RESPECT? Or how about setting a great example for your children to follow? We have plenty of friends who have been laid-off, and won’t even consider a different type of employment, that have the nerve to get pissy when their own kids refuse to get a job because it’s ‘not what they want’. Well, we all started somewhere! Our grand-parents and great-grandparents would be ASHAMED of us. They built this country into what it is with just their dreams and plain old hard work. How many of us have Grand-parents that walked (gasp!) miles just to be a day laborer during the depression???
     Let’s use the Hospitality industry as an example…..I am well aware that the first thing people think of when you mention restaurant work is a) fast food or b) bus-boy. That’s not the way it is. True story- I know a lady in Kansas that is upper-management at a KFC. After bonuses, matching 401k, salary and insurance benefits she makes over 100,000 A YEAR!  Managing and motivating people is the same whether you're in an office or in the trenches! It’s the perceived social stigma that goes with the food industry that makes some people too good to give it a whirl. I my self have waitressed off and on for years and have owned my own restaurants to boot.  Just working part-time at a truck stop you can easily top the 40,000+ mark a year. I know a lady in Longmont, CO that makes almost 200 bucks A DAY! in 6-8 hour shifts. That’s way more than most people I know make regularly. Not to mention the personal freedom that comes with work in hospitality. It’s an industry that favors the worker. Yea, sometimes it’s cruddy work- but where else can you take time off with a moments notice? In hospitality it’s very easy to trade a shift with someone, or pick up extra ones if you need it. You can’t do that in an office job! Who would the accounting etc  if you just took the day off?
     Hospitality is more than what you see in the cafes. It’s a huge multi-billion dollar industry that encompasses everything from hotels to cafes to airlines & tourism. It’s all the unseen people that make your experience a pleasant one when you go on a trip, out to dinner, to a museum or state park and so on. Think about it. 
     I am thinking that if I waitressed my way to the White House, it would prove a point and make a statement at the same time. I had the opportunity to travel all the states when I was  younger and there was never a town I came to that I didn’t get a job when I tried.
     Once again I would be willing to go town to town on the way from North Dakota to Washington DC. I am willing to just stop at random, find a job, work until I have enough money to go a little further down the line, and do it again. There IS work to be had. And I for one, am NOT afraid to get my hands dirty.
   I went back to work at a place that I freely admit I am not thrilled about. I like the people I work with, I like my customers, just not the place in general. No particular reason for it. Just not thrilled. IT'S A JOB!! And I am fourtunate to work in an indusrty I have always genuinely enjoyed. But the fact is, with fuel so high and health insurance premiums skyrocketing,  we needed to off set some expense on the farm and the money also helps support my endevor to spread the word about small towns and opportunities in them! I drive a lot!
I know that I could get me there and back, cover my expenses and probably send some money home to boot. How’s that?!

In the end, "NO" is just a word! There is always a way if you believe in yourself.

Katy