Betsy Wood Knapp is an angel investor, philanthropist, and founder and CEO of BigPicture Investors LLC, her third entrepreneurial venture. She's chair of the board of Kreido Biofuels Inc. and chairs the $970 million UCLA Foundation. She's also the founder of the inaugural Knapp Innovation, Creativity & Knowledge (KICK) Conference for Women, held at UCLA on Jan. 22. The first-time event drew more than 300 attendees, and a powerful slate of speakers who are corporate executives or run their own multimillion-dollar companies. WomenEntrepreneur.com caught up with Knapp at the conference to glean her expert advice on growing a business... Continue Reading »

A majority of female workers (64 percent) consider reducing or eliminating piles on their desks a top priority this year, according to a survey conducted for Office Depot by MARC Research. The survey also revealed that disorganization commonly leads to lost time (47 percent), meeting tardiness (16 percent) and missed deadlines (14 percent.) With that information in hand, Office Depot has added a Get Organized tab to its Facebook page, which includes tips from the National Association of Professional Organizers. The tips are specially timed for January, which NAPO has designated as "Get Organized Month."... Continue Reading »

Debbie Augustine is an entrepreneur with an award-winning, 40-person advertising and marketing agency, Augustine & Associates. Her husband's her COO, and they juggle that responsibility with 2-year-old twin girls. But that's not the topic of today's story. Somehow, Augustine has managed to sandwich in a sideline e-commerce business called Sendapantrygram.com. The nice but slightly naughty site offers up red, lacy panties accompanied by a sexy but discreet message. Augustine says it's the perfect gift for the perfect guy on Valentine's Day (only 26 shopping days left this year). The product gets rave reviews, both from the women who send them... Continue Reading »

What happens to your business if you and your spouse divorce? Will the company go bust? That could very easily happen, warns Beth Wood, an assistant vice president at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. "If a company is owned by a couple, a divorce can paralyze the business and create divided allegiances among employees and customers," Wood says. "Often, a divorce can force the owners to sell the business, with proceeds being divided by the parties involved." And yet, the majority of business owners--60 percent--don't have a plan in place to "divorce-proof" their company, according to a research study... Continue Reading »

OFM has been on the cutting edge of the office/school furniture industry since Abel and Barbara Zalcberg founded it in 1995. Abel, the CEO, had been working in the industry for years. He initially recognized the market opportunity for a furniture company that could deliver the goods faster by keeping inventory in stock. That way, orders could be shipped the same day they were received. The concept was grounded in customer service. It remains the company's guiding principle to this day, and is in large measure the reason for the company's success. "If you give people customer service, it doesn't... Continue Reading »

Mary Cantando knows that women entrepreneurs learn and grow from sharing advice and counsel with one another. That's why she started The Woman's Advantage Calendar, to provide 365 days of inspirational advice from successful women business owners from around the world. Quotes from the calendar--now in its third year--appear daily on WomenEntrepreneur.com. More than 3,500 women from around the world submitted their advice to The 2010 Woman's Advantage Shared Wisdom Calendar. Here's a preview of the calendar's contents. Cantando has dubbed the following, "Top 10 Ideas to Give Women Entrepreneurs the Edge in 2010." "Focus on moving... Continue Reading »

With a new decade dawning, the rush is on to evaluate the past decade and make predictions about the future. IBISWorld doesn't disappoint. The industry research firm has identified the best- and worst-performing industries in the past decade--based on revenue projections--and its predictions for the industries expected to explode in the coming decade. The top performer during the past decade is Voice Over Internet Protocol providers (VoIP). Since VoIP started posting revenue in 2002, revenue growth accumulated by an astronomical 179035.8 percent. IBISWorld predicts that VoIP will continue as the No. 1 performer in the coming decade. But IBISWorld... Continue Reading »

It's hardly news that women are a potent force in the U.S. economy, starting new businesses at twice the rate of their male counterparts. But a new study by Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute indicates that women-owned companies will account for as many as 5.5 million new U.S. jobs by the year 2018. What's more, the institute believes that women business owners will transform the workplace of tomorrow into what it says will be a "far more inclusive, horizontally managed environment." The Guardian Life Index: What Matters Most to America's Small Business Owners compiles information from... Continue Reading »

Julie Idlet was appalled when she started reading article after article about childhood obesity, early-onset diabetes and even heart problems resulting from American children's sedentary lifestyles. Idlet, a volunteer coach for the Harvard University cycling team, came across a flood of such articles while recovering from a bout of pneumonia in 2004. Ordered to stay on the couch for a week, she decided to write nutrition plans for the cycle team's upcoming season. But as she began researching nutrition online, she learned about the crisis in children's health. To Idlet, who rode 30 miles daily before work and on weekends,... Continue Reading »

The Make Mine a Million $ Business Race is showing America that women can be a potent force when they set out to grow their companies, creating economic engines that employ people and pump money into the economy. Of the top 25 businesses in the year-long race, says Nell Merlino, creator of the Make Mine a Million $ Business program, "revenue is up 30 percent in this economy, and their rate of employment is up by 86 percent. "I think the message is that, in this economy, the focus needs to be on people who can create jobs." That... Continue Reading »