Sharon McRill: $10,000 to Start a Business

Sharon McRill is a corporate drop out as well as a women entrepreneur. Sharon used the misfortune of being laid off from a corporate job to become an entrepreneur. I am not certain that Sharon runs her business from her home or did initially, but I imagine that is a good guess due to the low initial start up of amount. Sharon took $10,000 from her severance package and has become a successful entrepreneur. Sharon has found a niche in the Ann Arbor area. She provides a concierge service to people whose lives are too busy. Sharon will do everything from walk a dog to organize a trip. The service she provides works great since most households have both adults working. Sharon is part of the 69% of women who own service or retail related businesses. I am in an entrepreneurship class at EMU and in our class discussions; many budding entrepreneurs had some of the same concerns as Sharon when it comes to borrowing money. Sharon did not want to borrow money initially. She did not want to feel like she owed someone. This was a concern of many of my classmates. Sharon is now at the point where she is ready to seek financially help. This is a positive in Sharon’s business because she is growing at a rate of 40%. Sharon will be franchising her business The Betty Brigade. One of the most important things I learned from Sharon’s interview is that you must network. Sharon was speaking to a client on an initial meeting and was able to potentially get financing for her business. Sharon also has her business in such a good place, she can shop for the best financing instead of having to beg for it. Good luck Sharon!

Sharon McRill has been very profitable in providing intangible service to her customers. Betty Brigade focuses on skills that they excel at and provides these skills, time and energy to customers who need help with common chores who do not have the time to do these on their own. It would seem that there would never be a need for this service and people would just do these household chores on their own, but this just shows how businesses can be successful in just about any area. Today we are living very busy and hectic lives and people really need help with common tasks that they cannot spend time on. They cover everything from pet care if you have a family vacation and need someone to watch your animals to business moving and providing organizational skills and plans that will help make your move least stressful. I am interested to know if Sharon went to school for event planning or just has expertise in this area from her own past experience, I also ask what other areas they plan to offer services in. in our country today people are relying more on technology and computers to do the work for them and with the growing trend of obesity people are also becoming more lazy and more dependent on others to take care of chores for them. She has been very successful in filling the niche with her specialized services to the public. When I went to the webpage I noticed you can start your own Betty Brigade and the owner will contact you at a convenient time for yourself. This shows her care about the growth and success of her company and it this also comes with a very personal service. It’s always interesting to see ideas for new businesses and how successful they can be if your are passionate and involved in them.

Wow! This idea is very exceptional and had a very low business start up fees. With a great personality which Sharon shows in this interview there is no wonder why her company grows 40% a year. She is very personable and being an entrepreneur is definitely in her gene make up. With her gloom of losing her corporate job this was such a wonderful turn around for her. She did work out of her home and was able to grow into an office space. She was able to hire employees and from the website states that you can start your own Betty Bridgade from your house. With this she is also growing almost by franchising which can help current unemployed patrons. However, being a stereotypical woman type industry with organizing and concierge service are there many male employees? The business’ that do call for your services are they mostly male dominated or female driven? Being in Ann Arbor do you think this has helped your business? Is this business catered to the types of business that are based in Ann Arbor? With all the services that you offer is finding reliable employees with transportation hard or easy? This idea that you have came up with seems fantastic to stay at home moms to work and earn some money along with being able to be with their kids. Are employees considered contract employees and only work so many hours a week or do you offer full time employment of Monday – Friday guaranteed 40 hours a week? With the economy being on a downward slope is this considered a luxury item for home services and are you still able to grow? Overall, your idea is fantastic and the enthusiasm you have is very heart felt and catchy. Good Luck in the future of your business. Yvonne Mroz

It is interesting to see the evolution that a business experiences from the point of being an idea to being a working machine. Sharon McRill really exemplifies how individuals utilize their skills of creativity and innovation to form a business. She recognized that the barriers to entry in the service industry are low, so she was able to make a low investment for a creative dream. I think that this trend is very active right now. Since many large companies and businesses are laying off qualified and educated individuals, they are using their skills to create their own firms. It is great to see how McRill slowly implemented business tactics that improved her efficiency. It is interesting that she slowed the cash flow cycle down in order to make the billing process more efficient. I think from a managing standpoint it becomes hard to keep track when money is constantly coming in and out. I believe that McRill makes a good point that sometimes you need to delay payment in order to keep financial records organized and manageable. She even manipulated her cash flow cycle in order to pay for necessities for her business. This is a great point to examine, because the cash flow cycle should be harnessed to benefit the goals and objectives for your developing company. McRill really did an excellent job by pre-selling her services at a discount (to incise purchases) in order to gain money without expense in labor and supplies. She explains how after the business developed she was able to eliminate this form of cash flow management, and utilize expedited bank loans and even private investors. It is interesting to see how investors focus on companies like Sharon’s that have been self sufficient on very little initial investment. It is encouraging for people who aspire to own a small business, that one is rewarded for starting at the very bottom and working to a point that you are seeing an annual 40% growth. Jared O’Dell