The Entrepreneurial Spirit
The Harvard Business Review ran an article this summer on How To Start An Entrepreneurial Revolution. How interesting I thought to myself; we have a great group of entrepreneurs here in Philadelphia that are all very active and networked, but are we really creating a revolution? In reading on it was very interesting to hear about other countries and how their government is getting behind entrepreneurs and supporting them for who they are and what they are trying to do. How refreshing; build upon skill sets and knowledge rather than pushing them to be a certain way or provide a certain service to fit the mold. As Rwanda’s president put it, “Entrepreneurship is the most sure way of development.”
Here in Philly experts in their field are stepping out of the mold to start their own companies and provide services they know best. We entrepreneurs are a strong force and growing every day. We are providing quality and necessary services ranging from web design to copy writing and everything in between. As a result of all sharing common goals, and the City of Brotherly Love, we are creating the ecosystem to foster growth and support for entrepreneurial success. In the article, 9 steps are outlined for Creating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, and sure enough, step two is to the shape the ecosystem around local conditions to tailor the suit to fit its own local entrepreneurship dimensions, style and climate. We are doing just that; entrepreneurs in various fields are coworking, there are weekly meet ups to meet the needs of any level of networker, and above all, entrepreneurs are accepted and celebrated for their efforts.
The opportunities for an entrepreneur to be successful in this current market are high. Many companies are seeing the value of outsourcing and slowly starting to open their checkbooks to bring in these expert entrepreneurs to help their business grow. Many groups are also supporting entrepreneurs by hosting coffees, lunches, happy hours, meet ups and conferences to allow for networking, sharing, and learning.
In doing our part to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem, we have been hosting coworking and networking events around the city. Our next event will be on Thursday, January 20th, in Northern Liberties at One Shot Coffee. Here we meet with dozens of other entrepreneurs to work as a community for the day; sharing stories, asking questions, making new introductions, drinking coffee and just enjoying eachother’s company as we meet our work demands.
As a bonus for the new year, we will follow coworking with a Philly Entrep Hapy Hour, starting at 5:30pm at PYT in The Piazza
Please join us for our next coworking day!
Date: Thursday, January 20th
Coworking: starting at 2pm
Location: One Shot Coffee
George Street (and American) behind Liberties Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Come and go as you please; we will be grabbing some food and making business introductions all day!
Happy Hour: starting at 5:30pm
Location: PYT @ The Piazza in Northern Liberties
1015 N @2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
*Parking available on the street or in the free lot located on Germantown Ave on the Northeast side of the Piazza.
Be sure to RSVP here.
The Entourage Summer Reading Guide for Entrepreneurs
As we take in the last few weeks of summer and prep for an ever-busy fall, take some time to relax with some entertaining and educational reads for your business! There’s no better time to invest in your own business than when you can get a breather from your client work. The books below are a great resource for new approaches to entrepreneurship fundamentals to run your business by. Read more
Coworking and Networking at The Piazza
EE Coworking and Networking Days are here to stay in 2010!
We have been working from various wifi spots throughout the city this year, with great turnout at all of our events. Entrepreneurs, business owners, freelancers, and other independents looking to get out of the office and network have been coming together at these events to meet, work, eat, and share business cards. Check out some of our coworkers in our quickie vlog post: http://www.watchuslaunch.com/
This month we are heading to a clean, bright, and friendly cafe in Northern Liberties called Euphoria Cafe. They have great coffee, tea, smoothies, sandwiches, and our personal favorite, iced bubble coffee! Euphoria offers free wifi and a comfortable area for us to all sit together to work and mingle. This cafe is also in the exciting Piazza, surrounded by restaurants, shops, galleries, and of course the big outdoor courtyard with the giant screen TV so you can stick around and watch the Phillies game that night!
If you are committed to evolving your business in 2010, coworking is for you. Entrepreneur’s Entourage’s Coworking events are a great way to get a change of scenery from your home or corporate office and hang in the presence of some of Philly’s brightest entreps. Our group brings together the open share of ideas and the strength of the entrepreneurial community here in Philadelphia across all industries. Our meetup days are informal and a great way to share your business, make connections, get some work done on your laptop, grab a bite to eat, and gain new perspectives.
“The collaboration, feeling of not being alone, and ability to get out of the house without being in a completely public place is why I am a part of these coworking and networking events”- Gloria Bell, owner of Red Stapler Consulting
Please join us for our next coworking day!
Date: Thursday, June 10, 2010 starting at 10am.
Come and go as you please; we will be grabbing some food around 12:30pm, and making business introductions all day!
Location: Euphoria Coffee
1001 N 2nd Street in The Piazza
Philadelphia, PA
Be sure to RSVP here.
Then please tweet that you will be attending, or just follow all of our participant tweets using #EECoworking.
Entrepreneur’s Entourage sponsors Entrepreneur Expo 2010
There has never been a time like the present to start your own business and become successful at what you do best. Entrepreneurship is hot right now. You can major in it at college, you can be your own boss, and you can dictate your own future in this troublesome economy.
We find that our business is starting to lean more towards those wanting to get the word out about their venture, or grow their existing business. Some of the major ways we help these clients is by providing internet marketing campaigns, social media management, research and sales strategy development, website design, and branding.
One great way to get the word out about your business is to network and embrace your local entrepreneurial community. We are doing just that by sponsoring and attending the upcoming Entrepreneur Expo on April 13th in Philadelphia. The Expo will have over 200 attendees as well as 3-4 dozen vendors all taking about their passions and dreams! 
Not only will we be there to share how our business can help others grow, but we will also be giving away a great tool for growing your business and branding – a Flip video camera! 
Our custom designed Flip Mino video camera prize will help you start vlogging and recording all your business successes! So make sure to stop by our booth, share your business ideas, and enter to win the coolest Flip on the market!
More details on the Philadelphia Entrepreneur Expo 2010:
Philly Startup Leaders present The Entrepreneur Expo – Innovation on Display – April 13, 2010 at University of the Arts. This is a showcase of work by entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial community. If you’re an entrepreneur, you will be able to talk about your work and hear about the work of others. If you’re interested in new ideas, new business plans, the uses of new technology, or are simply curious about the creative energy in this region, you’ll have a chance to see and meet those beginning to make a difference.
April 13, 2010 6 pm – 9 pm Solmsson Court, Hamilton Hall University of the Arts Pine & Broad
Get excited about the future. Get excited about the entrepreneurial spirit of Philadelphia. Come to the Entrepreneur Expo. Come and see tomorrow, today.
https://philly-startup-leaders.ticketleap.com/entrepreneur-expo-2010-04-13-2010-18-0
Do You Love What You Do?– If Not, Get Inspired by Coworking!
With Valentines Day just around the corner, we all have *l-o-v-e* on our minds. Whether you’re busy planning your weekend away with that special someone, or planning a night out with friends; Valentine’s Day represents a special time of year where we can reflect on all the loves of our lives, and what better way to do that than attend an EE Coworking and Networking Day in Philadelphia!
Given our hectic work schedules and commitment to a work-life balance, it’s hard to argue that our work which takes up at least 40 hours per week of our lives, is not a major part of who we are. If you are one, sitting miserably in your cubicle right now, reading this blog post, watching the clock tick down to 5:00 (hey, we’ve all been there!), then this post is for you!
Do you love what you do? Does it wake you up in the morning and motivate you through the day? Do you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in your work? Do you have a great idea, but does the fear of going out on your own and forging your own way seem out of reach?
I’m here (as proof) to tell you that it’s possible! If that’s not enough, come out and witness other local entrepreneurial dynamos in action! Bring a laptop, or a notebook and come meet and interact with folks who are working their butts off to make their vision for their business a reality. Come pick our brains, and share your ideas and hear war stories about how we’ve worked to turn a vision into a reality.
The next Philly Coworking and Networking Day will be held on Friday, February 12, 2010 at the TBar on 12th and Sansom.
Take the day off from your cube and commute and come cowork and network with some of Philly’s brightest entrepreneurs and small business owners. There’s no dress code, and no rules; just a group of people spending a few hours of their day getting some work done, collaborating on their thoughts, having a good laugh and truly loving what they do.
Come join us on Friday and get inspired.. we’d L-O-V-E to see you!
Announcing: Coworking and Networking Days in Philly!
- At a desk
- 2 monitors running
- Large coffee resting dangerously close to the keyboard
- USB hub filled to capacity
- Music playing
- IMing with partner as emailing 2 different clients
- 8 Internet tabs and 4 spreadsheets open
- Dog sleeping at your feet…which are still in slippers
Describe your working environment on Thursday, December 10th:
- At a big round table surrounded by great art, hardwood floors and rich burgundy walls
- Hot fresh chai, latte, or coffee in hand, made by someone else
- Engaging in great conversation with an entrepreneur about a new project idea
- Making new connections with local business owners
- Music playing overhead
- Still answering emails and IMing with partners
Interested?
Emily Morgan and Cheryl Amaya of Entrepreneur’s Entourage are!
Entrepreneur’s Entourage will be hosting our first off-site Coworking & Networking Day in Philadelphia! This month’s will be Thursday, December 10th at Double Shots Coffee, located at 211 Chestnut Street in Old City. We will be there starting at 10am, so drop by anytime, open up your laptop, start a conversation, grab some great coffee or a pastry and get some work done…or at least some good networking done! Maybe we can even convince our favorite Double Shots owner, Steve to make us some fresh gingerbread cookies like he did for us today!
Coworking may be a new concept to you, or coworking may be something you are big fan of and are currently supporting in Philadelphia through jelly sessions or established coworking office spaces. Whether you run a virtual or brick and mortar business, coworking not only provides you with an escape from your office for the day but it also facilitates connections and offers opportunities to think and communicate more creatively about your business, bounce ideas off of other entreps and could even lead to new business!
So, bust out of your lonely office for the morning or afternoon and experience a new type of collaborative work environment; Coworking in Center City Philadelphia!
Please RSVP to let us know you will be joining this fabulous group, and check for any updates on the Entrepreneur’s Entourage website as well! Be sure to leave your comments below with any suggestions or feedback you might have on the event.
All day we will be tweeting and blogging to bring you updates about this coworking and networking day. If you are going to share your comments or posts from the event please use #EECoworking.
Keep up with us:
Why we LOVE Google!
I am not ashamed to admit that I have an obsession with Google and all of their fantastic products. I run my businesses through Google, and everyone on my immediate team must have a google account. Whenever we bring on new clients, I encourage them to make the switch to gmail, and find myself continually dishing out the details on why we love it so much. So here, in one place, let me lay it all out.
Gmail. This entire post will be dedicated just to gmail and it’s amazingly user-friendly and smart functionality (maybe we’ll cover other products like Cal and Docs in another post!). If you are not currently using gmail to manage your email, you are missing out and most likely wasting time. From a functional standpoint, perhaps the best feature of gmail is it’s email threading. Never again will you need to scour through email chains to find responses. Gmail appends one email to the next, so long as the subject remains the same. This key feature keeps your correspondence neat, tidy and accessible. And when in doubt, gmail has it’s own google search box at the top for a detailed search of your mailboxes.
In a close second would have to be gmail chat– including v-chat- gmail’s own video chat. We use g-chat literally all day long to communicate. It makes working independently much more interactive. Everyone on the team knows that they can always reach me on g-chat, since my gmail is always open! They recently introduced gmail video chat- which allows you to video chat with other gmail users. This came in very handy this past summer when I was in Maine and my son in NJ! We were able to see and talk to eachother at the push of a button!
So without overly obsessing on gmail, let me just mention a few more key (and mucho useful!) features- most of which you’ll need to manually add through your settings.
- (1) To do lists- this is a new addition. Take your emails and with one click, add them to your to do list, which you can then add comments to, and sync to your google cal!
- (2) Labels- gmail’s answer to folders. Tag emails with as many labels as you like. With one click, find all the emails under that particular label. Want it out of your inbox, just archive it! It takes some getting used to if you are coming from a folder system, but you will see the beauty of it when you can label one email with multiple relevant labels rather than sticking them in just one folder!
- (3) Multiple identities- Add other email addresses (just about any email will work- hotmail, yahoo, work emails, etc) to your gmail account to send messages, receive messages, forward messages. This is a key feature that allows me to keep one inbox with multiple aliases for multiple clients!
- (4) Attachment reminders- Seriously it is smart enough to know that if you mention an attachment in your email and actually forget to attach it, gmail will remind you before you can send it!
- (5) And last but not least- gmail has an UNDO feature! Oh yeah… sent out an email that was totally sent to the wrong person, or said something you had second thoughts about? Right after you hit send, gmail gives you a few seconds to literally undo your msg, as though it was never sent- lifesaver!
Now I’m not saying you need to be as obsessed with gmail as I/we are, but Google definitely deserves some love for this amazingly useful product and their commitment to developing fabulous new tools to make it even cooler!
Feelin the love… Emily
What is a “Virtual Professional?”
Times are changing in our Virtual industry! With more and more highly skilled people out of work, and the concept of virtual work environments becoming more widely accepted; it’s a natural progression within our economy to blend the two into a new hybrid, now termed the “Virtual Professional.”
A Virtual Professional can essentially be described as any creative or technically-skilled professional performing services remotely. Because the terminology is so new, it’s not surprising that we are writing the definition in real-time. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most active VPs within this growing industry:
Graphic Designers- Web Designers
- Copywriters
- Bookkeepers
- Business Consultants
- Social Media experts
- Online Marketers
- Public Relations Reps
- Sales Reps
Let’s face it, Going Virtual is a greening, cost-effective option for companies and a freeing, results-only work environment for employees or freelancers. Entrepreneurs with little or no office space can effectively partner with VPs to launch new products, start-up a side business or build out an existing business. In Corporate America, even large companies like Best Buy, IBM and AT&T have a reported 40% of their workforce working “remotely.” Couple that massive acceptance of virtual office arrangements with a floundering economy and talented employees looking to create some sense of stability in their lives, and you have set the stage for the emergence of Virtual Professionals.
