A recent study from Jane Out of the Box, an authority on female entrepreneurs, reveals there are five distinct types of women in business. Based on professional market research of more than 2,500 women in business, this study shows that each type of business owner has a unique approach to running a business and therefore each one has a unique combination of needs. This article outlines two of the five types and provides tips for planning for much-needed rest and relaxation.

Merry Jane is an entrepreneur building a part-time or “flexible time” business that gives her a creative outlet (whether she’s an ad agency consultant or she makes beautiful artwork) that she can manage within specific constraints around her schedule. She may work a day-job, or need to be fully present for family or other pursuits. Representing about 19% of women in business, she realizes she could make more money by working longer hours, but she’s happy with the tradeoff she has made because her business gives her tremendous freedom.

The multi-faceted Merry Jane is adept at juggling several different aspects of life at once – including her business, her other priorities, and taking care of herself. She appreciates the flexibility to work when, where and as much as she wants. The desire to maintain that flexibility means Merry Jane is very systems-oriented, and she doesn’t put an exorbitant amount of time into her business on an ongoing basis. Plus, Merry Jane-owned businesses are often not the primary source of income in the household. Therefore, if Merry Jane’s other obligations allow her to do so, vacationing does not pose a problem.

One challenge Merry Jane faces is that she would like her business to make more money without a significant investment of time. She already excels at managing her time, so if she increased her income, she would have better means for using her free time to vacation.

Here are some ideas for Merry Jane to consider for gaining more clients and profiting, while retaining her time freedom – and vacationing potential:

• Identify the target and a clear message. Merry Jane should define an “ideal” customer, and define his or her needs. Then she can market the product or service to that customer as fulfillment of his or her needs. This will save Merry Jane time and money on unnecessary or misdirected marketing efforts, and will land her more of the “right” customers. She can then use the time and money she saves – and the new profit she makes – toward a well-deserved vacation.
• Select an appropriate marketing method. Most Merry Jane business owners need a slow-growth marketing method that builds relationships over time, and that doesn’t require a huge monetary or time investment. Examples include social networking, affiliate marketing and referral marketing. These marketing methods can work for Merry Jane even while she is on vacation, so she won’t need to worry about maintaining them while she is relaxing.
• Make it easy for new customers to buy the first time. Merry Jane might offer incentives for first-time buyers, such as coupons or discounts. They can make it easy for customers to keep buying by offering incentives such as auto-billing or earning a free product or service after a specific amount of time. Again, these profit-boosting ideas do not require much work on Merry Jane’s part, and can continue making money for her even while she takes time away from the company.

Accidental Jane is a successful, confident business owner who never actually set out to start a business. Instead, she may have decided to start a business due to frustration with her job or a layoff and then she decided to use her business and personal contacts to strike out on her own. Or, she may have started making something that served her own unmet needs and found other customers with the same need, giving birth to a business. Although Accidental Jane may sometimes struggle with prioritizing what she needs to do next in her business, she enjoys what she does and is making good money. About 18% of all women business owners fit the Accidental Jane profile.

Most Accidental Jane business owners report a high level of satisfaction with their businesses. They often started their companies to create their ideal jobs – to gain control over critical aspects of their working lives. They want enough, but not too much, work, and enough income to meet their needs – and they often have it. Because Accidental Jane business owners like making and living by their own rules, they often have no trouble taking vacation. One consideration, though: because they dislike corporate politics and often don’t want to be responsible for traditional employees, vacationing requires more planning (since they may not have employees to handle their businesses while they’re gone).

If Accidental Jane can gain control of the typical ebb and flow cycle that plagues many of the entrepreneurs in this group, she can more easily execute the necessary planning for her vacations. Low-maintenance marketing (such as an ongoing newsletter, pre-written tweets to go out periodically on Twitter, or pre-written weekly blog posts), can help Accidental Jane to market even when she’s working, so that when she finishes one project, she has another waiting. With a consistent flow of clients and projects coming through her door, Accidental Jane can plan for a slow week or two during which to take a vacation – and she can relax while she’s there, knowing that work is waiting when she returns.

Taking time off is just as crucial to running a successful business as making calls, sending invoices and closing sales. It provides business owners with the relaxation, rejuvenation and refreshment they need to get back to work energized and powered up, in their best form.

Accidental Jane
Accidental Jane has her own mug!

Let her tell you about accidentally starting a business.

Jane’s Got a Bag
See Jane Succeed – all the Janes got together to feature a tote! You can be green use it for groceries or for any big project you need to carry.

Tenacity Jane
Tenacity Jane has her own mug!

Let her tell you what makes her so tenacious about her business.

Go Jane Go
Go Jane Go has her own mug!

Let her tell you about her drive.

Jane Dough
Jane Dough has her own mug!

Let her tell you about her vision for her business.

Merry Jane
Merry Jane has her own mug!

Let her tell you why she merrily is a business owner.

See Jane Succeed Mug
See Jane Succeed – all of the Janes together on one mug!

Now this is teamwork and networking at its finest.

Yvette’s drive to be an entrepreneur began in her late teens. She successfully launched several businesses: Collegiate Couturier, Total Business Management, Vestbo, Barnet and Company, Arts Management Ltd. and her current project Empowerment Mineral Designs. She started her current jewelry business, “To design, return to my love of stones and incorporate my metaphysical studies.” Her greatest rewards from business ownership are “Satisfaction in accomplishment overall – customer, personal, professional.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com, Yvette discovered that she is a Merry Jane. “I have been successful in integrating my business life and personal life into my life as a whole. The two balance and do not conflict. Business challenges do not overwhelm me and I look forward to each new day. I am and have been a good self-starter and focused so I have learned to set real goals and stick to them and I am seeing that bear fruit. I have more to accomplish and look forward to those triumphs.”

Gather around Merry Janes! Here is Yvette’s advice for you:

• Write your goals down – both personal and professional – give them a date by which you want to achieve the goals – this can be year, month or day.
• Write down the action steps necessary to accomplish your goals and specify what you want – need salespeople? Make that an action step and specify how many.
• Put your signature at the end of your goal list. This makes you accountable to yourself and believe it or not enables you to envision your goals being accomplished.
• Remember, you merely have to commit to the goals – don’t worry about how they will get accomplished because opportunities you don’t know about will come to you.

A recent study from Jane Out of the Box, an authority on female entrepreneurs, reveals there are five distinct types of women in business. Based on professional market research of more than 2,500 women in business, this study shows that each type of business owner has a unique approach to running a business and therefore each one has a unique combination of needs. This article outlines three of the five types and provides tips for tracking performance metrics and using the information to create future success.

Jane Dough is an entrepreneur who enjoys running her business and generally, she makes a nice living. She is comfortable and determined in buying and selling, which may be why she’s five times more likely than the average female business owner to hit the million dollar mark. Jane Dough is clear in her priorities and may be intentionally and actively growing an asset-based or legacy business. It is estimated that 18% of women entrepreneurs fall in the category of Jane Dough.

Because Jane Dough-run businesses often produce a large income, Jane Dough business owners are more likely than others to make large investments in their businesses. By tracking key performance metrics, then, Jane Dough can determine whether her investments are paying off – and if they aren’t, she can decide how to shift those investments so they do so.

Given the success of her business, Jane Dough is likely to use advertising systems, such as “pay per click” campaigns on Google or print and radio advertisements. These traditional advertising systems provide relatively simple tracking mechanisms by which Jane Dough can determine how her advertisements are working. For example, “pay per click” advertising allows a business owner to keep track of how many people clicked on her advertisement, based on a certain set of keywords, which she chooses. Jane Dough can figure out how many people visited her web site based on a specific set of keywords – and then she can figure out whether that “pay per click” campaign was worth the investment. Print or radio advertisements in certain markets can include special offers – based on how many people mention those special offers (whether they mention them during a phone call or while filling out an application or customer form of so me kind), and Jane Dough will know whether those ads are driving traffic to her business. For Jane Dough, diligence in tracking metrics provides a solid understanding of the company, and a good opportunity for refining goals, educating team members and selecting even more powerful strategies for growth.

Merry Jane. This entrepreneur is usually building a part-time or “flexible time” business that gives her a creative outlet (whether she’s an ad agency consultant or she makes beautiful artwork) which she can manage within specific constraints around her schedule. She may have a day-job, or need to be fully present for family or other pursuits. She realizes she could make more money by working longer hours, but she’s happy with the tradeoff she has made because her business gives her tremendous freedom to work how and when she wants, around her other commitments.

Because Merry Jane needs to remain flexible so she is able to meet her various obligations and responsibilities, she doesn’t have much time to invest in tracking her company’s performance. Nevertheless, tracking performance will assist Merry Jane in establishing where her time is best spent – so it’s a critical investment. A few suggestions to consider on this information-gathering mission:

Studying existing customer relationships provides an excellent venue for Merry Jane to discover what is working. Usually, Merry Jane doesn’t have a large number of customers (and she prefers it that way!). It will be quite simple, then, to tally the results of an Internet survey, an e-mail questionnaire, or even a personal phone call or visit. A Merry Jane business owner can ask existing customers how they found out about her business, what attracted them to her business, and what they believe are the biggest benefits of the business’ products or services. By analyzing this data, Merry Jane can figure out what’s working. For example, if she advertises in three different magazines, but customers mention only two of them, perhaps she might stop advertising in the third. If she sells books, games and toys, and customers list the unique books and games as benefits, maybe she should cut her toy inventory and increase her book and game inventory ac cordingly.

Go Jane Go is passionate about her work and provides excellent service, so she has plenty of clients – so much so, she’s struggling to keep up with demand. She may be a classic overachiever, taking on volunteer opportunities as well, because she’s eager to make an impact on the world and she often struggles to say no. Because she wants to say yes to so many people, she may even be in denial about how many hours she actually works during the course of a week. As a result, she may be running herself ragged and feeling guilty about neglecting herself and others who are important to her.

Because Go Jane Go is wildly successful in business (she has so many clients she struggles to keep up with demand), it may seem as though she doesn’t need to track performance metrics. However, one of Go Jane Go’s challenges is that she takes her work personally. Her work is a reflection of herself, and as a result, she goes above and beyond to ensure the message her work sends is a positive one. Tracking key performance metrics, then, is essential for Go Jane Go’s personal well-being because it provides her an opportunity to see what is working and what isn’t from a purely business perspective.

Already overcommitted and overwhelmed, Go Jane Go’s most practical choice for handling the measuring of performance metrics may be to hire an individual or a firm to do it. From measuring whether an ad campaign is working to interviewing customers and completing market research, professionals can take care of every aspect of performance measuring and then give Go Jane Go a report she can use to determine her best next steps. Although she sometimes has difficulty handing work to someone else, (for fear that person may not meet her exacting standards), most Go Jane Go business owners don’t have the time to perform in-depth research. She can alleviate the fear of delegating this task by getting references. By hiring someone to tackle this time consuming endeavor, Go Jane Go can focus on the work she loves. Once she gets the report, she can determine whether her energy is in the right place.

Determining which strategies are working is critical in creating a business’ path to success. Measuring performance metrics not only reveals whether resources are being spent as wisely as possible, it also reveals a path for the future.

As an entrepreneur, Marie has always had her hand in a new venture. “I’ve been an owner, manager or director of a number of businesses and non-profits throughout the last twenty years. My current business is a niche discovered while teaching business classes for both a college and university. I started conducting additional workshops in human resources, management and accounting and discovered that many business owners need help running their businesses and will they pay a premium for sound advice.” Marie believes that the rewards of owning her own business comes from her clients’ results. She relates: “The greatest satisfaction is when my clients report to me that they’ve met or exceeded their goals.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com Marie discovered that she is a Merry Jane. “The assessment indicates that I’m a Merry Jane; however, there are components of the other styles that fit my personality better. I’ve always, and will always be, an entrepreneur – this has never been accidental. The distinction between the styles is because I discovered how to earn money in a different modality while teaching for a college and university. I used the experience that I acquired in teaching extremely large classes to hone my speaking skills and professionally present my expertise. I’ve learned to balance my life and business as is typical of a Merry Jane; however, I’m extremely focused on business growth, as is Jane Dough. My business doubled last year and I’m on track to double again this year.”

Marie has some sound advice for other Merry Janes: “Follow your passion! Find something that you love to do, and then go do it…the money will follow. I’ve probably been a Go Jane Go many times during my life. Learning to balance a personal business with one’s private life is a skill that is learned and must be practiced. Saying no to some, and deciding on priorities is also a learned skill.”

A recent study from Jane Out of the Box, an authority on female entrepreneurs, reveals there are five distinct types of women in business. Based on professional market research of more than 2,500 women in business, this study shows that each type of business owner has a unique approach to running a business and therefore each one has a unique combination of needs. This article outlines three of the five types and provides tips for managing their time more effectively for the greater success of the company and for the overall well-being of the business owner.

Merry Jane. This entrepreneur is usually building a part-time or “flexible time” business which gives her a creative outlet (whether she’s an ad agency consultant or she makes beautiful artwork) that she can manage within specific constraints around her schedule. She may have a day-job, or need to be fully present for family or other pursuits. She realizes she could make more money by working longer hours, but she’s happy with the tradeoff she has made because her business gives her tremendous freedom to work how and when she wants, around her other commitments.

A multi-faceted woman, Merry Jane is adept at multi-tasking and has a true desire to meet every one of her obligations well and with care. Overall, the Merry Jane entrepreneurs we’ve spoken with feel satisfied with the balance they’ve found between their work and personal lives, and would like to increase their business’ income without putting in significantly more time. Of the five types of entrepreneurs, Merry Jane is least in need of time management advice – however, following are some tips she may consider to increase her profitability without giving up her precious time freedom. Discipline and systems are key in all aspects of Merry Jane’s life – and she can further implement those assets to maintain her satisfaction while increasing her business’ bottom line.

• Marketing. Efficiency is the most crucial element of Merry Jane’s marketing systems. They need to be effective without requiring a large time investment on Merry Jane’s part. To ensure marketing efficiency, Merry Jane must identify her target market and create a clear marketing message (a quick and easy way to identify her target market is to ask existing customers what they like most about working with her). Marketing systems that do not require significant time investments include social networking and referral/affiliate marketing.
• Hiring. Merry Jane enjoys that her business allows her to bring her talents and creativity to bear in serving her customers. Once her new marketing systems increase her workload (and therefore her income), she may find it practical to hire a helper or two to take care of the business tasks she finds less desirable, such as bookkeeping or errand-running. Doing so will allow Merry Jane to delve into her creativity and maintain the time freedom she wants and needs in order to meet all her obligations (including her own well-being).

Accidental Jane is a successful, confident business owner who never actually set out to start a business. Instead, she may have decided to start a business due to frustration with her job or a layoff and then she decided to use her business and personal contacts to strike out on her own. Or, she may have started making something that served her own unmet needs and found other customers with the same need, giving birth to a business. Although Accidental Jane may sometimes struggle with prioritizing what she needs to do next in her business, she enjoys what she does and is making good money. About 18% of all women business owners fit the Accidental Jane profile.

While many Accidental Jane business owners run their businesses successfully for years, striking the careful balance of enough, but not too much work, others aren’t as certain of what they want. This makes sense, since many Accidental Janes did not set out to start a business, and they often simply respond to the market’s demand for services. For these women, the future may present some tough choices – and how she deals with these choices will determine whether she remains an Accidental Jane or develops into another type of business owner. She is so good at what she does that the demand for her services will likely increase over time. So how can she maintain the time-freedom lifestyle she so enjoys?

• Filter. If her workload becomes overwhelming, Accidental Jane will have to begin saying, “no” to at least some new projects or clients. To decide which projects or clients to take on, and which to pass on, she can create a “non-negotiables” filter to determine whether a project or client meets the criteria she develops. For example, if it’s important for her to enjoy working with her clients, she may pass on a new client with whom she doesn’t click. If it’s important to her to stretch her creative muscles, she may take on only projects that demand that of her. In this way, Accidental Jane can ensure she’s working only on projects she enjoys, while acquiring only the amount of work she wants. Similarly, Accidental Jane can create a list of personal tasks she really enjoys and tasks she doesn’t care for. If possible, she can hire someone to take on the tasks she doesn&rs quo;t care for, leaving her more time to work on what she enjoys.
• Pricing. It’s great to be in demand! If Accidental Jane begins to feel overwhelmed, she may consider examining her pricing and raising her rates. Whether she started her business with intentionally low rates and then never raised them, or she resisted raising her rates because she didn’t want clients to question her value, if the demand for her services has increased beyond what’s comfortable for her, Accidental Jane likely has room for increases now. To determine where her prices fit within her industry, she can research published prices or ask trusted customers how her competitors’ prices compare.

Tenacity Jane is an entrepreneur with an undeniable passion for her business, and one who tends to be struggling with cash flow. As a result, she’s working longer hours, and making less money than she’d like to be. Nevertheless, Tenacity Jane is bound and determined to make her business a success. At 31% of women in business, Tenacity Janes are the largest group of female entrepreneurs.

Of the Tenacity Jane business owners interviewed, 90 percent reported dissatisfaction with cash flow, and the majority said they were unhappy with revenue, business costs or personal income from their business. Despite these financial markers, most Tenacity Jane business owners work longer hours than they’d like to and frequently feel frustrated or stressed. It is possible to shift this balance so the hard work and long hours pay off.

• Focus. Our research revealed that many Tenacity Jane business owners were running in several directions at once. Their ultimate vision included multiple streams of income, and these entrepreneurs were often trying to activate all those streams at the same time. To ensure that her time is well-spent and to get her business on more solid financial footing, Tenacity Jane must find a focus. A thorough examination of her business concept and model (what, exactly, is her business offering customers, and is it possible to make enough money with the current business model?) can help her determine whether she needs to make any changes. She can focus on creating a “point of entry” for the business – what does it do? – and then develop 1 to 3 benefits (what does the customer get from what the business does?) to go with it. Not only can Tenacity Jane use these ideas for marketing, they will also he lp her develop a true focus so she can work more efficiently.
• Set Goals. For Tenacity Jane, who is often exhausted by her ongoing financial struggles, even developing goals may seem overwhelming – because actually reaching them may seem improbable. Once she’s determined her business’ direction, though, setting and achieving goals will keep her focused and efficient so the time she does spend on her business is effective. The key is to start making steady progress, one step at a time. For starters, she can choose 1 moderate, or up to 3 small goals to work toward during a one month or 6 month interval. focusing on the goals that will have the biggest impact on her business and life. With practice, goal-setting (and achieving!) will become life’s paradigm.

While strong time management skills can streamline a business’ systems and increase its profitability, they also can improve an entrepreneur’s work-life balance and create overall satisfaction. Every type of business owner can improve her time management abilities – and therefore her level of happiness in her work and her life.

Sonia wanted to start her own business primarily to have an impact on others. “While I could do this within an organization,” said Sonia, “I discovered that my own voice had an even greater impact. When I became an external consultant, my recommendations were treated with greater respect! I wanted to be able to experience different organizations with different needs. My greatest reward is the connection I have had with other entrepreneurs and business owners. I would not be where I am today without networking and collaboration.”

After taking the free Which Jane Are You? assessment at www.JaneOutoftheBox.com , Sonia discovered that she is a Merry Jane. “My business helps people improve their workplace performance, specifically how to offer and ask for powerful inspiring Feedback. It is extremely rewarding. The description of the Mary Jane Type gives me hope. It shows me that I am able to balance my work, passions, and personal/family life although I don’t always feel like I do. I have often felt like a Go Jane Go! I believe I may have a split personality – sometimes a Merry Jane and sometimes a Go Jane Go.”

Attention all Merry Janes! Sonia has a clear message for you: “Congratulations on achieving balance and success! Making choices about what you feel works for you and those around you is a true gift. Trust your instincts!”

This article focuses on a type of business owner known as Merry Jane, an entrepreneur who has created a business that meets her needs for time freedom. Consequently, she tends to be able to take time off on a regular basis – whether it’s to enjoy friends and family or other passions and interests she may have. She also typically has another, more primary form of income, so she does not feel extreme stress related to her business, and tends to work less than 40 hours a week. Though her business is not generating a large amount of income at the moment, Merry Jane is happy with the balance and freedom she’s created in her life. According to the study, roughly 19% of women business owners fit the Merry Jane type.

Because Merry Jane has such a unique approach to business, she presents a number of lessons of interest to anyone considering starting a business in her spare time.

Lesson #1
It’s for the love, not just the money
Merry Jane is an entrepreneur who started her business mostly for the love of what she does. She started her business simply because it was something she cared about, and had perhaps always wanted to pursue. She didn’t go into business for herself with a long-term plan, a five year goal, or a desire to create an asset-based business that she could sell or hand down to her kids. Typically, she didn’t create a business around something she had already been doing professionally in some other capacity, either (i.e., as a regular job).

Merry Jane isn’t relying on this business as a primary source of income. This is important, because her approach to business does not typically produce large financial returns. It does, however, produce great rewards in terms of personal satisfaction – as long as the business owner, like Merry Jane, has some other form of income lending stability and flexibility to his or her life.

Lesson #2
If you don’t have much time for your business, focus on systems and leverage.
Merry Jane is more than twice as likely as the average female entrepreneur to run an MLM business. Why? Because, as an entrepreneur who has plenty of other fish to fry, she’s less likely to be interested in building a business model from the bottom up.

While an MLM business may or may not be right for you, focusing on systems and leverage is something that makes sense for anyone interested in starting a business in their spare time. If this applies to you, consider the following questions. Are there turn-key models or systems I can adopt that will help to put my business on auto-pilot? Is this a business model that can successfully operate with a minimal investment of time?

If the answer to both is ‘yes’, you’re in a good position to start a business in your spare time.

Lesson #3
If you’re going to make minimal investments in your business, focus on marketing.
Merry Jane, typically, only has one major source of concern with her business — reaching more customers. Therefore, if you decide to start a business in your spare time, based largely on a passion – rather than a business plan – remember that the number one challenge you’re likely to face is bringing in more clients on a regular basis.

While there are many aspects of your business in which you may not want to make a large investment, due to the fact that it is not your primary interest, it nevertheless does make sense to set aside a few hours a week – and or a minimal budget – to focus on marketing systems that will help you to create leverage in reaching new customers.

Remember, without customers coming in, your business can’t generate that personal satisfaction that led you to become and entrepreneur in the first place – nor can it grow, eventually, into something that might occupy a more central role in your life.

Research by Jane Out of the Box, an authority on women entrepreneurs, has revealed there are five distinct types of women in business. Each of these five types has unique approach to running a business – and as a consequence, each of them has a unique combination of characteristics and factors. This article profiles three of the Jane “types” and the different ways they may handle cash flow issues.

Go Jane Go is a successful business owner with plenty of clients – but she’s struggling to keep up with demand. She may be a classic overachiever, taking on volunteer opportunities as well, because she’s eager to make an impact on the world and may really struggle saying “no”. Because she wants to “say yes” to so many people, she may even be in denial about how many hours she actually works during the course of a week. As a result, she may be running herself ragged or sometimes feel guilty about the list of goals not yet achieved.

Although Go Jane Go feels totally competent when it comes to running her business, a slowdown in cash flow can occur when Go Jane Go is not paying enough attention to money. She may be behind in sending bills because getting the work done seems more important. Or she may be reluctant to raise the money issue with clients who are late in paying, because she doesn’t want them to be embarrassed or to create conflict in the relationship.

Here are some things Go Jane Go should know when faced with cash flow challenges:

• Clients want to pay. Your clients value and respect you and they want to pay you well for the work you’ve done. In fact, as a Go Jane Go, you may have even had clients offer to pay you MORE than you asked, because they can see how much you go above and beyond. Relationships are a two-way street, and your clients want to help you succeed. So, give them the outlet by billing them in a timely manner so they can uphold their half of the bargain.

• Not billing and not reminding also cause relationship problems. By not sending invoices in a timely manner or by not following up on overdue payments, you may well be causing an internal problem for your customer as well. If they are corporate types, they may get in a tangle with their accounting departments if they submit bills from you too late. And, if they are smaller businesses or consumers, a forgotten invoice can cause cash flow problems on their end, as they scramble to find the money to pay you. Take good care of them by keeping your financial house in order and helping them do the same.

• You don’t have to do this alone. One of the easiest jobs to outsource is bookkeeping. And those experts are better at the task than you probably are. If your books are a mess, bite the bullet and admit it. And even if your books are in great shape – get help. You have a unique gift to share with the world and you maximize your ability to do so when you delegate other tasks. Best yet, your bookkeeper can follow up on late invoices too – just give them a system for how to do it so it is in keeping with your (probably gentle) values.

Merry Jane This entrepreneur is usually building a part-time or “flexible time” business that gives her a creative outlet (whether she’s an ad agency consultant or she makes beautiful artwork) that she can manage within specific constraints around her schedule. She may have a day-job, or need to be fully present for family or other pursuits. She realizes she could make more money by working longer hours, but she’s happy with the tradeoff she has made because her business gives her tremendous freedom to work how and when she wants, around her other commitments.

Merry Jane usually has an income other than that her business provides, so business cash flow challenges may not be as difficult of an issue, per se. However, many Merry Janes do wish their businesses made more money. In order for that to happen, money has to become a focal point for Merry Jane, rather than simply waiting and watching how business growth evolves. Even as cash flow becomes a priority, however, it’s imperative for Merry Jane’s happiness that more money does not mean more work – her life balance is too important.

A few things Merry Jane should consider if she sees her cash flow slow down:

• A little attention could go a long way. Think about WHY cash flow is slow. Has there been a downturn in sales in the business? Have you invested in materials, equipment, or software that will help make money in the long run but are chewing up available cash in the short-term? Until you know whether the problem is slow revenue or high costs, you won’t know the strategy to fix it.

• If revenue is slow, leverage your connections, both on and offline. Finding new clients is often the toughest aspect of business for Merry Jane. Reach out to your existing customers with a plan that gives them more of what they want while also helps you grow your base. Think about the upcoming holidays – can you make an attractive offer that gets them to buy gifts from you? Or, maybe your business lends itself naturally to referral. If so, what “Thank You” gift can you give them when they find you another customer?

• If costs are high, it’s time to plan. Stop spending temporarily and map out how many sales you need to cover the costs of the equipment, materials, or software you bought and make it all worth it. Turn this into a game; play with the numbers. And as you calculate how many sales you need to make your costs pay off, keep in mind that you can also raise your rates! It’s fun to watch the number of sales go down as your price per sale goes up. Balance it all – the fair price for your product or service, the number of sales you need, and the amount of money you wish to have flowing in each month to arrive at a plan that works for your business and your lifestyle.

Accidental Jane is a successful, confident business owner who never actually set out to start a business, but may have ended up with one due to frustration with her job or a layoff and decided to use her business and personal contacts to strike out on her own. Or, she may have started making something that served her own unmet needs and found other customers with the same need, giving birth to a business. Although Accidental Jane may sometimes struggle with prioritizing what she needs to do next in her business, she enjoys what she does and is making good money. About 18% of all women business owners fit the Accidental Jane profile.

Although Accidental Jane didn’t necessarily set out to start a business, she now finds herself full-swing into entrepreneurship and everything that goes with it. So she may feel unprepared to face cash flow issues.

Because Accidental Jane is successful, and overall has just the amount of work she desires, cash flow issues are most likely to result from marketing peaks and valleys caused by Accidental Jane herself. A typical pattern for Accidental Jane is to network her way to a sufficient amount of work. Then, when she’s happily working, she’ll stop actively marketing her business, only to realize as the work draws to a close, that she needs to start marketing again.

Therefore, Accidental Jane’s key to avoiding cash flow issues is to find ways to keep her marketing efforts running at a continual, low level. This will iron out the peaks and valleys so the work flow is more steady. Accidental Jane can get creative with this, making it a game to develop creative marketing approaches in her business that require little time on her part. This might include developing an effective referral system, launching a weekly “tips” email to keep awareness of her business high, running periodic “specials” during the off-season, etc. Best of all, with simple, systematized campaigns, Accidental Jane can recruit part-time help to make sure the marketing is happening even while she’s enjoying the work she loves to do.

Every business owner can learn from Go Jane Go, Merry Jane and Accidental Jane when it comes to cash flow problems. A variety of techniques exist for dealing with slowing cash flow, and each one provides some help for entrepreneurs who want to keep their businesses in the black.

As a former public school teacher from the Washington, D.C. area, Lily had experienced the best and the worst in presentations – including her own and others. After attending a seminar with an obviously talented professional who had a valuable message and couldn’t get it across effectively, Lily says she “felt a surge of inspiration. It was a combination of compassion and the ‘old’ teacher in me – if that presenter had known more, he would have probably gotten more business from it because I could see that he knew his business.”

Lily has a strong desire for a satisfying, rewarding career — for both personal fulfillment as well as financial reward. “When I was a full-time teacher, I was often frustrated by my heavy work load and low pay,” said Lily. “Once I was married and had children of my own, the idea of going back to my own classroom during the day and taking care of my family at night and on weekends felt way too draining to justify. As a teacher managing my own classroom, I loved to be creative, work with students, solve problems and be my own boss. Now I get to do the same as an entrepreneur but on my own schedule.”

“I love the fact that I created this business all on my own,” Lily said, “not to mention the fact that I’m also helping other people solve their problems with communicating to large groups! It’s like my fourth child.”

After taking the Which Jane Are You? assessment, Lily believes that the Merry Jane profile meets her current status. “I married an amazing guy and started a family later in life,” said Lily. “So even though I’m eager and anxious to get my business going full-blast, it’s a priority for me not to take the husband and children for granted. In my former career, I saw full well how quickly children grow, develop and permanently change over the course of a few years, so it’s important not to miss that time with them. Right now, my business is progressing slowly but steadily, which the competitive side of my personality finds frustrating, but I’m learning not to compare myself to others! The advice given to me as a Merry Jane was apt, especially the segments on organizing my time for maximum efficiency. “ Lily believes that she was an Accidental Jane when she first started out, but she aspires to be a Jane Dough someday.

Lily has great advice for other Merry Janes, “Organize your time, don’t compare yourself to others who don’t have the time constraints you do, and don’t forget to relax and have a good time with your business!”