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Miss Smarty Pants: Amy Swift
Entrepreneur, Marketing Goddess, Women’s Advocate, Founder of SMARTY

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It’s Friday afternoon at the office and you’re one Post-It Note short of a hostile takeover.  It’s been five years of blood, sweat, tears and even your therapist is sick of hearing about your patronizing boss who overuses the marketing phrase, “sweet spot.” Gross. 

But you’ve been holding out on us Sally. You’ve filed away a great business idea.  But before you start ordering stationary, make sure you seek sage advice from biz folk like Amy Swift. 

Self described as “entrepreneurship-obsessed,” Amy Swift is the founder of SMARTY, a kick-ass resource for women who mean business.  After 10 plus years as a copywriter, creating the voice and marketplace niche for mega companies like Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Dior, Bath and Body Works, Nautica and L’Occitaine, Amy was ready to take what she knew worked and help other women achieve their business dreams.  

If you’re thinking about taking the leap from corporate to entrepreneur, here’s Amy’s top 5 tips to making it safely to the other side. 

1. Know Your Business. So many people jump into their businesses without a business model, revenue goals or any idea how they’re going to make it work – they think they can live on passion and talent alone. You don’t necessarily have to have a business plan – but you DO need a plan of some kind!

2. Find A Community. One of the reasons I started SMARTY was to be around other smart, entrepreneurial women. I wouldn’t know a fraction of what I do if it weren’t for them.  Surround yourself with a business network you respect and who are willing to share generously. You will end up counting on these people a lot.

3. Get Smart.Take a class, buy a webinar – do something to educate yourself on the fundamentals of starting a business. Our Foundation Course has saved so many people precious time and money. There are a ton of resources online, so arm yourself with vetted information before you leap.

4. Save. Make sure you can financially handle at least 6 months of no income before you leave your job. You may need to eat out less or skip your annual trip to the Maldives, but you’ll make yourself crazy if you have to sweat paying rent while you launch.

5. Don’t Jump into a Partnership. It’s incredibly easy to want to share the burdens and fears of start-up with a friend or co-pilot but this is not a good enough reason to create a partnership in your business. You can work together as partners on a project but do not commit to a business “marriage”until you’ve done it on your own for at least a year first. In other words…date around before you head to the altar!

GET SMARTY

SMARTY is based on the idea that highly successful women-owned businesses are the result of three essential elements: 

- A solid foundation of sound business practices
- A supportive, collaborative community
- Ongoing education and opportunities that offer growth and expansion

SMARTY holds monthly in-person and online events in multiple cites across the country that educate, inspire, connect, share and promote women and business.  They even have SMARTYPARTIES, (love that) which are unique networking events that profile business owners and non-profits in an inviting, civilized setting that allows everyone in the room get to know each other by first name.  They also have something called BRAINCIRCLES, where a member brings a specific problem to the group for input and support.  They say it takes a village…why not a village full of women?
For information on membership, events and to read the blog, visit http://www.smartypeople.com. 

- Julie H.