WISE Symposium: The place to be for business engagement

On April 8, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the 2014 WISE (Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) Symposium at the Oncenter in Syracuse.

The initial presenter was Melinda Emerson, CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, who is dubbed the “SmallBizLady.” Emerson was pumped and energetic as she got the crowd on its feet, clapping and even dancing. She then proceeded to share how she started a business from her home and climbed the ladder to success through many hardships and misadventures. Emerson shared not only her inspiring stories, but also a step-by-step plan any business entrepreneur can use over a 12-month period to achieve her business goals.

Here are her five reasons why most small business owners fail.

1. The owner is not realistic about the business.

2. Your network is your net worth $. The failures have no network to build on.

3. They do not keep in touch with and protect their customers from the competition.

4. They never become an expert in their field of work. People want to deal with experts.

5. They do not manage their money in the business.

Emerson also offered action steps for the attendees to succeed. She said it’s vital for you to help others for you to succeed, to engage your customers so you fully understand their challenges, and to listen to others to understand their needs and to promote yourself with care for the other person.

I walked away with five pages of notes from Emerson’s talk and saw many others also taking notes. There were a number of other great speakers at this event along with breakout sessions.

Here are some facts about this year’s WISE Symposium.

• It was the 12th annual event with over 950 in attendance
• Reached 7.1 million people on the Twitter hashtag #WISE2014, which achieved national trending three times on April 8, 2014
• Offered 63 speakers throughout the day, including two keynote presenters, 45 breakout session speakers, and 16 WISE Talks speakers from nine different states
• WISE Latinas and WISE Veterans luncheon sessions held on site at the event
• Made available 22 experts in business from legal, marketing, sales, and other sectors, including three WISE business counselors, on site to give free advice one-on-one to entrepreneurs
• First-ever Be WISE Buy LOCAL Spring Fling co-hosted with Syracuse First, featuring 25 local restaurants/venues sampling products on site

If you are an individual who wants to open a small business or you are a small-business entrepreneur, this is the place to learn, to grow, to dream, and to connect with more than 90 business experts and almost 1,000 excited, friendly business people willing to share their success tips with you.

If your business sells to women, this is the place to engage women and learn of their needs, fears, frustrations, and goals. So if you want to start a business, or if you already have a business and really desire to grow it, where will you be next April?

James McEntire is a sales trainer and certified business coach who says he helps business entrepreneurs reach their goals. Contact him at james.r.mcentire@gmail.com or call (315) 225-3536.