Ok – friends here it is!!  It’s time to reveal my first Big Idea on a new way of making a living! Are you ready?  I hope so, because it’s been your support that has helped me propel through this phase so quickly! Remember my criteria?

• Enhance my local community
• Use a skill set that I have, and has some stretch for me to grow
• Look towards the future – “goes after” the millennial group and younger

The name of the business: LittleBox Social

LittleBox  – Small Business – think of it as the antithesis of Big Box Business,  and

Social – as in Social Media.

Bottom line: Helping small business owners attract and retain customers using social media strategies. Unleash potential for local entrepreneurs – I truly believe amazing things come in little boxes.  I’ll help them wherever they land on the spectrum of social media usage – from helping start ups develop channel strategy and content calendars to working with legacy businesses refine their strategy and refreshing their channels and messaging.   Or even better, teach these community leaders and their teams how to efficiently tackle the opportunity. I have so many great ideas in this space-  they are literally busting out of my brain!

This Big Idea came to me about a year ago when the MN chapter of the ARCS Foundation started really dabbling in Social media – we knew there was potential to engage members, future members, and donors, but we didn’t really have a plan, or extra arms and legs to do the work.  We were lucky enough to have an smart intern put together a strategy, but that still left us with relying on a busy board member to do the actual content creation. Of course, it fell to the bottom of everyone’s to-do list for the organization. And then, I saw that same thing happen in our 15 sister chapters across the nation. I remember thinking: Now that’s a market need, I’d be happy to throw a few dollars at this problem if I could find someone to help.

Several months passed and I started studying how large companies leveraged social media more closely – from promoting special products to building a loyalty to responding to customer issues and general PR. I knew (from my Big Box experience) that these results were from a team of professionals whose “Day job” was to create the strategy and execute the plan. And again, I knew that small business didn’t have the resources to do this on their own, it was likely a “hobby” for some of the more social media savvy entrepreneurs.

Then, I actually started talking to small business owners – like really small business owners- single stores run by Mom and Pop, small restaurants, salons, hardware stroes – authentic Main Street players. And like the our non-profit, most reported that they knew they needed to “do something about this social media thing”.  When I asked them about millenials and growth – they all reported that “YES!” they need to figure that out. But didn’t know how.

And out of that – the seed for LittleBox Social was planted.  And it started to grow. Remember the “Whole Board”? Earlier this year, I started checking those items off, one by one. I did enough research to know that there was a viable business model. I confirmed that a domain name was available for my desired business name, and bought it.  That was the point at which I knew I was approaching the ledge, and the next move I needed to make was to commit to this effort full time.  I sat on that for about 30 days before I made my next move. Consider it my cooling off period to make sure that I wasn’t being foolish.

30 days later, I took another hard look at the business model and took the leap – this one had a little more investment – I actually registered the name “LittleBox Advisors, LLC” with Secretary of State. That company name allows for me to do consulting work on the side as well, so LittleBox Social is a “Division” of the LLC. I hired a trademark attorney to help with that process. I hired a couple of graphic designers to work on a logo.

And after all of that – when I was really at the ledge and had all but committed to doing this. All of the work had been done on off hours, weekends, etc.. It was time to fully invest and quit my day job. That day was March 22^nd.   It’s been 42 days since that moment of leaping over the edge.  Only 21 days since I actually started this venture full time.

Not bad for a soft launch! As I mentioned in an earlier post, not everything is perfect. The website needs some work, and I have exactly 23 things on my to do list for today.  But we are launched! I received some advice early in this process. For every day you delay a launch, you delay revenue. Don’t be afraid to go to market when it’s hot – you’ll figure out the details as you go!  So when opportunity knocked via a Robbinsdale Chamber of Commerce meeting last week, I knew I had to launch!

Speaking of launch – please check out my website, like my page, follow my twitter, etc. etc!

Website: www.littleboxsocial.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/littleboxsocial

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LittleBoxSocial

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/LittleBoxsocial

Again, I am grateful for this opportunity and the support that you all have given me – including my steadfast partner in life. Without my husband Scott’s encouragement and rational advice, I would not have made this leap!

Lastly – I would be remiss if I didn’t close with “the ask” – if you know of a small business who could use a little extra help with social media – let me know!  I love making connections and helping out great causes and businesses.