A talk I gave at the International Women's Forum in Bologna on Nov. 20, 2014

1. Start Your Own Thing!
Giacomo ‘Peldi’ Guilizzoni - IWF Bologna - 20 Nov 2014

2. Becoming an
English-Speaking
Female Entrepreneur
in Bologna
Giacomo ‘Peldi’ Guilizzoni - IWF Bologna - 20 Nov 2014

3. First of all…are you
100% sure you want to
start your own thing?

4. Working Remotely
is REAL
is EASY
is AWESOME
…but just in case you need a refresher…

11. Ok that’s great and all…
but I want my own thing!

12. Do The Time
Have you done your 10,000 hours?
Have you found your secret sauce yet?
Do others think you’re ready?
Maybe start by just reading, learning, getting out of your
comfort zone…do some remote jobs! :)

14. Just help me start my
own thing already!

15. OK, let’s DO THIS!

16. Prerequisites
Have your paperwork in order (Residenza, Codice
Fiscale, Carta di Identita’, Permesso di Soggiorno)
Make sure you’re in a good place financially, running on
empty doesn’t work. A good rule of thumb is one year of
costs covered.
Have a VERY supportive family / environment
Commit and be ready for anything

17. Motivations
Hard to find a quality job / your job didn’t transfer
Need flexible hours
Want to create a better working environment than the
one you’re in
Now is the perfect time to follow your passions!

18. Treat it as an experiment,
not as a way to make money.

19. “Money should be a
consequence, not a motive.”
– My friend Luis Arias

20. Perks
Flexible hours
Work from home / anywhere!
Total control
A chance to make a real impact
Gives you an identity, you’ll be so proud!

21. The Idea

22. Don’t Look for an Idea.
Look for a problem!

34. Idea Validation
What makes your idea special? What makes YOU special?
Get out there!
Competition is good
Use the competition’s marketing material + your twist.
What’s the natural size of the company to execute on this idea?
Can it be bootstrapped or does it need funding?

35. Business Plan
Don’t worry, it’s easy
Goals:
Clarify your ideas
Circulate your idea to anyone who’ll listen
Give you the strength and confidence to get started

37. Business Plan Structure
1.Core Beliefs
2.Mission Statement
3.Target Customers
4.Business Model
5.Revenue / Costs / Cash
Flow Projections
6.Product
7.Long Term Vision
8.Competition
9.Motivations
10.Funding Sources
11.Open Questions

41. “No Business Plan Survives First
Contact With A Customer”
– Steve Blank
http://steveblank.com/2010/11/01/no-business-plan-survives-first-contact-with-a-customer-%E2%80%93-the-5-2-billion-dollar-mistake/

42. Find Your First Customers
Product or Consulting?
If product, careful about customizing too much for early
customers
Careful about partnerships!
You haven’t really started until you have at least a
couple of lighthouse customers

45. Setting Up
The Business

46. Setting up the business
Italy is a little weird (albi, unions), but things are better
now.
All you need to start is an accountant: ask around,
people know one for sure. Try to find someone who has
other customers like what you want to become…or just
settle for one that speaks english. ;)
Do NOT work for free or under the table. Just don’t do it.

49. Other Consulting Figures
Lawyer
Consulente del Lavoro (payroll person)
Notary

50. Costs
for many things, main fixed cost is the accountant, few
hundred Euros / year
website hosting is cheap
bank account
biggest cost will almost always be PEOPLE
taxes

51. Contracts and Invoices
Careful about spec work - http://www.nospec.com/
Preventivo (Quote / Estimate)
flat rate or by the hour
milestones (half and half, etc)
don’t sell yourself cheap! Gross is roughly 2x net.
Confidentiality and IP
Invoices are EASY
Choose your clients wisely, be picky!

52. Alright, you got paid!
Quick congratulatory break

53. I could get used to this!

54. Finding more customers
Word of mouth
Testimonials from first customers
Marketing!!!

55. Marketing?

62. video source: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8831

63. “Be so good they
can’t ignore you.”
– Steve Martin

64. Your Online Presence!

70. You are part of an existing
community that cares about
the same problem you’re
trying to solve

71. Where does your
community hang out?
Sites, Lists, Events…

72. Now you have
a business!
OMG that’s AMAZING!!!!
Whudathunkit?

73. I got news for you…

74. Ecosystem
Company
Support
Product
Marketing
Vision

77. A book to start with

82. Community

93. Challenges
Exhausting
Finding customers
It’s your delicate baby
Juggling life and business

94. Challenges
Get used to feeling in over your head
Gotta roll up your sleeves, do the research and execute
The buck stops with you

95. Challenges
Italy has its own challenges
Medieval guilds, unions, byzantine rules…
“Who you know” more than “how good you are”
Mentality is a little behind on some things
Those are also opportunities!

96. As a Woman

101. Cultural Issues
“The cultural value entails that the man/husband be the bread winner.
A woman exhibiting her entrepreneurial prowess is presumed as
wanting to take over the leadership role of the husband.”
“Male children are usually groomed on running the family business
and carrying on after the demise of the father while the female
children are usually left out of this entrepreneurial grooming process.”
“Most people still live with the mentality that certain businesses or
tasks are better handled by men.”
“Careful, guys love thinking you’re coming on to them…”

104. Balancing Business and Family
"It can be overwhelming to manage your time,
communicate effectively and stay organized while
developing your business skills. No one hands you a
resource book — you have to be self-disciplined. As an
entrepreneur, you love what you do, so taking a break is
challenging. But you need to work on your business, not in
it. Delegate relentlessly, and inspire people to want to do a
job for you." – Michelle Touchstone, founder of Pixie Dust
Naturals

105. The expectation to
succeed at everything
“Men are judged by how well they do in their careers, while
women are judged by how well they excel with family,
friends, 'looking their best' and, if they work, their career.”

106. You have to be tough and decisive
“Toughness is a good thing, yet it is considered good only in
men. When a woman is tough, men can’t stand it. I like
being tough; tough and smart.” – Lilian Vernon

107. Lack of Role Models
"The main challenge for female entrepreneurs is just like
the challenge for female engineering students: There just
aren't enough of us. There aren't enough women to be role
models, act as sounding boards, do deals with — in short,
to create normalcy for women in leadership positions."

108. Lack of Investor Confidence
“Men fund people who look and sound just like them"

109. Fear of Success, and Failure!
"Work hard at ignoring that inner voice that may discourage
taking action, speaking up or getting outside your comfort
zone. It's something I struggle with myself, but I know
fundamentally that I wouldn't be a CEO today if I hadn't
taken chances to assert myself.” - Sarah Bryar, CEO,
women's eyewear boutique Rivet and Sway

110. Emotion and Nurturing Skills
Can Affect Your Business
“For men, a business is mostly about the bottom line, but
for women, it's more than that. We get emotionally
connected, and that can hold us back from making the
tough decisions. Male board members and investors get
frustrated when we're not as quick to fire or make dramatic
business changes that could impact employees' families.” -
Delia Passi, CEO of WomenCertified

115. Collaboration and Collabatition
“Let’s face it—women are natural networkers. They love to
talk, mingle, and rub elbows. This is the very reason why
husbands rarely ever manage the social calendar. In today’s
business environment, mastering social media is mandatory,
and the ladies absolutely have a leg up!”
“Collabatition is collaboration with your competition in an
effort to move both companies forward. Women love to work
together. We naturally gravitate towards creating
relationships and partnerships. We like to do things in
groups, we like to involve people in what we’re doing.”

116. Natural Marketers
“Women are natural marketers. They are so passionate and
enthusiastic about what they choose to do that they just do
not stop talking about it. They don't forget to emphasize the
benefits of their services to their potential customers. They
understand how to accentuate the positive.”

117. Listening
“The key is to ask questions and really listen.”

118. Multi-tasking
“Women are known for juggling many tasks at the same
time and still being able to produce excellent results.
Conversely, the guys are masters at focusing on one thing.
Still, the advantage in today’s distracting environment goes
to women.”

119. Intuition
“They call it “women’s intuition” for a reason. Women in
general can size up another person much faster than her
male counterpart.”
“Men definitely follow their gut, but women have a much
more sensitive sense of intuition. ”

120. New Company Culture
“Instead of trying to fit ourselves into corporate
environments that weren’t designed for us, we are able to
create corporate cultures that are conducive to the type of
lives we lead. We want companies that make it easy for us
to have a family, to live the lifestyle we want and support
our values.”

121. Patience and Tenacity
“Ladies, we don’t give up do we? We work our tails off. We
work a full day, come home, take care of the family, the dog,
clean the house, it never ends.”
“Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to be
tough. There is a reason why women carry and deliver
babies. We are tough! We have to be! The beauty of it is, we
can be tough and we can be tender. ”

122. “Being an attractive
young blonde didn’t hurt.”
– Anonymous ;)

123. Are you sufficiently
terrified yet?
Good.

127. It’s a journey
Start by reading a book or two
Then read two dozen more…
Maybe take that online class!
Mistakes don’t matter that much, what matters is how
quickly you learn from them and fix them
This will make you a better person

128. YOU CAN DO THIS!

129. Good Luck!
Special Thanks
Melanie Lacide
Olivia Cremin
Elizabeth Francis
Francesca Fabbri
Anna Mariotti
Mariah Maclachlan
peldi@peldi.com - Slides at http://goo.gl/RXhSpx