IWJWOMEN’S JOURNAL idaho
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Come Play with the IWJ (SNAP EVENTS) J an 1 6 , 2 0 1 3 F eb 2 0 , 2 0 1 3 M ar 2 0 , 2 0 1 3 A pr 1 7 , 2 0 1 3 6 : 0 0 pm to 9 : 0 0 pm U niversity of P hoeni x 1 4 2 2 T ech L ane , M eridian , I D
“As women in business, we still have a life. The IWJ wants women to know that all aspects of their life as vital, relevant, and worthy of equal space. We refuse to deny we have a life.”
contents
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planning - Comparing What Loses
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Distribution Distributed through the U.S. Postal Service, and at many Treasure Valley locations. Emissionfree distribution in Boise city provided by North Star Cycle Couriers. See our Website, www. IdahoWomensJournal.com, for a list of locations. If you would like additional copies of this issue, please email karleenandresen@gmail.com. There may be a postage charge. The Idaho Women’s Journal is published bimonthly and is available free of charge. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of the Publisher. The Idaho Women’s Journal is not responsible for any editorial comments (other than its own), typographical errors from advertisements submitted as camera ready or any reproduction of advertisements submitted as camera ready. If an advertisement does not meet our standards of acceptance, we may revise or cancel it at any time, whether or not is has been already acknowledged and or previously published. The advertiser assumes sole responsibility for all statements contained in submitted copy and will protect and indemnity the Idaho Women’s Journal, its owners, publishers, and employees against any and all liability, loss or expense arising out of claims for libel, unfair trade names, patents copyrights and proprietary rights and all violations of the right of privacy or other violations resulting from the publication by this journal of its advertising copy.
practices
- Do Personal Electronics Hurt Business?
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Karleen Andresen, Publisher PAPER PLANE PRODUCTIONS, Design ROB AYERS, Cover Photographer, Boise Fashion Week
Our working partners:
profiles - A Profile of Boise Entrepreneur Mandy Wood
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profits
- Money In Your Hands
www.WBCIdaho.org
planning
Comparing What Loses, False security, Poor service
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Karleen Andresen as written in the Idaho Statesman
t warms the heart to know there are eight characteristics a business can display or lack that statistically prevent 50 to 90 percent of all business losses. None of them will cost you more than the expenses already going out, but knowing a few can preserve a basketful of revenue. This situation may reveal some
vacancies in planning with success. A trendy Meridian sandwich shop has an ideal location. Their food is delicious and is frequented by many. This is a false sense of
security for the business. It’s known
among visitors for its
slow drive-through, and many
debate entering its line.
Although there are plenty of
visitors, there is loss.
The company loses because
slow lines mean longer
lines and wait time. The second
is the loss of potential
customers. This is called assurance,
or an assurance those working have a knowledge and service will remain positively consistent. However, some will and have avoided the premier location and food choice simply because it is slow. This same location also had an employee claim “...they don’t tell us anything” when asked if they had a menu change. Before an expensive intervention program that will be seen on television is initiated, owners should have a way to expose those weaknesses in operations. Consider secret shoppers or giving friends a free meal if they review your establishment. Business owners know repeat customers are the brass ring for revenue. One-time customers are great, worth embracing, but repeaters provide momentum.
How to Help Employees Service Customers: Use secret shoppers to review your business service
To avoid this loss in this situation, ensure employees are given time to gain knowledge about products and services. Discuss the changes at regular employee
Give friends a gift for reviewing your company
meetings. Allow employees to earn incentives for their ongoing knowledge.
Give employees time to gain knowledge of products or services
Finally, establish and instill a few basic principles that are unyielding.
Discuss changes at regular meetings
iwj
Offer incentives for gaining knowledge
Mystery Shoppers for Idaho: www.shoppingbymystery.com
www.idahowomensjournal.com
Establish basic rules
www.mysteryshopper.net
Feb/Mar 2013
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practices
Hurt Business?
Do Personal Electronics Lorraine Bowring Shopping by Mystery
S
www.sbmshop.com
mart phones, Ipods, and tablets are incredible
the revenue matrix. Companies are struggling
gifts to people, society, and the progress of
with how to maneuver the delicate conversations.
business in many ways. It has leveled the playing field in communicating instantly across the
However, consider its alternative: An unhappy
world. However, as this technology becomes more
customer will not return if a personal message
integrated into people’s day to day lives, it has
is more important to the employee than their
poured into daily living and started to creep into
business. A jilted buyer will broadcast their
the workplace.
unhappiness to friends and family faster than a referral. Because of this, employees are shifting
Seeing a restaurant full of heads bent over
the way customer service is delivered, but the
their own small rectangle box madly texting is
customer still wants acknowledged service. iwj
commonplace. Young people texting under desks or in hallways is as vital as oxygen in the world. Gamers of all ages, with their bodies frozen in a petrified position, can tune out an earthquake.
In the workplace, some of these masters of technology seem to be more fascinated with their cell phones than talking to customers. Asking a customer to wait to finish a text or finish a personal call seems a natural behavior, but it goes against
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Feb/Mar 2013
www.idahowomensjournal.com
If you are in the business of building teams or hiring, these guidelines can help in your next interview:

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Encourage employees to talk When hiring a front line representative ensure they enjoy interaction with the public.
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Provide a list of questions to ask the customer strengthen their ability to communicate.
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Include roll play in your ongoing training program this will help employees feel more comfortable dealing with a customer in any situation.
www.idahowomensjournal.com
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Provide a secure storage place for these devices - If it is not appropriate or necessary for your employees to have their electronic devises with them, have a secure place for the devises to be stored while an employee is working.
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Allow employees to check messages or to be contacted in an emergency.
Provide feedback to the employees celebrate positive examples of employee-customer interaction.
Feb/Mar 2013
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photo by Rob Ayers
profiles
A profile of Boise Entrepreneur
Mandy Wood Sandra Wurdemann
By any measure, 2012 was a banner year for entrepreneur and author Mandy Wood. In November, she co-founded MaxGiving, a no-contract consulting company that helps nonprofits maximize donations and manage a variety of fundraising events. The company has seen explosive growth and hired two people. Also in November, two children’s picture books authored by Wood were picked up by Morgan James Publishing, an international publishing company. “My First Puppy” and “My First Kitty” are set to debut as e-books and in print in February. But that’s not all. Wishing Star Foundation, a regional organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, honored her as volunteer of the year. And she has been nominated for Idaho Business Review’s Women of the Year.
But Wood wanted to be closer to family and decided to move to Boise. She took the position of education director for the Idaho Real Estate Commission and earned a broker’s license in real estate, while helping to write the curriculum for Realtors’ classes in the state. She also worked in the financial services and banking industries before being recruited by another company. However, it was the death of Hannah Bates, a family friend, that radically changed her life. Bates was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer at 15 and given six months to live. After her right leg was amputated up to the knee, Bates persevered in sports at Hagerman High School. She became coach of the junior high volleyball team after graduating.
“I was always very driven. But I was very me centric. It wasn’t until Hannah passed and my sister had a brain aneurism.. It’s things like that that just shook me.”
“This has been my best year ever,” Wood says as she credits the people and circumstances that have influenced her life, including her grandmother, Lorna Bard, (“who is the classiest woman I know”) and her mother, Carol Wood, (“who encourages me and teaches me at every opportunity”). Those who know Mandy Wood say humility is one of her many winning characteristics that also include kind, giving and inspiring.
“She was magnetic,” Wood said. “I thought I was this special amazing person to her, but that was her gift – to make everybody feel that. She was inspirational.” Two weeks before her death at age 20, Bates started a fund with her savings to help young people participate in sports, such as buying uniforms for her junior high girls. “I was always very driven,” Wood said. “But I was very me centric. It wasn’t until Hannah passed and my sister had a brain aneurism… It’s things like that that just shook me. I stepped back from dating and refocused my attention on things that really matter.”
Wood grew up on a dairy and hay farms near Bliss, a tiny town in the Magic Valley of south central Idaho. She was the high school cheerleader with calluses from moving irrigation pivots, as well as a member of honor society and class president. She graduated from the University of Idaho in 2002 with a bachelor’s in elementary education, a certification she keeps up. After college, she became a co-owner of the North Idaho Athletic Club in Moscow.
Wood says her big aha moment came while arranging the pink roses and gerbera daisies for Bate’s funeral, an event attended by a diverse crowd from students to hardened bikers.
“I had a great time and learned a ton from the two other owners,” she said. “They were great mentors.”
Wood decided to begin volunteering once a month. “Where I started finding my happiness is working with nonprofits.”
After selling the facility, she went into commercial real estate, learning everything she could from a new mentor, Shelley Bennett, owner and broker of Palouse Commercial Real Estate. “She was smart, driven and very successful,” Wood said. www.idahowomensjournal.com
“Everyone thought they were touched by her and better because of it,” Wood said. “Because of her, I decided to start volunteering. I want to be more like her. I want to leave my mark on this world.”
She co-founded Hannah’s Hope for Life foundation in 2008 and remains involved. The foundation gave more than $50,000 away in 2012 to a variety of athletic programs and youth projects region-wide. Feb/Mar 2013
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“Mentors can come in all shapes and forms – like Hannah was younger than me, but she was a mentor in so many ways,” Wood says. Bate’s passing also spurred Wood to write the book she’d been thinking about for years. With her first two headed to publication, she’s planning to follow up with works that help children deal with tougher issues like cancer and divorce.
“Find the things that fill your cup up.” Wood typically works 80 hours a week, but still makes time for family. She’d like to one day be a wife and mother. She’s also keen on pursuing balance and has a few suggestions on how to create it. “Find the things that fill your cup up,” she says. “I love cooking. If I’ve had a bad day, I turn music on and just cook. It’s very relaxing. It’s therapeutic for me.” True to her creed of making a difference in others’ lives, Wood has helped organize an event to inspire women in the daily challenges of life. The Perfect Balance includes motivational speakers, a panel of women business leaders and a vintage private collection fashion show. She hopes women will be encouraged by sharing each other struggles and not pretending to be perfect. As for Wood, the heartaches and struggles, including a broken relationship that led to financial challenges, have made life more precious and the recent accolades sweeter. “That stuff only makes us stronger,” she says. “I wouldn’t appreciate everything I have now had I not gone through all of that. I am sure 2013 will be my best year yet!” iwj
Check out what excites
Mandy Wood:
Her books at www.myfirstpets.com MaxGiving at www.maxgiving.com Hannah’s Hope for Life at www.hannahshopeforlife.com
photo by Rob Ayers
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Feb/Mar 2013
Perfect Balance at www.perfectbalanceidaho.com
www.idahowomensjournal.com
profits By Calvin W. Goings Regional Administrator Small Business Administration
in Your Hands F
or two years in a row the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has helped to put more than 30 billion into the hands of small business owners across the country. In Fiscal Year 2012, the SBA loan programs posted the second largest dollar volume ever, surpassed only by the dollar volume in FY 2011. According to the SBA, this pace is a healthy sign for the national economy. Right here in Idaho, the Boise District Office supported 385 loans for over 108 million dollars. Over the past year, as part of a streamlining effort, the SBA encouraged lenders to use more of their own paperwork and the agency’s updated processing systems, so that more than 80 percent of its loan applications can now be processed online. These efforts, along with other loan enhancements, have resulted in nearly 1,300 lenders returning to SBA lending, and have opened up more points of capital access for small businesses. And, we have the results to prove it. iwj
SBA’s Growth Capital Program Breaks Record for the Third Consecutive Year. The Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) debenture program provided a record 2.95 billion to small businesses in 2012, a 14 percent increase over the previous year and the highest single-year volume in the 54-year history of the program. This good news is due in part to a number of improvements that contributed to an increased number of new SBIC licenses and reduced license processing times.
504 Loans Set All-Time Record. By simply improving the loan making process and reducing paperwork, we saw a record year for the Certified Development Company 504 Loan Program, which helped 9,471 entrepreneurs supporting 15 billion in small business lending.
CAPLines Loan Program Jumped 400 Percent. A revamped CAPLines program, which provides working lines of credit to small businesses such as manufacturers and government contractors, jumped 400 percent from 108 loans and 118 million in 2011 to 532 loans and 410 million in 2012.
Advantage Loan Program on the Rise. Lenders are making more low-dollar loans using the Advantage loan programs - Community Advantage and Small Loan Advantage (SLA). These programs encourage lenders to make low-dollar loans, which are an important tool for small businesses. The number of Community Advantage loans increased more than 11-fold from 2011 to 2012. The Small Loan Advantage ended the fiscal year with 820 loans for 105.6 million. And nearly 80 percent of the year’s SLA loans came after SBA simplified the loan process on June 1.
As we look forward to 2013, SBA stands ready to help you start, grow or expand your business. For more information about our loan programs, visit: www.sba.gov.
www.idahowomensjournal.com
Feb/Mar 2013
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D.L. Evans Bank supports Idaho women in business.
Let us help you with your next small business loan.
Experienced lenders. Local approvals. SBA Preferred Lender.
www.dlevans.com ALBION BOISE BURLEY HAILEY IDAHO FALLS JEROME KETCHUM MERIDIAN NAMPA POCATELLO RUPERT TWIN FALLS
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Feb/Mar 2013
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Announcing 2013!
Publisher’s Point
The theme this year is BE DELIBERATE, and we will. We are set to have a wonderful and wild ride of goodness - are you in? Here are few things coming in 2013 - we invite you too! BOISE FASHION WEEK - If you like our covers, then you’ll love this project. Our photographer, Rob Ayers, has a fashion week/show where he will be showcasing new clothing lines, and doing some makeovers for the women of the IWJ! WOMEN’S SHOW - The IWJ is launching a one-day women’s show May 11, 2013 @ Boise Centre on the Grove!!! It will be an interactive “How To” for women in business and women who have a life (that means You too). There will be more than 100 women-focused vendors (shoes, purses, chocolate, jewelry, clothing, hair, makeup, hats etc), 20+ free workshops for women, and an Evening With - keynote speaker. This event will also benefit women in business and several non-profits around the valley. SOCIAL NETWORKING - Want to learn social networking for business? What to learn how to create a Facebook account to stay connected to family members? Want to know how to use Pinterest? The IWJ will be having workshops to do just that! Watch for it online. HOW TO GET PUBLISHED - Another marquee workshop offered through the IWJ. Take a two day workshop and you are guaranteed to get published in the IWJ! It’s a great way to become the expert in your field. Sign up on our website to receive email notices on these and the many other things we offer! Hugs,
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Feb/Mar 2013
Karleen
www.idahowomensjournal.com
Who’s
who
of Idaho Women
[ a growing directory of Idaho women ]
Shasi Ajmani, M.D.
JUDY DIETZLER
Women's Health Medical Doctor www.WHADoctors.com Real health for real women
Melaleuca Marketing Director 208-344-2133 Lower BP, cholesterol, lose weight with ease, chemical-free cleaners.
KARLEEN ANDRESEN
DR. YVONNE FEDEWA
Idaho Women’s Journal Owner/Publisher www.IdahoWomensJournal.com Business women who refuse to deny they have a life.
Essential Life Boise Owner www.ELifeBoise.com Full body wellness for the busy professional.
COLLEEN FLETCHER
KRISTIN ARMSTRONG
Competitive Cyclist www.KristinArmstrongUSA.com Gold medalist, time trial, 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing.
Massage & Body Boutique Owner www.MassageBoutique.com Est. 1995. Your Wholistic Beauty Boutique.
CHARLENE BRAGG
PAM GROVE
Group One Real Estate Owner/Independent www.PamGrove.com I help people buy or sell their homes.
Group One Owner/Independent Contractor www.GroupOne.com/CBragg Real Estate expertise for today’s market.
MYRNAMARIE BROOKS
SYLVIA HAMPEL
SendOutCards Owner/Independent Distributor www.SendOutCards.com/Caring Teaching gratitude through using greeting cards.
Clearview Cleaning President www.clearviewcleaning.biz A full service commercial janitorial company since 1995, locally owned
SUSAN CONGER (CRUISY SUSIE)
DINI HARRIS
All About Cruises Owner/Travel Agent www.AllAboutCruisesOnline.com Hassle-free cruises with a world of itineraries!
Harris Financial Advisors Partner www.HFABoise.com Securities and advisory services through KMS Financial Services, Member FINRA/SIPC
VICKI HURST
ROBIN A. COOK
Emotional Freedom by Vicki Owner www.EmotionalFreedombyVicki.com Tapping away stress, anxiety, overwhelm and more!
Personal Accounting Solutions, LLC CPA/Owner 208-362-0933 Professional conservator and fiduciary services: bookkeeping for loved ones
sue macartney
Your Color Image Center Founder & Owner / Image & Color Consultant www.YourColor.us Est. 1980. Specializes in Custom Blend Mineral Cosmetics.
Marilyn mcallister
Your Fitness Your Life, LLC Owner www.YourFitnessYourLife.com Nurture your most valuable business asset -- you!
SHELLEY Mcclure
Vault Denim Executive Director & Founding Distributor www.PremiumDenimGroup.com For jean lovers by jean lovers!
margi mcdaniel
Nourish, LLC Owner, Certified Nutrition Therapist www.MargiMcDaniel.com Specialize in hormone balance / renew your radiance.
Missy smith
HowDoesShe.com Partner www.HowDoesShe.com 40,000 subscribed readers in less than two years.
TONI SMITH
DL Evans Bank Vice President & Branch Manager www.DLEvans.com The hometown community bank for women.
sheila spangler
Women’s Business Center Program Director www.WBCIdaho.org Workshops on Back of the Napkin Business Plans.
= 5 years or more in that business
www.idahowomensjournal.com
Feb/Mar 2013
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