Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Lorraine Ball, Marketing Strategist of Digital Toolbox, located in Indianapolis, IN, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
The Digital Toolbox is an online resource for small business owners who have questions about digital marketing. The self-paced courses, workbooks, videos, and podcasts offer new marketing professionals and new business owners a foundation to do their own marketing or make good decisions about hiring someone to help.
Tell us about yourself
After spending too many years in Corporate America, I said goodbye to the bureaucracy, glass ceilings, and bad coffee and channeled it into my passion for helping small business owners succeed. I started a small marketing agency, which transformed into a digital agency as small business marketing changed. Along the way, I discovered what I loved most was teaching small business owners what they needed to know to take control of their marketing. From that passion can the Podcast - More than a Few Words and the Digital Toolbox. I sold the agency after 20 years so that I could focus exclusively on teaching and podcasting.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is the people whose lives I have touched along the way. So many young professionals who now lead marketing teams and agencies got their start at Roundpeg. Many successful local companies relied on us to develop their first marketing strategies.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
I started my company to do something I enjoyed. Along the way, I figured out I also had to do sales, bookkeeping, human resource activities, and a dozen other tasks, which take time out of my day and week. Unfortunately, as the owner, I don't get to have a day comprised of only things I love doing. At some point, I had to deal with an unhappy employee, preparing paperwork for my accountant, or calling clients who were behind in their payments. I don't look forward to doing these tasks, but they are part of owning a business.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- You don't have to do it alone. Find advisors, mentors, and friends to bounce ideas off of. Hire someone or outsource mundane tasks which prevent you from moving forward.
- Narrow your focus. Everyone is not your customer and shouldn't be. The more precise your target, the easier it is to sell.
- Take breaks. Your business will survive without you for a few days. Don't put off vacations for someday in the future.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://digitaltoolbox.club/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDigitalToolbox
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorrainefball/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lorraineball
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorraineball/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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