• THE TRANSCRIPT. Reading the entire script of this episode of the show causes one to reflect on key ideas in critical ways. You will find that you can easily bounce from the transcript to the case study guide from within that dialogue.

• EXPLORE THE CASE STUDY. In the beginning these case study guides were prepared for the special broadcast by PBS into the schools and universities throughout the USA. Since that time, Prenctice Hall and Thomson Learning have include these case studies in their best-selling business textbooks.

• Do You HAVE A PRODUCT IDEA?: Do some research before quitting your full-time job! Also, it might be good to intern on the weekends with a firm with products like the one about which you are thinking. Get a feel for the energy of their day. Also, align yourself now with one of the national trade associations in that field. You'll meet future colleagues and the exchange of ideas is priceless. Visit their websites, you'll be inspired one way of the other.

• Your Comments and Questions are always invited about each episode.

Boulder, Colorado: In this episode of the show we take you into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to visit with Cowgirl Enterprises.

So many of our viewers ask, "How do you get a business started?" Here is a good story to study.

Donna Baase had a vision about skincare products that come from botanicals -- herbs, flowers, roots, etc. In the dry air of Colorado, especially in this mile high city, she knows women need and want skin moisturizers that really work.

Though she started her business on her kitchen table, blending twelve oils from plants and roots (Cowgirl Cream), she quickly learned to outsource key parts of her business and to focus on her unique strengths.

You will visit Rocky Mountain Labs where Cowgirl Cream is now processed. You will go behind the scenes where it is packaged . . . by inmates at the Boulder County Jail. And, you'll hear why natural products -- the focus of her business -- reduce some of her risks of doing business.

• CONTACT:
  Cowgirl Enterprises, Ltd.
  4593 N. Broadway Suite C-114
  Boulder, CO 80304
  Tel: 303-440-7549
  E-mail: Click here
  URL: http://www.cowgirlenterprises.com/

• BUSINESS TYPES. Review the stories of other businesses within your business type. Cowgirl Enterprises is listed under Personal Products/Services .

• KNOW YOUR COSTS – KNOW ALL YOUR NUMBERS – AND WHAT THEY MEAN. Explore this key episode about understand your critical ratios.

• FIND YOUR STEP AND CHART A COURSE TO THE NEXT. If you already have a business, explore Steps 5 - 8. If you’re just getting started, spend time going through Steps 1 - 4. Three-dimensional business modelling is part of our research of critical ratios.

• FIRST PRINCIPLES: Starting a business is the road to economic independence for most of us average people. Read a little more to see why incorporating a business keeps the passion of the American revolution alive!

• 1500+ Questions and Answers within SmallBusinessSchool. Within every show there are about 15 questions and answers. Within the school, there is a place to record your answers to these questions. Your answers to the same questions that Hattie asks every business owner becomes part of your own secure database where you have options to re-display your best answers within this site as your own profile page (that is this page), essentially an executive summary , a study guide and/or a transcript.

• Work with your local office of the following organizations:
  • Chamber of Commerce. Both the local and the national Chamber are well worth your time. Some of these people could be on your own board of advisors.
  • NFIB. An advocacy group for small business, the National Federation of Independent Business has been looking at legislation from the city to the state to the federal governments.
  • SCORE. Contact your local SCORE person.
  • Small Business Development Center. Associated with the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are over 1200 in the USA and they are an excellent resource for help and continuing education.
    

• SUPPORT PUBLIC TELEVISION:
  Become a member of your local station. If you are already, great. If not and your business is doing well, consider joining the Producers' Club ($1000).

• ANALYZE THE COWGIRL WEBSITE: http://www.cowgirlenterprises.com/ This site is working. Consider these factors:
  1. Easy Contact information
  2. Consistent Branding
  3. Concise description of the business
  4. Easy navigation
  5. Sharp graphics
  6 . FAQ's answered
  7. Products presented
  8. Service provided
  9. Product differentiation

• To improve your business, improve yourself. Donna took a course called FastTrac which is offered all over the country. She learned how to write a business plan. If you will explore this Kauffmann Foundation web site, you can find links to classes in your area. Also, form a group or join a group of other small business owners from whom you can learn. You can learn how to do your own group by studying the video and reading the transcript of our program about Opportunity Knocks which has a dozen groups of small business owners in Bend, Oregon.
  
  The founders of fast-growing companies are probably even more studious than others:
  • Bill Hagstrom of UroCor told us about his reading plan,
  • Tom Gegax of Tires Plus is working to improve as a leader and as a person,
  • Albert Black did an MBA after his company was already very successful and
  • Bob Orenstein meets monthly with other CEOs.

This is a very short list of people -- the rest of the list is right here. All of these people inspire us to stretch to the next level.

Donna encourages all women to have courage; she says: "... to me, it has to do with independence, resourcefulness, staying in the saddle, taking the reins, all these things (and) making use of the natural resources around us. I meet cowgirls of all walks of life." - Donna Baase