Project Management Tools are an Entrepreneur Must-Have (with Melissa Chiou)
This podcast episode presents a showcase of insights from Melissa Chiou, a marketing and media consultant, who elucidates the strategies she employed to bootstrap her business. Central to her narrative is the significance of cultivating a robust mindset, which she posits as foundational for entrepreneurial success. Melissa recounts her journey from television production to digital marketing, highlighting the necessity of integrating diverse experiences into her business framework. Moreover, she emphasizes the importance of effective project management tools, such as Airtable, and the value of engaging with peers across various industries to broaden one's perspective. By sharing her triumphs and setbacks, Melissa aims to equip listeners with actionable takeaways that can be immediately applied to their own entrepreneurial endeavors.
In this episode, Melissa Chiou, a marketing and media consultant, shares her entrepreneurial journey, which is characterized by a transition from television production to digital marketing. Her narrative offers valuable insights into the motivations that propelled her to establish her own business, emphasizing the allure of freedom and the ability to shape her own work environment. Through this exploration, Melissa presents a compelling case for bootstrapping as a viable path to entrepreneurship, drawing from her extensive experience in both corporate and freelance capacities to develop a practical framework for success.
The discussion further delves into the pragmatic aspects of managing a business, where Melissa candidly addresses her struggles with administrative tasks and financial responsibilities. This candid acknowledgment of challenges serves to humanize her journey, illustrating that entrepreneurship encompasses both triumphs and setbacks. She articulates the critical need for effective project management systems, recommending tools such as Airtable to streamline operations and enhance productivity. Additionally, she highlights the importance of strategic foresight, urging entrepreneurs to set clear goals and engage in thorough planning to navigate the complexities of business growth.
One of the core themes of the episode is the necessity of expanding one’s professional network beyond the confines of one’s industry. Melissa advocates for learning from diverse perspectives, which not only fosters innovation but also cultivates resilience in the face of adversity. By embracing a mindset attuned to continuous learning and adaptability, she underscores the transformative power of personal development in entrepreneurship. The episode ultimately serves as a rich resource for aspiring business owners, offering actionable insights that can be readily implemented in their own ventures.
Takeaways:
- The importance of fostering a mindset conducive to entrepreneurship cannot be overstated; it fundamentally shapes success.
- Implementing effective project management tools is essential for maintaining organization and facilitating workflow.
- Engaging with diverse professionals can provide invaluable perspectives that enhance one’s approach to business.
- Understanding the distinction between entrepreneurial and corporate mindsets is crucial for navigating the complexities of self-employment.
- Regularly practicing mindset exercises, such as meditation and affirmations, can significantly improve one’s emotional resilience.
- Learning from both successes and failures contributes to a comprehensive understanding of bootstrapping a business.
00:00 - Untitled
00:44 - Untitled
00:49 - Introduction to the Showcase Episode
01:43 - Transitioning from Corporate to Entrepreneurship
02:36 - Bootstrapping Your Business
04:06 - The Importance of Mindset in Entrepreneurship
05:03 - Connecting with Your Audience
05:17 - Valuable Insights and Guest Invitations
Welcome to the Frugalpreneur podcast. I am your host Sarah St. John.This episode is what I refer to as a showcase episode where I feature a bootstrapped entrepreneur and they briefly share their tips, tricks, tactics, techniques and tools that help them bootstrap their business and the successes and failures along the way.My hope is that each of these showcase episodes will provide at least one valuable takeaway that you can implement with right away in your own Bootstrap business journey.
Melissa ChiouNow onto the episode Hi, my name is Melissa Cho. I am a marketing and media consultant. So my background I originally started in TV production in D.C. and then I moved to LA.I was out there for 10 years working in live sports production, reality TV shows, post production. So I did that for a while. Then I came back to the east coast and now work in digital marketing.What led me to start my business was the freedom just to create my own work style, my own work life and working with different clients.What I did to bootstrap my business was to really just bring together all the information that I had taken from working a corporate job and as well as my freelancing jobs and just integrating all that together and my knowledge into creating a framework for my business.The biggest failure is probably the administrative and accounting stuff, learning how to do self employment taxes, business taxes and figuring out that so I'm not as good as in that part of it. So when you run your own business you kind of have to do a little bit of everything. So so that has been a learning experience for me.My best tips for bootstrapping your business I would say having a good project management software system. I tend to prefer airtable so it's great for if you want to project manage different projects.If you want to create a content strategy, calendar does that too. It has lots of templates you can choose from so definitely project management is really important. Planning ahead is really important.Figuring out what is the long term goal you want to achieve, what are the goals for each quarter. Also talking to your peers and also people outside your industry as well is really important.So I always make an effort to talk to different types of people. Even though I mostly work in marketing and media, I may touch on tech, healthcare, biotech, startups.So I'm usually talking to many types of people, even locksmiths.So right now I'm training as a locksmith apprentice so I'm talking to locksmiths even though it has nothing to do with my day job really I like being able to learn from different types of people because they have interesting different perspectives of how they do things. So that's really important so you don't get so attached to I need to do this a certain way and that's the only way.There are actually many different types of ways. So understanding that the mindset of an entrepreneur is also very different from a corporate person, I think that is also very important.So I try to consciously work on my mindset, do mindset exercises. I use meditation apps, so there are different types you could use.I would say my best advice for business owners is to really work on their mindset because that will be the foundation for anything that you do. Because if you have limited beliefs or you only work under the framework of a corporate employee, it's going to be really difficult for you.So definitely work on your mindset. There are a lot of apps for that. Affirmations, visualizations. Visualizations are great. I love those.So there are YouTube videos for that, there are books for that. And so I definitely encourage any business owners to really focus on that.It really does make a difference and it makes you feel better as well, so you don't feel so in the struggle. If you want to reach out to me, you can connect with me on LinkedIn. It's under my name, Melissa Cho.And then there's a link for Book a call if you want to connect with me or send me an email. I also have a substack newsletter as well.
Sarah St JohnI hope you enjoyed that episode and were able to take away a valuable nugget of information that you can implement right away in your own business. If you feel your story would be valuable for the listeners of this show, please visit Frugal Show Guests.
