I became an entrepreneur in 2006, as an event planner. I had little knowledge of financial literacy which led me to spending all my profits on cars, trips, and living high on the hog. I literally wasted tens of thousands of dollars: Poor pricing structures, spending my own money to produce clients’ events, and producing a huge bridal show (Serendipity Soirée) are a few examples of poor financial decisions. Fast forward 4 years (2011), I had a baby and decided to rebrand my business from Opulent Creations Event Planning to Onida Cruz Weddings and Events I figured I could start fresh. Needless to say without the proper training and coaching business practices repeated themselves and I just decided to dissolve the business.
In 2014, after the birth of my second daughter I had the idea to begin a children’s centered business. I brainstormed on several ideas and settled on a rental company for kids’ events. I took all the lessons I learned in doing business, the wrong way, and applied it to the birth of Petite Seats. I stopped wasting money and invested my money into 30 children sized chiavari chairs. I became a rental company proprietor.
From 2014 until now I’ve been a rental company owner and it’s nothing better than watching your side hustle make money. You don’t need a lot to start you just need to get started. You have to have a financial plan when getting into rentals whether it’s purchasing inventory cash or leasing. If you use your credit to buy inventory you’re only getting a loan to buy your inventory. You have to have funds put aside for unexpected costs which always happen plus to pay your insurance until you’ve rented items. The rental game is a competitive game. You can’t be scared to lose or spend money. The key to rentals is having products people want at a cost that makes you a profit which is what I will teach at our Masterclass for $375 (👉🏾plug).
Here are a listing of services and apps that can be used at low to no cost to assist with business, remember to take advantage of free and trial versions to get the most bang for your buck:
FREE MARKETING TOOLS
✨EZTexting — free SMS marketing 250/mo
✨Constant Contact — Free 60 day trial
✨Hootsuite — Manage Social Media marketing in 1 place {30 Day Free Trail - $29/mo after}
✨Mailclimp — up to 2000 contacts
FREE FINANCE/BUDGET TOOLS
✨Mint
FREE PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
✨ClickBook — in-line appointment scheduling
✨Evernote — Virtual to-do list
✨Google calendar
FREE ADMIN TOOLS
✨Cute PDF — pdf conversion tool
✨ Google Docs — you can write, edit, and collaborate wherever you are. For free.
FREE COMMUNICATION TOOLS
✨Google Hangout Chat — Hangouts Chat makes it easy for teams to be able to get their work done in one place. From direct messages to group conversations, Chat helps teams collaborate easily and efficiently. With dedicated, virtual rooms to house projects over time — plus threaded conversations — Chat makes it simple to track progress and follow up tasks. Chat currently supports 28 languages and each room can support up to 8,000 members.
Here is a list of what you should be doing to generate business and not break the bank:
{1} Taking professional pictures
{2} Cross Promoting with other businesses
{3} Writing blog posts and sending newsletters
{4} Working on SEO to grow traffic to your site
Click the link in my bio to register for our Masterclass. You are being bombarded with information on how to run your business everyday and it is a lot. I am here to help.
3.30.19
NYC
$375 General Admission
$535 VIP (includes 45 min Coaching Session)
Use link HERE to pay in full via EventBrite‼️For Payment Plan, which started Monday, February 25, DM me on IG {@petiteseats} with your email address and full name.