Stephanie Healy is the founder and former CEO of Vente, an online direct marketing company she sold to Experian in 2005. Stephanie is currently running Doc’s Choice Pet Food, a business she purchased after the buyout. Prior to the 2010 Young Professionals Summit, Joe Olsen of Phenomblue sat down with Stephanie to talk about business skills, entrepreneurship, and more.
Here’s a quick synopsis of the interview:
- Most important thing was to have a strong business background
- She learned how to make money, have a budget, manage employees, and human resources
- Anyone can have a great idea, but you have to have a business plan that makes sense
- In the beginning, she couldn’t afford to hire the people that were needed, so everyone wore a lot of hats
- Wasn’t afraid to hire people that were better or smarter
- There’s only so much that one person can do – only way to make things big is to have people to lean on
- Businesses have to be built one day at a time
- If someone is young, start a business on the side, but go gain real-world experience
- If nobody knows about your great product, it won’t go anywhere
- Find out what you’re good at, and surround yourself with the people who can take you to new levels
- Have to have funding, the right people, the right product, and some luck
- Hard work makes a lot of luck happen
- Real business are built on – not eyeballs, not the next big thing – they’re built on sound business principles
- Always have to have your finger on the “next sale”
- Ultimately, it’s the customer that’s paying your paycheck
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