This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Small Business Smarts - The Beginning

Heather Logrippo, CEO of Expose Yourself Public Relations takes you on a journey about what it takes to succeed in a small business. Buckle up, it's a wild ride!

Most people who know me perceive me as being successful. What people don’t know is that I don’t see myself as a picture of success today, I only see the potential for what I could be in the future. It’s this unquenched thirst for more, and the feeling of exhilaration I experience in seeing other business people get it when I explain what they could be, that fuels my jets.

I’ve just passed my 5 year anniversary as a small business owner and entrepreneur. In the past 5 years I have; bought an existing company, started a new company, gone through employees, gotten sued, was betrayed by my best friend and business partner,almost had to file bankruptcy, was audited by the IRS, dealt with some health scares, and yet, here I sit today, able to be retrospective and confident knowing that my businesses are strong, my fortitude stronger and wishing to share my trials and tribulations with you.

If I can save you from getting sued, from getting audited, from losing a valuable employee, from making a poor business decision, or impact you in a meaningful way that causes you to become a better business person, by sharing my experiences – then I’ve accomplished my goal in spending the precious little time I have writing this blog.

Find out what's happening in Back Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

So Who am I? Here’s what the world sees: I’m a wife and mother of two small children (a girl and a boy). I live in a 20 room estate, have a vacation home, a time share at Disney and access to family real estate all around the world. We drive nice cars, I am able to feed my addiction to jewelry (although you’ll never see me wearing most of it!), and I have great friends. Sounds picture perfect, right?

Wrong. Everyone has their issues. Here is what I see: An overweight (notice my profile picture just has my face), tired, exasperated business owner, (brandishing a perpetual headache) who is always trying to sell something to someone; An idea to my kids about why they should stop fighting, away of thinking to my employees so that they can offer the level of service worthy of my company, a picture of what increased business will look like to a potential client. I haven’t taken a vacation in 5 years without having to work. I am always “on” thinking about how we can do things better and I never seem to have enough time.

Find out what's happening in Back Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sound Familiar? The difference I’ve found between myself and other people is that I know how to make money. Yes, it’s true. I’ve found so many business people who think they are doing a great job but aren’t making any money. (Most of these people ask me to go into business with them.) At the end of the day, all that matters is that you make money when you own a business. So how do you do that and provide a great product or service, grow the business, give back to the community and end up whole at the end of the day? Well, I can and will tell you starting with my next blog. Let’s take a ride together……

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?