Last week was a great week for all of you entrepreneurial ladies, no? We had three interviews with Gwen Bell and got to ask her all sorts of relevant questions related to starting a successful business. The response was so good, that I got really inspired to (1) create a resource that focuses just on entrepreneurship for you ladies and (2) try my hand at a starting a business based on my skill set.

Enter: The B-Side.

Just as the b-side housed funky, lesser known tracks on the other side of your favorite cassette tapes, I like to think of The B-Side as a funky, entrepreneurial track on the “other side” of thinkandgrowchick.com. If you click on The B-Side tab in the navigation menu, you’ll find two things I am now continuously offering for those readers who are really interested in entrepreneurship, like me.

The first, which I am very excited about, is The B-Side Bookclub. Basically, it’s a *FREE*, members-only, virtual bookclub for women small business owners, individual entrepreneurs, bloggers who want to turn their blogs into a business, and anyone else who’s interested in entrepreneurship in general. You all know how obsessed I am with business books, so I though this would be a good opportunity to make good use of that fixation while helping women who want to learn more about starting/owning a successful business.

Basically, I’ll choose a business book that members will have 4 weeks to read and we’ll discuss it in a live, private video meeting. Each book’s main points will be discussed as it relates to your type of businesses—that is, the online boutiques, the natural hair product sellers, the jewelry designers, etc. This is a great opportunity because you get to learn concepts that will improve your business in the company of other women who are just like you. Additionally, members get 24/7 access to a group message board where you can start discussions and network with the other members.

I got the idea while I was reading this interview featuring Leila Noelliste, creator of the über-popular blog Black Girl Long Hair. The interviewer asked her about her decision to offer advertising on the site and the evolution of BGLH as a business. Leila answered:

“It was through blogging that I really became aware of how unsupported black businesses in the hair/beauty industry are…These aren’t major businesses — just talented black women selling out of their homes.”

I had recently decided that I didn’t want to offer advertising on the blog at the moment, but Leila’s comments sent the light-bulb off in my head about what else I could offer. Leila is right: many of the businesses from black women that we see starting up online are talented yet small ventures that are operated from home. Because at that stage many of these women are putting all there efforts into whatever it is that they sell—natural hair products, handmade jewelry, writing services, etc—there isn’t much time to focus on the nuts and bolts business principles like identifying a target market, knowing your business direction, or understanding the value of your product. The kicker, however, is that if you don’t understand these principles your business/blog/idea won’t reach the level of success needed to make it a full-time gig, which I know is what most of us want. The Bookclub is an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to improve by learning those business concepts that they otherwise might not have.

The second thing that I’m offering on the B-Side is my personal service as Startup Advisor and Entry-Level Blog/Website Designer. I know those are unconventional titles to call myself, but I think they best convey the kind of stuff I can help you do (I also just hate the term, “Consultant”).

For the startup advising, I’ve decided to do this not so much because I want to make money (although that is definitely important) but because I see so many women like me with very small businesses that need a ton of help. How many times have you clicked through someone’s link for their online shop or Etsy site and thought, “Wow, they are going about this all wrong!” I see this ALL THE TIME, especially among super small business owned by black women and it’s frustrating. I’m not saying this to mean that other demographics don’t have the same issues with their small businesses, but as a black women, I know the issues unique to black women, and I’m pretty confident in my ability to work directly with black women entrepreneurs. All in all, I want to improve our businesses so that there are more successful ones available in our community.

This need for improvement with our businesses also extends to having an improved website. If you are selling your product or service online, then your website should at least be appealing, even if you don’t have a lot of money to spend. In fact, if you are conveying that your business budget is limited with a kinda-crappy website, what am I supposed to think as a potential customer about the quality of your product? Exactly. As an “Entry-Level Blog/Website Designer” I will help you do exactly what my self-proclaimed title says: create a basic, yet appealing website or blog just to get you started, for a reasonable price. I designed every aspect of thinkandgrowchick.com on a very tight budget all by myself, and I know I can do the same for my fellow women entrepreneurs.

To kick off my creation of The B-Side, I am going to do two things that I’ve never done before and that I think are really special. The first is, I am having a live video chat this Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 7:30pm ET to talk more about The B-Side and to have a discussion with you all about entrepreneurship among black women and things you can do to make your business better. You can tune in at:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-bside

The second thing I’m doing is offering my “Startup Advisor” services for the rest of October for whatever you want to pay. That’s right, you PAY WHAT YOU WANT and I will meet with you over Skype to discuss solutions and strategies to make your small business better. Why am I doing this? Because like I said, I see many of my fellow black women with businesses who need help, and this is about more than money. I love teaching, I love studying business, and I love to help people. Geting clients, at any price, will help me improve my process and create better value for the people who need it, which is what entrepreneurship is all about. I know many of you are skeptical about paying people to help you with something so intangible, but as Gwen Bell said in Part 1 of her interview:

Hire an executive coach. One of the most important decisions I made in 2010 was to hire an executive coach. Working with someone weekly who reflects your values back to you helps you make better decisions in your career, whatever stage you’re at.

Work with professionals. Hire people to teach you what they know. I remember when I started out. I hired someone to teach me the ropes of living and owning a business in Japan. It was the equivalent of $150 USD for an hour. It seemed like such an investment at the time. But hiring her saved me thousands (and thousands) because I avoided mistakes I would have made without her expertise.

So yes, I’ve been really busy to say the least. I invite you all to sign-up for the free bookclub here, and to check out my services here. What do you think about The-B-Side? Does this interest you at all as an entrepreneur? Leave your comments below.