What It's About
A woman in Denver steps outside of her comfort zone to help other women succeed in business.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Her advice to hustlers: first find an audience interested in what you are providing and ask them to invest before you start. Without motivation, it can be difficult to maintain momentum through the hard times.
Krystal always kept in mind the handful of women who had paid their membership fees for the entire year and knew she had a responsibility to them.
Fun Fact
When Krystal first monetized her group, she was told it would be impossible to compete and therefore, she would never pull in a profit, as there were so many associations and meetups already happening in Denver.
“I've seen my revenue double each year since starting the business, so I think I can safely say those assumptions were wrong,” Krystal said. “The lesson here is not to take the word of those who believe what you're doing isn't achievable or ‘realistic’.”
Notes from Chris
Episode 249
Krystal Covington is an introvert, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that considering the networking empire she’s building. She’s the founder of Women of Denver, a social enterprise association for women that strives to help them increase their incomes and reach economic equality. The group hosts three to five events each month to help women develop their skills and build a strong network which can contribute to them increasing their income. When she moved to Denver from Detroit in 2013, she had no connections but recognized the need for a network that could help support her in her life and career. And although she tried a variety of networking groups, she couldn’t find one that filled her need. That’s when she realized that she was going to have to build it herself. Krystal ran Women of Denver as a free meetup group for about a year, but even with free events, there was still a challenge getting attendees, which created a growing demand for Krystal’s time and money and contributed to her feeling over extended. It was at this point that Krystal realized she had to make her program an income-generating business or shut it down. To get new members, Krystal offered an incentive. The first five that signed on each got a free video to promote their personal brand. Those first sales validated her efforts and supported the idea that what she was creating was truly worth paying for. In the first year, the business made about $7,000. The second year, it increased to $15,000. This year—year three—Krystal is expecting revenue to exceed $30,000 with the current growth.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Women of Denver: Learn more about Krystal and her empowering female entrepreneurial side hustle on her website
- Eventbrite: The event sales platform that Krystal used to promote Women of Denver
- Meetup: The platform that Krystal used to create and market her local meetups
- The $100 Startup Instant Consultant: There is no “consulting school” or degree. You can start a new business as a consultant in about one day, if not sooner. Get started with this PDF!
- Engineer Creates "Inertia Project" for Women: How a former engineer loses in Las Vegas and redesigns the trajectory of her life, creating an impressive hustle along the way
- Marketing Consultant Creates Private Retreats: In the foothills of Tennessee, a marketing consultant designs a quarterly, high-end retreat weekend to help attendees take stock of their lives and businesses
Resources
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