Recently, my son Jack and I went to the local bookstore in search of the book Harry Potter 4.  We have an agreement that we will read each Harry Potter book in the series together and then watch the movie.  This has two wonderful benefits:  One, I get to spend quality time reading a great series with my son and, two, I’m hoping it will increase his love of reading as much as Greg and I enjoy reading.

When we located the book, I picked up the hardback edition (which was extremely heavy) and then chose the paperback version, as it would be much easier to hold.  I compared the fourth book to the first book in the series and noticed how much thicker the books become as the storyline progresses.  This got me thinking about how smart women build businesses in the same way.

When J.K. Rowling (a very smart woman) wrote Harry Potter 1, she created an amazing story with a handful of characters that you wanted to follow and know their every move.  Each book is more captivating than the last.  When women create a new business from their Big ideas, they typically begin with a single idea or two and take action to make it happen. The “story” begins to unfold with one or two products or services and from there, the business has the opportunity to grow and become much larger. 

One example that quickly comes to mind is Bobbi Brown cosmetics.  If you know her story, she was a makeup artist that was dissatisfied with the product lines she was working with and went on to create her own line of cosmetics. To make a very long story short, Bobbi Brown cosmetics is owned today by Estee Lauder. Her single idea turned into a multi-million dollar enterprise.  Your business is like a story that continues to grow, adding new and interesting products and services over time.

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