Thinking of starting your own business? This past November, Boston-area alumni learned key considerations for taking on such an endeavor from other alumni who have taken the plunge at an Alumni Career Services event, “How to Bring Ideas to Action.” The panel of alumni experts included Peggy Burns ‘77, president of Circle Furniture; Eran Lobel ‘89, founder and CEO of Element Productions; Sandy Lish ‘87, principal and founder of the Castle Group; John Meunier ‘83, principal of Cogent Research and Wendy Spivak ‘82, principal and founder of the Castle Group. The alumni guest speakers offered their insights and suggestions on entrepreneurship and managing your own business.

All of the panelists agreed that a good network of contacts—your support system—is important to help you learn about running a business, to bounce ideas off of, and to learn best practices from. They stressed researching the many resources available to small business owners, especially women and minorities, which can help to provide funding and guidance about building a business plan.

They offered these additional tips:

• Love what you do... you will work a lot of hours so it’s important that you really enjoy your work.

• Hire good people… you can’t do it all yourself or be an expert in everything. Hire people who can provide the expertise you need and let them do it for you.

• Define your goals and what your strengths are… in the beginning, you’ll be inclined to take on just about any work, because you’re so happy to get clients. But eventually, you’ll realize that you can’t be all things to all customers and still be good at it. As one panelist noted, “It felt great the first time I fired a client!”

• Networking is key… all of the panelists were connected through their businesses in one way or another.

• Be open to taking a new direction… certain ideas and events may take you down paths you never considered earlier for your career.

• You don’t have to plan your future… as much as you have to believe in it!

Attendees were extremely appreciative and excited about the caliber of the panelists, who took time out from their busy lives to share their business experience with fellow alumni. “This was my first Alumni Association event, and it was extremely helpful and motivational,” said one young alumnus. And as one panelist said, in response to an audience question... “we all have to make decisions about what to spend time on, and what not to.” Clearly, both alumni attendees and panelists felt this event was worthwhile.