The Great Business Swap

I am completely stepping out of my comfort with my latest adventure. I had a light bulb moment a few months ago about organizing an event that would benefit a charity and at the same time coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month. As the owner of a language education company, teaching Spanish to children, I have not had any experience planning or hosting a large event. But I had an idea and I wanted to go for it. Reality soon set in, that I was in way over my head and just could not keep up with the publicity, marketing, and overall organization of the event.

I thought I could balance running my language program and just plan a huge community event on the side. I know I am a multitasker, but I was sorely mistaken. Event planning is just not in my bag of tricks.

Not wanting to can the whole event, I put on my thinking cap (teacher talk for some major brainstorming), and I came up with a great proposal. As a small business owner, I like to support and swap businesses with other mom or women owned businesses in the area. In the past I have done cross marketing, tuition swap for childcare, and advertising exchange.

I hit the jackpot with my most recent business swap. A mom who wanted to enroll her child in my program was an event planner. We worked out the details and I now have a fabulous, productive event planner in charge of my whole event! In turn I will be offering her child tuition for our Spanish classes. This has been a tremendous situation for me. I am now able to make my ideas come alive with the help and organization of this local mom. I am so excited that my ‘little idea’ has grown into a community wide event. We will have professional dance presentations and lessons, sampling of authentic cuisine, live chef demos, music, and games. All of my participants are offering their talents and services as a result of a business swap with me.

I have learned that some things that are totally out of my box actually can be possible with a little creativity and a lot of networking.