Welcome to our newest members!

Welcome Our newest Canadian Concierge Directory Members!

Get It Together Inc.

Sheri Bruneau, BEd.

Professional Organizer

403.813.0067

get-it-together@telus.net

Sheri Bruneau is the founder and President of Get It Together Inc. Sheri has

worked on organizational issues with both corporate and residential

organizing. While working with clients, Sheri is quick to assess the

situation and give practical suggestions, advice and ideas. Sheri believes

that she has the necessary skills to help guide her clients through their

personal journey of organizing their lives - whether it be through

organizing personal space issues, time management or paper issues.

Sheri's background is in education and was an elementary school teacher for

seventeen years. She has demonstrated leadership and compassion, while

maintaining an outgoing and enthusiastic personality. Sheri believes that

having an educational background has helped her connect with all of her

clients. She believes that her teaching background has given her an upper

hand with her business and working with people. Just like in teaching, there

are some people who need an extra push, while there are others that need a

gentle nudge. Sheri believes that she is good at reading people and using a

variety of strategies to make an impact. She also believes that everyone is

in control of his or her destiny. Some people just need some help to see

that and believe it.

Get It Together Inc. has added a new service. Adding the Concierge Service

is one that Sheri is very excited about! Anyone who knows Sheri knows that

she is the one to get the work done. If there is a 'to do' list, you can

always count on Sheri to get the work done!

Sheri was raised in Calgary, Alberta. Sheri currently lives with her 2

teenagers and her wonderful husband in Calgary.

Sheri is a proud member of POC (Professional Organizers of Canada). Name: Luxe Concierge & Event Planning

Jennifer is still in the process of getting Luxe up and running, however she is reachable by email and by phone should you know of someone in the Cambridge/Kitchener area that requires servicing!

Luxe Concierge Services

Jennifer Pessoa

Cambridge/Kitchener/Waterloo

jennifer@luxeservices.ca

Phone: (519)222-2495

www.luxeservices.ca

As always, we hope this finds you well and with LOTS of TIME on your side!

We welcome suggestions and submissions for future posts.

5 key lessons for entrepreneurs

With 2011 upon us, It is not only crazy how time flies, but amazing how much you can learn about being an entrepreneur while in the midst of it. One of the realities of running your own business is that the learning curve never ends. To keep your business vibrant and moving forward, it is important to be open to new developments, trends and tools that drive productivity, efficiency and profits. Here, in no particular order, are five key lessons learned about being an entrepreneur in 2010:

It’s all right to pass on business
Be realistic about what you can and can’t do. While you may be tempted to accept business that stretches your skills and capabilities, doing so can often lead to trouble when the customer’s expectations are not met, even if you’ve had the best of intentions. Rather than take on business that is outside of your scope, it is smarter to decline or refer a potential customer to someone who has better-suited skills.

Don’t rest on your laurels
Never stop selling your products or services. Even when business is good and customers are happy, the selling process never stops. It has to be a steady and constant process. Otherwise, you risk waking up one day to discover the sales pipeline is empty.

Be nice to your books, and they’ll be nice to you
Don’t underestimate the importance of having well-organized financial records. One of the big mistakes many entrepreneurs make is to focus all of their time and effort on getting and doing business, and spend too little time on making sure the books receive enough attention to support the business. When year-end comes around, having a pile of invoices and receipts can lead to a lot of headaches and time spent scrambling to get organized.

Build and nurture your network
It is important to establish an ecosystem of suppliers and partners. When you run a small business, it is impossible to do everything yourself. This includes meeting the needs of customers or clients, who need a variety of products and services. Creating a strong ecosystem makes it possible to meet the needs of your customers and, at the same time, support other entrepreneurs.

There is such a thing as work/life balance

Although it can be challenging, it is important to strive for work-life balance. Run your business rather than let it run you.
Be disciplined about how much time you devote to the business, and work on making sure your efforts are as productive as possible. At the same time, recognize the importance of family, friends and pursuing outside interests.
These are just a handful of the lessons from what has turned into a crash course in business. It is also important to recognize that the learning doesn’t end; it keeps on going as your business grows and evolves.

Much success to you all in 2011!

Special to The Globe and Mail

Mark Evans is a principal with ME Consulting, a content and social media strategic and tactical consultancy that creates and delivers ‘stories’ for companies looking to capture the attention of customers, bloggers, the media, business partners, employees and investors.