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Monday, June 18, 2012

Mission:Small Business Grant from Chase, our entry


Will you vote for me?
Today I spent 90% of my time on the telephone gathering e mail addresses so I could send the link for voting for Caregivers Aide for the $250,000 grant sponsored by Chase Bank. I have the grant application completed and in review by my SBA contact before I actually hit the SUBMIT button.

The terms of the grant state that applicants must receive 250 votes on the Mission: Small Business voting site by June 30, 2012. Voting requires logging into a Facebook account. So not just ANYONE can vote, only FB members. If the applicant does not have the 250 votes, their application will not even be considered. So, considering the amount I may win, the hours spent gathering votes  is well worth the effort. 

My main business, besides caring for my husband, is seamstress. I have been sewing my whole life but hung out my shingle, that is advertised my business, in 1999 when I came home to be with my husband.  While I was still working as a bookkeeper at my last job I would repair and alter clothing for my coworkers during my lunch hour.  This was when I realized the potential of using my skills. 

When I started sewing at home in 1999 I started a log book of names, phone numbers and descriptions of the work to be done so I would know what work was still to be done and just what I had to do.  I have 10+ years of logs.  I never thought much about those logs other than their intended use to contact the clothing’s owner when the job was ready to be picked up.   Today I dug out the books from the last couple years and called all my old customers asking if they use Facebook and if so, would they vote for me. 

I started getting hoarse around 4 pm , but what a gratifying day. I called about 100 people, spoke with most, left messages with others.  I received 41 email addresses I will use to send voting information.  The others either have no computer, or do not use Facebook.  This does not surprise me.  A lot of my customers are retired and do not need a computer.  And Facebook is a lot more complicated than it seems.  Some of these customers I have not seen or spoke to since I performed their sewing several years ago. But when I told them who I was and why I was calling they were anxious to help.  And some who did not have computers gave me names of their friends who do use Facebook, friends they would ask to vote for me.   
Brendon Burchard, a motivation and high performance trainer, lists three considerations for living a satisfying, productive life: Have I lived? Have I loved? And have I made a difference in the world, did I matter?    While I am not, never have been the fireball of energy he seems to be, I do believe I can answer all his questions with a satisfying Yes.  Today’s response to my phone calls to customers that in some cases I met only once a few years ago makes it all worthwhile.  I’ll never get financially rich from my sewing business (hence trying to start up this second business that requires a grant) but I’m sure having fun and making some great friends. 

Please vote for Caregivers Aide to help us qualify for the grant - please follow the link below:
The terms of the grant are that I must receive 250 votes on their voting site by June 30 before they will even look at my application.  To vote you will need to log into a Facebook account.
I will use the grant to purchase materials, labor, and machinery needed to go forward with a distributor that has expressed interest in my products, and all the required packaging etc.

Here is the link.         https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com/          
Go to “Log in & Support”
When you get to the voting site you will need to scroll down and type in the company name:     
Caregivers Aide, LLC        Pennsylvania                    Auburn                  
and hit SEARCH.  If you have entered the information correctly it will give you my full address and how many have voted. On the lower right there will be a VOTE button.  Click that button and you are done.  You can then share this with other Facebook users, or just forward this email to anyone you think might vote for me.
I value and appreciate all your efforts on my behalf.  And please ask your friends, family and co-workers to vote too.  The more votes the better.
Thank you.

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