Nell Merlino
Nell Merlino is a woman on a mission.
Her vision: Encourage as many as 1 million women entrepreneurs to grow their business to revenue goals of $1 million and more.
“If 1 million women get to $1 million, it creates a minimum of 4 million jobs,” says Merlino, observing that you’ll hire four to six people if you grow your business.
Merlino is the founder and president of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence and Make Mine a Million $ Business. Since 2005, she’s helped hundreds of women reach their financial and business goals. Now, Merlino is amping up to reach thousands more.
At first, Make Mine a Million $ Business held regional contests nationwide, selecting 10 winners at each site. Those winners received funding, coaching, financial advice and marketing assistance. In 2009, she scaled up by creating an internet competition that 1,500 women entered, taking advantage of webinars and coaching opportunities and striving for a $100,000 prize.
Now she’s amped up the process even further, with M3 1000. Merlino’s latest goal? Help 1,000 female business owners reach $1 million in annual revenue in 18 to 36 months. To help women accomplish that, M3 is holding localized “pitch parties” all over the nation, where women can practice before coming to a large-scale pitch session. At the large-scale events, held last year in Philadelphia and Colorado, as many as 150 women have the opportunity to pitch their business over the course of two days. The seventy-five winners selected at each event get group coaching calls to help them address their issues and alleviate some of their growing pains.
Merlino says M3 1000 reverses previous practice by giving women a chance to pitch before asking them to fill out a pile of paperwork. “It’s an easier entry point,” she says. “They need to do the pitch and see what kind of help they can get before they do the paperwork.”
And, Merlino enthuses, it’s working. She’s seen women work out business deals at the local sessions. One woman, laid off from her corporate job, was raising about $20,000 on the side teaching newlyweds how to cook. Two young women attending the pitch party were makeup artists for brides, skilled in the field of social media. They asked whether the woman had a presence on websites for wedding showers. That advice led to a whole campaign and wedding shower package. Already, the business has reached its $75,000-a-year goal.
“What I see is stunning creativity every third or fourth pitch,” Merlino says. “You see what women are capable of, and what the market is missing. It is one of my favorite experiences — Where you see women moving from ‘How am I going to take care of myself?’ and drawing on their brains and expertise to figure that out.”
Merlino’s goals for 2012? “Scale, Scale, Scale. I’d love to do a session toward the end of the year where we work with 1,000 women over a couple of days. The more we do this, the more the confidence grows. It’s a self-seeding tornado.”
American Express OPEN is a longtime supporters. Now Sam’s Club has signed on as a partner. Coca-Cola has introduced the Adelante tour, aimed at Latinas. Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women (GROW) and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation have teamed up to provide the Blast! Business Accelerator Program. All of these initiatives allow more opportunities for women to succeed, Merlino says.
“We have a consistent track record,” says Merlino of M3. “In a climate where everyone’s trying to figure out how to create jobs and grow businesses, we have this extraordinary experience.” In fact, says Merlino, 30 percent of the women who participate in her programs reach the $1 million level.
“I’m looking for as many ways as possible to get more women growing and moving,” Merlino reports. She’s always envisioning something new. Last September, Merlino rang the bell at the Stock Exchange – and suddenly, she started thinking in a new direction. “Which business is going to end up traded on the New York Stock Exchange? That’s another level of growth and aspiration,” Melino enthuses.
