Would you like to learn...

• Where to get the information you need about finding small business grants in your area?
• How to set up a system to keep track of your grant research and submission process?
• The insider's secrets to writing grants that get funded?
• What NOT to put in your grant proposal?
• How to "think outside the box" and get what you need?
• How to get free or reduced rates for your rent, utilities, business phone and even some secretarial services?
• Why looking for a "government grant" could be a waste of your time -- and what to look for instead?
• What to include in your proposal that will make funders "sit up and take notice"?

Then sign up for this free 7-part e-course and get started building the business you've always dreamed of today!

Attention: business owners, leaders and coaches:

Are you "successful"? 

Success means different things to different people.  For some, it means having enough money to be able to buy what you want, and live your life a certain way.  For others, it's having respect and recognition for your efforts.  Or having a close and loving relationship with your family and friends. 

No matter how you define success, it usually comes after a lot of goal-setting, planning, hard work and perseverance. 

One way success can be measured is by achieving the goals you've set for yourself. 

I'm sure you've heard the expression about life that it's "the journey not the destination" that matters.  I've noticed that for most truly successful people, a big part of their success comes from the quest for a life that is filled with purpose and personal significance.

Do you remember what it felt like when you made  your first sale, got your first client or created your first product?  Those feelings of accomplishment, excitement and pride?  And, once you learned what to do, how much easier it was to keep going?

I am asking you to help someone else experience that same sense of satisfaction.  To lend a helping hand to a woman who wants to start her own business, or who needs a little advice so she can take her business to the next level!  How?

By being a mentor. 

The happiest and most successful people I know are the ones who are passionate about their work -- and view that work as more than just a job, but as a "calling" they're fulfilling.  They are engaged in living their lives, in following the path of their own choosing, based on their own sets of beliefs, values and principles, and trying to touch as many lives as possible along the way.

I personally believe that success carries with it the responsibility for giving something back to the society that gave us the opportunities which led to success, as long as it's done in such a way that it honors your own principles and values.  

The thing I absolutely LOVE about Mentoring is that it doesn't take much time, energy or resources -- but by being willing to give a few hours of your time each month, you can make all the difference in the world to someone else.

That's why MAPS was started, and I'd like to invite you to be part of this grassroots movement to create opportunity, strengthen the economy and transform the lives of low-income women around the globe. 

What makes MAPS different?

We know that economic self-sufficiency is the "roadmap" that can guide people out of poverty.  But for the working poor, the wages from a low-paying job isn't a vehicle, it's more like a "bus ticket" that only takes someone as far as their next paycheck!

Today, having a job -- even a fulltime job -- does not guarantee escape from poverty.  In fact, according to the 2000 Census Bureau's Annual Report on Poverty, 38% of poor adults were working.  In an Urban Institute report on poverty, one in six people -- including children -- lives in a household where even though at least one adult is working, they are still poor. 

Traditional welfare-based approaches to poverty generally focus on the "deficits" caused by being poor, and provides temporary assistance to "fill in the gaps".  (Financial, housing and nutrional assistance for example).  While these programs are vital for the immediate survival needs  and stabilization of the family, they can cause dependency  on the system, and they don't address a long-term solution to the problem.

Microenterprise Answers to your Personal Success wants to change that -- one woman -- one business -- at a time. But we need your help. 

Do you have a little time...even an hour a week?  If you're interested in being a mentor, posting on our forum, or writing articles, we'd appreciate your help.  If you know of other women whom you feel would appreciate being part of this grassroots movement, please recommend the Website to them.  You can do it by clicking here, right now!  

Exciting News!!

Special Announcement!!

We are very excited to announce that MAPS will be partnering with "MicroMentor" and the Aspen Institute, rather than starting our own mentoring program.  They already have an excellent program, and the capacity to work with mentors and proteges on a global basis!

Here's a little more information about Micromentor:

MicroMentor aims to improve the economic well-being for families located in distressed communities and neighborhoods everywhere, by providing top-quality, personalized mentoring assistance and business support to underserved small and emerging business owners, through the convenience of internet technology.

MicroMentor's Goals:

Demand for mentoring services has been so tremendous that MicroMentor recently launched a national drive to attract more business people to serve as volunteer mentors.  MicroMentor's goal is to offer volunteer opportunities to those willing to share their hard-won business expertise, insider networks and experience. MicroMentor offers countless emerging business owners the opportunity to connect with successful entrepreneurs and business professionals across the globe.

Over time, MicroMentor expects to broaden its services, particularly those offered on its Website, to help entrepreneurs gain access to a wide array of resources and products that could help to strengthen their business, including training, financing and marketing.  Still, as MicroMentor expands services and increases the number of participants, it is anticipated that peer mentoring relationships will remain at the heart of its program.

History of MicroMentor:

Micromentor is the brainchild of a group of small business development experts housed at the Washington D.C.-based Aspen Institute.  Those experts are part of an Aspen Project called FIELD - the Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination.

Between 1998 and 2001, FIELD conducted a national research project to learn more about the best ways to help small business owners in disadvantaged communities grow and stabilize their enterprises.  The project concluded that emerging business owners need in-depth, industry-specific business assistance.  Moreover, the research confirmed the value of one-on-one technical assistance and underscored that national coordination of industry expertise was needed to create options for more efficient and lower-cost service delivery.  Thus the MicroMentor concept began to take shape.

To take MicroMentor from concept to reality, funding was obtained in fall 2001 from the Technical Opportunities Program at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.  (In 2002, the Friedman Family Foundation also became a MicroMentor supporter.) 

At the same time, a project involving four California-based nonprofits was created to oversee implementation of a pilot phase and a National Advisory Board was established to guide overall development of the project.

To find out more about MicroMentor, and to find out how you can get involved now, please visit their Website at: http://www.micromentor.org/   Please do it now...

Thanks... 

Cheryl Antier

To return to the MAPS homepage, click here: