New Orleans Yvonnne LaFleur remembers wanting to own a women's dress shop since she was four years old. She started her business in 1969, yet she transformed her first store -- strictly blue jeans -- to a very special women's boutique. Located just off of historic St. Charles Street where the Streetcar named Desire runs, Yvonnne LaFleur, the store, draws customers from all over the world because her clothing and services are so unique. Yvonne has actualized a dream where beauty and elegance abound. Yet, she would not deny that it has required long hours and hard work, and thus this segment is called, In the Trenches

KEY IDEAS FROM THE CASE STUDY.

• Follow your dreams.
• Reinvest your profits.
• In retailing, plan to work Saturdays for the rest of your life .
• Customize on the spot.
• Look the part.
• Don't wait for customers to come to you.
• Needs-focused selling builds relationships.

• READ THE TRANSCRIPT All the words of this show, right here.

• SIGNUP! THIS SCHOOL'S JUST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS: If you enroll in one of the courses within Small Business School, you can become part of several different small businesses indexes. You and your business can qualify to:
  • Get listed within your business type and within your state's listings,
  • Be profiled on a show (local or national),
  • Generate automatically a business plan for debt financing and/or a SCOR for equity financing,
  • Be listed within a Small Business index, and
  • Qualify to be listed within the "best of small businesses within a business category" and be immediately pre-qualified for equity investments from several mutual and pension funds.

• AT YOUR LOCAL COLLEGE: Check this list of schools (partial). Also, check for classes with your local Small Business Development Center, Chamber of Commerce, and Economic Development Commission.
• OTHER SEGMENTS:
  • Sliver of Genius. Jim Coane and the Council of Growing Companies.
  • Integrity Selling. Ron Willingham, author of When Good isn't Good Enough, The Best Seller, and Hey, I'm the customer
  • Do the right thing.Professor Dr. Laura Nash, author of Good Intentions Aside.
  • StreetFighter Marketing. Jeff Slutsky
    Law Talk. John Dolan
• LOOK AT STEPS 1- 8. Think about where you are and where you want to be.
• STUDY BUSINESSES BY TYPE.

• WATCH TV! To find out what is airing in your market, usually on your local PBS-member station, click here.

• CONTACT:
  Yvonne LaFleur
  8131 Hampson Street
  New Orleans 70118
  Tel : 504-866-9666Fax: 504-866-0165
  URL: http://www.yvonnelafleur.com/