Lansing’s Barabara Hranilovich, a practitioner of fine art and
inventor of a coffee-carrying gadget that landed on Rachael Ray's TV show, now adds “author” to her resume.
She chalks up the newest job description to the flat world realities of
the digital revolution and to networking.
Hranilovich spent 18 months researching and writing her book, “E is For Entrepreneur.” In search of a publisher, she learned from friends in Wyoming of a company in Kalamazoo, 360Digital, that could digitize the book, e-mail the copy to its Livonia printer, and ship 100 copies to her doorstep in 10 days.
She doesn’t like a lot of stuff lying around, she says. In the future, she’ll be able to order more books with the same 10-day turnaround.
“Now that’s quick,” she says. “And it’s entirely a Michigan product,” she adds, ever the marketer.
She expects to receive her first shipment in about a week. The paperback will sell for $14.99, and be available on her web site.
“It would not have been possible to do this five years ago,” she says.
The cover art is by Terri Haas-Wittman, “a local designer of note,” she adds.
She wrote the 26 chapters as short conversations, wanting to offer guidance as a friend.
“Being an entrepreneur is a very lonely process,” she says.
Here are a few of the many tips she offers in the book:
First, determine if you are the entrepreneurial type. You’ll have to be both boss and employee, retaining the vision while being task oriented.
Then research. If your product matches others, it will be redundant; if it’s too futuristic, the market won’t support it yet.
And in the end, success will be all about relationships. People can network themselves into oblivion, but without meaningful relationships, they will accomplish little, she says.
Source: Barbara Hranilovich
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
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