Women Today

This month Women magazine visits Green Bay's Broadway for its Women Who Inspire feature. The business owners and employees on this street give the business district excitement. Here is what Amy DuBois of DuBois Formalwear has to say:

What do you like about being on Broadway? Broadway is a dynamic, growing community with many innovative entrepreneurs who are driven, work hard, care about the neighborhood, and like to have fun.
We have been in the neighborhood for more than 40 years and I must say there’s a bit of a renaissance going on around here.

What do you enjoy about being a business owner? First of all, I must say that I enjoy being with people.
Being a business owner gives you the opportunity to work with many different kinds of people, from those who work in the business to those who we buy from and our customers.
It opens so many opportunities to meet people in the community and travel around the country. It’s been so rewarding to see people succeed and grow.
In addition, every day I learn something new and it’s taught me to have an open mind and to have faith that anything is possible.

What should a business do to make it in this economy? Work harder and smarter!
Cut expenses wherever possible, go through every single invoice and be sure what you are paying for is worth paying for.
Give your people great tools to succeed and measure their progress. Celebrate success and coach setbacks.
Stay positive, optimistic, take good care of yourself and keep a clear mind. Know that “this too shall pass.”

Amy DuBois
DuBois Formalwear

Gina Nytes, Kaukauna branch manager for Citizens Bank, brings us this week's financial tip:

A budget is a basic and important money management tool for getting or staying out of debt.

If you and your family are serious about improving the state of your finances and avoiding future problems, it’s important to establish a workable budget.

Developing a budget and sticking to it is something that you and your family should do together, so be sure to involve your kids in the process, too.

Sit down as a family and talk about why your family needs to live on a budget and what budgeting involves.

Show your kids the income and expense you incur each month. Additionally, share your current income and spending figures with them, let them know how much less your family needs to spend each month to reach your family goals, and ask your kids for budget cutting ideas, including the things they are willing to give up.

Also discuss any budget cuts you plan to make that will directly affect them.

At the end of each month, sit down as a family and compare your budgeted spending to your actual spending.

Celebrate if your family's spending is in line with the budget by doing something inexpensive together.

If your comparison shows that your family spent more than was budgeted, talk about why you went over budget and what all of you can do to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Getting everyone involved will help you stay on budget and also teach your children valuable money saving lessons.