About Nina Kaufman

NinaKaufman-headshot_dressNina Kaufman is a small business champion—not just your ordinary business attorney. Forbes Magazine calls her “One of the 25 Most Influential Women Tweeting about Entrepreneurship.”  The U.S. Small Business Administration named her their regional Women in Business Champion of the Year for her creative approaches to educating and advocating for small businesses.  In over 15 years in business, Kaufman has helped thousands of entrepreneurs in the generation of hundreds of millions of dollars. A trusted thought leader, Kaufman reaches over 2 million readers each month on Entrepreneur.com.

 

She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Crain’s NY Business, HuffingtonPost.com, The New York Law Journal, and the American Bar Association Journal. [Link to “Media”?] TV appearances include MSNBC’s Your Business, Fox′s Good Day NY, and Better.TV.

 

A Mets fan by marriage and former stand-up comic, Kaufman has learned to find the funny in cycles of great promise and lackluster performance. She is a regular speaker—conducting keynote, workshop, and breakout presentations–for women’s organizations and business organizations, like the Small Business Administration, the NYT Small Business Summit. Office Depot, Wells Fargo Bank, the National Association for Women Business Owners, NY XPO for Business, the Levin Institute/Kauffman foundation, the BlogHer Business Conference. The Small Business Tech Summit, and many others.

 

But, as she tells it, “… one of the most important business lessons I ever learned came from a doughnut.”

 

Nina’s Doughnut Moment

I was at my wit’s end. Tried 6 ways to Sunday to grow my business, a 12-year old law firm.

I just couldn’t figure it out. And honestly, I really wondered, “Am I a moron?” “What the hell’s the matter with me that I can’t figure this stuff out? Why is everyone doing well and I’m stuck?”

It was such a struggle, I wanted to quit. Sell out to my business partner and go away. I wanted to leave. I was done.

So I went to a business valuation expert. I showed him the numbers, the clients, the staffing. And I said “Tell me. What’s a fair offer I can make my partner? What is all this worth?”

He took a deep breath—which is never good. He looked me right in the eye–that kind where you know, “here it comes.” He held up a sprinkled doughnut and said, “you see this doughnut here? What you got is the hole.” “There’s nothing to sell. Your business depends too much on you. If you want out—cheap and fast– close the doors. Resign. Move on. ”

I was so humiliated I didn’t whether to laugh or cry. Me, the bigshot business lawyer. I had to walk away because I had nothing but the hole in a doughnut.

I had put my heart and my soul into that business for 12 years. Running down the wrong road very enthusiastically. Thinking, “well, I’m gonna get there eventually.” And I didn’t. What did I get? I put off getting married. Didn’t have kids. Got thyroid problems for the stress.

But I wouldn’t give up. It reminds me of one of my favorite Edison quotes: “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

So I thought, “Well, I’ve clearly waded through the 10,000 ways that don’t work. What are the ways that DO work?”

Well, I did what I do really well: I got my geek on. My inner bookworm. Back to my lawyerly roots. I dug into the research. I read everything. I interviewed experts. I talked to clients differently. I looked for “what’s missing?” from all the noise and information out there. I began to curate shiny gold nuggets that others overlooked. I started delving into “how DO I create a business that isn’t so damn dependent on me?” And “what makes for business I can sell—instead of fold”—because they certainly didn’t teach us that in law school.

There IS a way to do it right, and the Million Dollar Roadmap is just one way I’m taking that message to other business owners. So they know there’s light at the end of the tunnel … and that it isn’t an oncoming train.

That’s my motivation.

Maybe, as you read this, you’re afraid you’ll never see the light. Maybe you’re ready to quit—as I was. And maybe you’re tired … of being tired.

So please–“don’t quit five minutes before the miracle.” There are better days, and better ways, ahead. Join us.

 

Nina’s Background Fast Facts:

  • Graduate of Wellesley College (cum laude) and Boston University Law School
  • Was a DJ for WZLY (91.5 FM) during college
  • Obtained her graduate degree from The London School of Economics & Political Science
  • Co-founded her own law firm by age 30
  • Performed stand-up comedy in NYC from 2000-2006
  • Won the U.S. Small Business Administration’s regional “Women in Business Champion of the Year” award
  • Named “One of the 25 Most Influential Women Tweeting about Entrepreneurship” by Forbes
  • Regular contributor to Entrepreneur.com

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