在爱国vwin彩票开户者软件中，我们致力于提供accounting and payroll softwarethat lets entrepreneurs keep their time and money on what they love: running their small business. Each month, we speak to our small business customers with #PatriotSpotlight. These customer success stories both celebrate and inspire U.S. small business owners.
For our inaugural #PatriotSpotlight, we spoke to Sarah Lawrence, owner of the Tulsa-based clothing store,Black Sheep Boutique.
Standing apart from the herd
22-year-old Sarah Lawrence has always been a black sheep. Her interests unique, her aspirations ambitious—she was never one to settle for being part of the herd.
That strong sense of individuality sparked an entrepreneurial spirit within her and set her on a path to become a Patriot Software customer success story.
“I’ve known since I was a little kid that I didn’t want to work for anyone else,” she said. “I always envisioned myself being a businesswoman: owning something and doing my own thing.”
她没有浪费时间来辜负这种愿景。她十六岁从高中毕业，去了美容学校，而不是四年制大学，并在二十岁时就开设了黑绵羊精品店。
The store has been successfully operating for two years. It stays true to all facets of Sarah’s black sheep identity: providing chic clothes celebrating a woman’s individuality, and offering salon services as a nod to her cosmetology chops.
“I love styling and I love to make women feel beautiful,” she said. “That was what I wanted to do, so I just kind of threw up a Hail Mary and did it,” she laughed.
然后是反对者
追求黑绵羊的企业所有权之路并没有达到其疑问的公平份额。
“The biggest challenge was getting people to take me seriously,” Sarah told us. Her accomplishments aside, to the eyes of outsiders she looked like a naive girl with overzealous ambitions.
最后，她将父亲签名在LLC申请上，即使他没有投资任何钱或计划业务。
“It put me off that I had to have a man with me just so people would take me seriously,” she said. “But I ran my business on my own. I didn’t need anyone else to do it with me. It was just me.
即使在我开业时，人们也会进来告诉我如何经营我的生意，说我需要回到学校。”
Fortunately for Sarah, being a black sheep meant she knew how to rule out the naysayers. She focused instead on doing what she knew best: running her small business.
“I knew what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. And I just did it,” she said. “Now they’re watching me succeed.”
Going beyond success
With the challenges that came with going against the grain, it took awhile for Sarah to fully grasp the scale of her success. Rousing amounts of praise and acceptance aren’t typical for black sheep.
“It didn’t really set in that I had a store until our one year anniversary,” she told us. “We threw a party, and the turnout was huge. I just couldn’t believe how many people showed up.”
It was just one of many markers of small business success: a loyal customer base, an ever-growing online store, thousands of followers (and shoppers) on social media, plus plans to open two more stores in Oklahoma and Texas.
Through all the success, she still stops to remember how far she’s come.
“Just the other day, a girl I’d never met came up to me and said, ‘Oh my gosh, do you own Black Sheep?’” she recounted. “I mean, growing up in school I was such a dork and didn’t have any friends. Sometimes I’d eat lunch alone in the bathroom stall. Now, I have this great small business, and it’s awesome.”
“只是去吧。我的意思是，为什么不呢？”
作为黑羊，事实证明对莎拉的生意有益。话虽这么说，她认为有抱负的企业家可以做些什么才能与牛群区分开来？
“只是去吧。Don’t be afraid. You’re always going to wonder, ‘What if?’” she urged.
“So just do it. And if you succeed, then, how great is that?”
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You can find Sarah and Black Sheep Boutique at农场的购物中心在塔尔萨，好的。在线购物shopblacksheepboutique.com和follow Black Sheep Boutique onFacebook和Instagram.
每个小型企业都有一个值得讲述的故事。我们很想听听您的- 与#patriotspotlight标签联系您自己的故事和照片，以便我们检查一下。
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