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Time To Startup!
Inspiration and Information for Starting Your Business

Archive for the ‘My Startup Success’ Category

The “Upside” of the Recession?

Posted on October 2nd, 2009 by Heather
Category: Business Inspiration, Launch My Business, My Startup Success, Work For Myself

Really? Is it possible that there is an upside to this recession?

For many entrepreneurs, that’s exactly the case. The start up costs for opening a business right now are the lowest they have been in years. Take for instance Wendy Buckley. I just read a great story about her here.

A lot of people are very worried about job security right now, and some rightly so. But after reading this, it really does show that opportunities abound for entrepreneurs even in this kind of economical environment.

Take special note of Buckley’s observation about the availability of contractors and vendors right now. Talk about a great time to be able to negotiate killer prices! As a small start up, there are many, many companies out there that want your business and are more than willing to cut a pretty nice deal to get it.

There may be opportunities to actually buy property for your business instead of leasing – thus potentially gaining an additional asset right off the bat. This usually takes years in a more robust economic situation.

And it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to incorporate a business online these days too. That way you will be protecting your personal assets in case something does happen. With all the other free business tools and resources you can find on the internet, Wendy just might be on to something.

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When Is The Time To Trust Yourself To Start A Business?

Posted on May 7th, 2009 by kkobelski
Category: Business Inspiration, Form My Business, Launch My Business, My Startup Success

It was the early 1900’s, and a young woman with little more than trust in herself, the support of her family, and a dream of what she loved to do, started a business creating cloth dolls.

This young woman worked tirelessly to sell her cloth dolls door to door, and still received minimal funding. She slowly succeeded in growing her business on her own, but still carried loan rejections from nearly every bank in her area. This pattern continued for nearly four years.

At the end of her fourth year, this young woman caught her first big break with a major sale to FAO Schwarz. On that day, this poor young woman who for so long carried her cloths dolls door to door became, Madame Alexander, known the world over for Madame Alexander Dolls.

Such is the tale of success that opens Peter Bregman’s recent commentary piece on CNN titled “No Job?  Create Your Own!”

Bregman opens with the story of Madame Alexander to illustrate a remarkable point regarding the question: When is the right time to start a business?

Madame Alexander began her company during a time where the odds could not be more against her. A 20 year old woman living in times of economic distress, with no funding or business experience, knew she was entering into a world of risk.

However, she also knew what she loved.  And she knew that with times as uncertain as they were, she had just as good a chance starting a new business, as she would seeking a career.  She trusted herself to make it work. And work it did. Several times over.

Today’s displaced workers find themselves in a similar situation. The employment opportunities they are used to may not be coming back. For these displaced workers who carry a dream, Bregman’s sage advice is to simply start.

“Don’t wait until you come up with the perfect idea,” states Bregman. “You’ll be better off if you work out the kinks as you face them. Just get started.”

Bregman’s concludes his article:

“Madame Alexander had a wise model for finding work. She started a business doing work she loved, with people she loved, solving a problem others were willing to pay money to have solved. It was a small company that took very little investment but gave her and others meaningful, sustainable work.”

Trust yourself, and trust in your dream, and there will truly never be a better time than now to start a business.

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A Second Career Success Story

Posted on April 30th, 2009 by Heather
Category: Business Inspiration, Form My Business, Meet the Founders, My Startup Success, Small Business, Work For Myself

Early retirement wasn’t what Rich Halbeisen wanted or expected after a 30-year engineering career with IBM. In November of 2007 he was one of a number of employees asked to take early retirement as a cost savings measure.

This enterprising 51-year-old went back to school at a local community college and in the summer of 2008, he received his home inspection license.

As he was building his appraisal business, he met up with Fern Wright, another “ex-IBMer” with a complementary skill set, and they began talking about starting a Home Inspections business that served the same real etate market as Rich’s appraisal business.

A few weeks after Fern and Rich formed their AccuCheck Home Inspection, LLC in Charlotte, NC they learned they won the $5,000 Grand Prize in the BizFilings $5K Giveaway Sweepstakes.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Rich said. “Winning that $5,000 prize will be a big help in covering some of our start-up business expenses.

Saving money on their LLC formation was a big reason Fern chose online incorporator BizFilings, Rich said. “I know what attorneys cost, and this is a better deal. You get the same service and it’s less expensive. Plus, Fern formed a different company with BizFilings a few years ago and had a positive experience, so the choice was easy.”

“Our goal is to build the business slowly, get the equipment we need, learn and connect with others, basically, build a good foundation and be ready when the market rebounds,” Rich said.

Congratulations Rich and Fern.

No matter if you’re dealing with early retirement or a lay-off, there is always a way to move forward and have success with a second career, especially if that career is one where you are your own boss.  Remember Rich and Fern – good things and a little luck may be just around the corner.

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Need a Business Startup Idea? How About Jellyfish?

Posted on April 27th, 2009 by kkobelski
Category: Business Inspiration, Launch My Business, My Startup Success, Work For Myself

“Alex Andon, 24, a graduate of Duke University in biology, was laid off from a biotech company last May. For months he sought new work. Then, frustrated with the hunt, he turned to jellyfish.”

So opens the excellent article on business startups, “Weary of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own,”  by Matt Richtel and Jenna Worthman published last month in the New York Times.

Andon is representative of many highly-skilled, highly motivated workers who, through no fault of their own, have found themselves victim to the economic climate.

These budding entrepreneurs are applying the knowledge their prior experience has afforded them into starting a new business, with remarkable and creative new ideas.

Andon’s home business, for example, leverages his knowledge of new technology to create customized jellyfish tanks which help to ensure these creatures survive the perils of captivity. The product offering he’s created has recently equated into a $25,000 sale of a customized jellyfish tank to a restaurant.

Other recently laid off entrepreneurs, including Monica Zamiska formerly of public relations firm Ogilvy & Mather, and Ryan Kuder, formerly of Yahoo!, have launched business startups including a website offering restaurant reviews, and a firm that develops cutting edge websites for businesses, respectively.

I have no doubt that our economy will make its way through our current crisis, and truly believe that new business startups and small businesses will be a big part of what will help pull us through.

If you find yourself in a similar situation to the entrepreneurs described above, there is truly no better time to start a business.  If done correctly, there is no passionate idea that doesn’t offer a chance of success.

When in doubt, remember the jellyfish.

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