The center offered her advice on how to network and bring in business, recommending she approach local merchants. And that was how, in just three days, she sold 12 handbags that sport a unique Native American design. “My dream was born,�?she says.
Yolanda kept sewing whenever she had free time and officially launched Carmen Handbags (named for her mother) out of her home in 1987. She continued working with local merchants and also began showing her bags at crafts fairs and area festivals. Within a year she took the business full time. Today she has 10 employees, her own store and manufacturing plant, and annual revenues of $375,000.

Fill a Pressing Need
The desire to serve a unique niche in the community prompted social worker Suzanne Taylor, 53, to open Safety Alert, a private crisis counseling service in southern California. A child-care worker in residential facilities, she found there were few crisis intervention services in her area. “It’s hard to really help people in trouble if you don’t meet with them in their homes,�?Suzanne explains. “I saw there was a desperate need for this.�?/P>

In 1997 she began researching what competition existed in her market, went online to learn what similar service providers in other areas charged and also used the Internet to find out how to obtain funding. To add to her client referrals, she spoke at crisis intervention conferences, setting up a table with brochures. The company also developed a web site.

The number of clients doubled each year. Today her 25-employee company contracts with the state of California to provide emergency mental health counseling and in-person intervention.

Community involvement is also how Syreeta McDaniel Houston, 31, discovered her business niche. The former consultant for a tax firm spent six months in 2001 volunteering at her local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) run by the Small Business Administration in Dallas. That’s when she realized that the 200 budding entrepreneurs she’d met had little clue how to write business plans and do market research—both critical for obtaining funding. “Not only did new entrepreneurs not know how to write business plans, but they didn’t really want to,�?she recalls. “I saw a huge need for this kind of assistance.�?/P>

In June 2001 she took a leave of absence from her $56,000-a-year job and opened McDaniel Consulting, dedicated to writing business plans for small companies. With an investment of $2,700, Syreeta rented office space near her home in Dallas and bartered services with a web designer. “It was tough at first, but I’d always wanted to be in business helping others succeed in their businesses,�?Syreeta says.

To build a client base she attended networking events ranging from chamber of commerce lunches to National Association of Women Business Owners dinners. Syreeta was also placed on a referral list at the SBDC where she had volunteered, and she sent her credentials to well-known business plan writers across the country, asking them to refer smaller clients they didn’t have time to handle.
Today Syreeta has completed 60 plans and works anywhere between 55 and 80 hours a week. Her business is thriving.

Do Something Nontraditional
One way to stand out from the crowd is to open a business in a traditionally male-dominated field, such as construction, electrical contracting or plumbing. Melody Warren, 46, started a transportation brokerage company in Kansas City, Missouri, that pairs shippers with customers for freight management. In 1992, using 14 years of experience in the trucking industry, which began when she was hired as a file clerk, she launched her company from her home with $10,000.

Melody didn’t even have computers for three years, handling all orders by hand. Eventually she added employees, originally neighbors, who now total six, and moved to a 5,000-square-foot office. “I found that male customers would rather deal with a woman,�?says Melody, president and CEO of Transportation Logistics Systems Inc. “But I had to present the best service, equal to my male counterparts, and keep every promise I made to customers without fail to be taken seriously.�?/P>

To find her clients she became involved with the local chamber of commerce and sat on the boards of six nonprofit organizations. She also went on golf outings with trucking professionals. “Even if I was just playing golf with the guys, I always had business cards on me and was ready to talk about my work to everyone I met,�?she says.

Like Melody, electrician Veronica Rose, president of Aurora Electric Inc. in Jamaica, New York, relied on networking to grow her business. She went out on her own in 1993 after realizing that she was never going to advance in the company she was working for.

With savings and credit cards as backup, she rented a 400-square-foot studio apartment in Brooklyn to use as an office. She lined up her first six clients by asking her former employer, which didn’t have the staff to service smaller clients, if she could approach those companies for work. Her old boss agreed. Each week she attended networking functions at electrician organizations and women’s groups, and she also used these associations to find out exactly what kind of licensing and insurance she needed for her business.

“As a woman in a male-dominated field, I was kind of a novelty and stood out,�?says Veronica, 43. “Clients gave me small projects at first to test me out, and I always did my very best.�?/P>

She eventually moved her business into a 3,500-square-foot office and leased warehouse space. Now she employs from 10 to 50 people, depending on how busy her company gets, and in 2001 had $5 million in revenues.

Become a Franchisee
If you want to start a business but don’t want to go it totally alone, consider franchising. You purchase the right to use a brand name and in return obtain assistance with training, marketing, advertising and purchasing supplies. You usually pay a franchisee fee, startup costs and monthly royalty fees to the franchisor.

There are now more than 1,500 franchisors in a broad mix of specialties, ranging from career consultancies to leak-detection companies to decorating services, according to the International Franchise Association.

Andrea Connor, 32, bought a Nite Time Décor landscape and architectural lighting franchise in 2001 for $12,900, which she operates out of her Niceville, Florida, home. She learned about the business by working as a landscape contractor. “I enjoyed what I did but I always knew deep down that I wanted to have my own business,�?she says.

The franchisor gave her all the assistance she needed to get started, and today she has a flexible schedule that allows her to spend more time with her two children. “This was a way to own a business without having to reinvent the wheel,�?she says. “And having a franchise support network gave me an added sense of security and confidence.�?/P>

Susan Bae, 42, became involved directly with a franchisor before becoming one of its franchisees. She was so impressed with the progress her son made at a local Kumon Math and Reading Center, an after-school learning enrichment program, that she got a part-time job with Kumon, eventually buying a franchise in 1997.

For an initial investment of just $1,500, Susan was able to rent classroom space at a school in Bloomfield, Michigan, to run the Kumon program and work with children in nearby schools. “I’ve always wanted to set my hours. There’s just nothing like being your own boss.�?/P>