Start Your Own Business the Right Way

Feeling unfulfilled by your corporate job? Ready to branch out on your own? While the thought of starting your own business may be daunting, if you have a good idea, are diligent and have some time on your hands, it just may be easier than you think.

This Wall Street Journal article tells the story of a woman who was so tired of her corporate sales job that she was ready to quit and retire right after her wedding. While planning her wedding, she came up with an idea: selling wedding favors. As an experiment, she built a Web site, took some photos of items she purchased and bought an online store on Yahoo! for $50. Two years later (with the help of a manufacturing company), she expects $2.3 million in sales for the year.

But the real reason her business is successful is her personal touch. From the business’s onset, the owner made a point of reading every email she received from her customers and potential patrons. In doing so, she both responded to the needs and interests of her clientele and got some great ideas for creating new products to sell. Essentially, communication with her customers allowed her business to thrive.

With the tools we can access today, testing out a business idea is less risky than it was for our parents. Have a great business idea? Skip your dinner out this week and use that $50 to buy an online store. Then don’t forget to read the emails that come in with those dollars.

And if you’re not sure if self-employment is for you, take this quiz to find out.

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