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Finances, Flexibility and a Little
Bit of Faith
What It Takes to Start a Home-Based Business
By Melissa Granberry
In 1951, Lillian Vernon sat down in her kitchen with
$2,000 of wedding gift money and a dream of starting a business. “I was
newly married and expecting my first child when I took a leap of faith and
decided to become an entrepreneur,” she says.
Vernon bought an ad for $495 in Seventeen Magazine to market her two products: a personalized leather handbag and matching belt that she designed. With that ad, she received $32,000 in orders. “My business took off and I never looked back!” she says.
She is now the chief executive officer of Lillian Vernon Corporation, a company that has grown to more than $238 million in sales and employs more than 5,300 people during its peak season. The company publishes seven catalog titles, as well as the online catalogs found at www.lillianvernon.com and www.ruedefrance.com.
In the Beginning
Do you also have a dream of starting your own business? Are you staying home
to spend more time with your children, but want to have a business “on
the side”? Or maybe you want to start a small business while your kids
are young and expand into a larger market as your kids get older and start
school?
Regardless of the size of your dream, there are several things to consider before heading to the courthouse to fill out the paperwork. Jennifer Keitt, author of The Power of Being a Real Woman: A Compilation of the Most Empowering, Educating, Equipping, Encouraging, Practical and Motivating Ways to Become the Woman You've Always Wanted to Be! (Today's Black Woman, 2002), suggests asking yourself several questions:
- Who am I doing this for?
- What do I expect from starting my own business?
- Where in my home will I dedicate the space for my business?
- When will I have time for myself and the needs of my family?
- How do I envision this working on a day-to-day basis?
"I encourage women entrepreneurs to build their businesses from their strengths and passions versus going into a business to make money,” says Keitt.
All Aboard
When starting a business at home, the whole family is affected and should be
included in the planning phase. “A well thought-out strategy is one way
that a woman can obtain her husband’s ‘buy-in’,” says
Keitt. “If he sees that she is serious and has accounted for his
concerns, it should ease the transition as she endeavors to branch out on her
own.”
And don’t forget to include the kids. “I found it extremely helpful as my children were growing to include them in tasks associated with my business, such as stuffing envelopes and packing boxes,” says Keitt.
Vernon suggests setting a schedule that sets aside time each day for your family and your business. “Everyone should understand that this is a give-and-take situation,” she says. “Not only will your added income contribute to your family finances, you will feel satisfied as an individual. The better you feel about yourself, the more your family will benefit.”
Financing Your Dream
“The Small Business Administration (SBA) has all kinds of help for women
entrepreneurs,” says Keitt. Log on to www.sba.gov to find information on obtaining
financing and creating a business plan. There is even a checklist to get you
started.
Keitt also suggests visiting your local library to research information about your business. “I’ve spent countless hours using all of the ‘free’ resources available at my library up the street,” she says.
Vernon recommends networking and looking for an investor or partner to finance your business – if you are willing to relinquish some control. “Proceed with caution if you plan on asking friends or relatives to invest in your business,” she says. “Sometimes the people closest to you may not make the perfect business partners, and money can complicate even the best of relationships.”
The Long Haul
Though a crystal ball would be useful for planning your company’s
future, a more practical approach is to think about potential obstacles.
“Plan for the long haul from the very beginning,” says Keitt.
Consider situations such as your spouse being transferred from his current
location or more children in your family’s future.
“I started my business with a new baby and a 2-year-old and was very frustrated at times,” says Amy Walker, owner of Tag, You’re It! in Cypress, Texas. “There were not enough hours in the day to get everything done.” However, she persevered and is now enjoying her business and her time with her children. “Be patient!” she says. “It takes time for the hard work to pay off.”
Reap the Rewards
“Building a business can consume you,” says Keitt. “But if
you develop a strategic approach to doing business in a way that is compatible
with your family, you can find yourself reaping the awesome rewards from all
sides.”
These rewards include financial independence, flexibility, self-fulfillment and maybe even sanity. “I love the flexibility!” says Walker. “The most rewarding thing about the business is having a little something for myself while being able to stay at home with my kids.”
“I never dreamed my company would one day become a quarter of a billion dollar corporation,” says Vernon. “As my business grew and I became successful, I realized I loved what I was doing.”
Of course, the odds are small that a company started at home will eventually become a multi-million dollar company, but you never know until, like Lillian Vernon, you take that “leap of faith.”
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Want to see more?
- Work@Home: Redecorating the Home Office
- CEO of Everything: Balancing Career and Family
- Working for a Living: Telling Children About Your Job
- Talk about it!
About the Author: Melissa Granberry is a contributing writer for iParenting Media and the mother of three.
