Entrepreneur Success Stories

Debra Cohen: Success with Homeowner Referral Network

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:48:00 +0000

If you’re a homeowner, one of the most perplexing challenges is where to find reputable home repair or building contractors, from painters to plumbers to architects. New contractors, on the other hand, also find it difficult to find customers for their services.

Debra Cohen launched a profitable home-based niche business with her Home Remedies of NY, Inc. http://www.hrnbiz.com/ , which is a homeowner referral network that matches homeowners with reliable, prescreened home-repair workers. The referral services are offered free to homeowners; while contractors pay a commission to Home Remedies for any work secured.

With the success of her referral services, Debra now offers a business opportunity where other entrepreneurs can replicate her service in different areas. To date, there are more than 400 Homeowner Referral Network (HRN) businesses operating in various parts of the United States.

Nicole Simmons: A Nutty Success Story with Fortunuts

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:33:00 +0000

Some successful business ideas come from childhood.

As a child, Nicole Simon's mom would make her special walnut recipe for friends and co-workers during the holidays. Friends asked for their delectable walnut treats that making it and giving it as holiday gifts became the tradition in their household. They decided to add a fun element by adding a fortune into each bag as a reminder of how fortunate they felt each year as their giving list grew.

In December 2002, Nicole was urged to find a way to make their nuts more accessible to everyone. She sold her special walnuts -- which she describes as, "a little bit of sugar, a dab of salt and a whole lota love" -- to the public at The Santa Monica Farmers Market, in Los Angeles. The nuts came in Chinese take-out boxes, with fortune messages, and they were a huge success.

Since their humble beginning, Fortunuts has become a successful gourmet food item, with assorted sizes, new unique packaging and made-to-order fortunes. Nicole's Fortunuts now come in three varieties: Sweet & Salted Walnuts, Mesquite Walnuts, and Sweet & Salted Pecans Today, Fortunuts is available in upscale stores, online at Fortunuts.com http://www.fortunuts.com and in gourmet gift baskets.

Call for Stories of Women Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:25:00 +0000

For women entrepreneurs who may be interested and want their stories published in a book ...

Real Solutions Press LLC is accepting story submissions for The Smartest Thing I Ever Did…®as a Woman in Business, one of over a dozen titles in this new book series. The contributors of each published story will receive a byline as well as a 100-word bio to tell the world about who they are, what they do, and how to contact them. It translates into very valuable exposure for any businesswoman. Featured Contributor and Co-Author opportunities also are available.

Worthy, national charities are being sought to associate with each title in the series. These charities will be helping to market the books to their large national membership base and will be receiving a donation based on sales.

Stories and charity suggestions may be submitted in two ways: privately on our company website, www.RealSolutionsPress.com, or on our newly-launched blog site, www.TheSmartestThingIEverDid.com. Posting on the blog allows for a link back to the contributor’s site, which can prove valuable for search engine rankings.

Mandy Haberman: Success with a No-Spill Drinking Cup

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:11:00 +0000

For any parent or guardian of infants and toddlers, keeping your little ones dry while drinking is a challenge, as most sippy cups in the market leak.

Mandy Haberman , an award winning English inventor, decided to invent the technology to create a totally non-drip trainer cupy when she saw a toddler spilling blackcurrant juice all over her friend's carpet.

Having successfully invented the Haberman Feeder in the 1980s, she decided to create a toddler's drinking cup with a unique valve that is moulded into the mouthpiece to ensure that the spout seals between sips, so absolutely no spills. The risk of tooth decay is also minimized because drink only flows when the child drinks.

Hence, the Anywayup Cup was created in 1990.

In 2000, Mandy received the title British Female Inventor of the Year; and in 2003 was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as a ‘Pioneer to the Life of the Nation’.

Sheri Schmelzer: Earning Millions from Crocs Decorations

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:25:00 +0000

Crocs are the very popular resin clogs dotted with holes and comes in every color, from pinks to blues to yellows to blacks. They are ugly shoes, but both adults and children love them. In fact, the company grew from $1 million in revenue in 2003 to a projected $322 million in 2007.

Given the tremendous popularity of croc shoes, Sheri Schmelzer decided to ride the wave and offer products that would allow users to customize their croc shoes.

A stay at home mom, Sheri and her three daughters had an idea in 2005 to personalize and decorate the holes of their crocs (they owned 12 pairs at the time) with unique charms made from rhinestones and clay that would fit in the holes of the shoes. Hence, Jibbitz was born.

Jibbitz croc charms come in a wide variety of designs, ranging from superheroes like Spiderman to sports to Scoop the Digger to beer mugs. Sheri is the chief designer, while her husband runs the business as CEO.

Her business sold about 300 designs of charms for crocs and she was able to sign up more than 4,000 retail outlets. In December 2006, Crocs the company bought Jibbitz for $20 million with Sheri and her husband remaining on board.

Sheri proves that inspiration for successful businesses are everywhere -- you just have to look closely. While others merely see the holes in Croc shoes as plain holes, Sheri saw the business potential of those holes -- and earned her millions.

Renee Wood; Success in the Bereavement and Sympathy Business

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:17:00 +0000

When a love one dies, be it a friend, colleague or family member, cards and flower arrangements are typically given to the family. However, there are many who are looking for alternatives to traditional bereavement cards and flowers, and who are looking for a more personal way to express their feelings.

When the father of her sister-in-law died, Renee Wood was looking for a meaningful sympathy gift to express her feelings but was unable to find one. Instead, she created a teardrop shaped pendant with a forget-me-not flower embedded in the design along with a verse that she had manufactured. When friends asked for her special necklaces, she knew she had a business on her hands. That was the start of her business, The Comfort Company http://www.thecomfortcompany.net/ .

Today, her company sells jewelry, ornaments, pet loss gifts, garden benches, and other items that function as sympathy gifts and memorials. Renee’s business is doing well with more than 200 orders a week – and growing.

Successful Entrepreneurs WITHOUT Going to Universities

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:59:00 +0000

The UK publication Mail Online wrote a very interesting piece listing some of UK's richest and most successful entrepreneurs -- but WITHOUT a college degree.

Here's some of them:

Robert Braithwaite is the founder of boat-builder Sunseeker International http://www.sunseeker.com/. He left school at 14 and worked at his father's engine-servicing company. He borrowed £5,000 and built his first boat a 17-footer. In 1968, he started his boating company Sunseeker. One of his claim to fame is that his company built the power boat in the opening frames of James Bond movie (Pierce Brosnan) The World Is Not Enough. He is now worth an estimated £130 million.

Laurence Graff is the founder of Graff Diamonds International http://www.graffdiamonds.com/. Reportedly worth around £2.5 billion, this self made man is #462 in Forbes Magazine's richest billionaires list. Yet he left school at the age of 13 and instead took on a Hatton Garden apprenticeship in diamonds.

Education is important in life, but success can come even without it as long as you work smart, have a lot of determination and personality to succeed.

Kim & Scott Holstein: Success with Gourmet Pretzels

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:49:00 +0000

The most successful businesses are those that are able to spot opportunities -- even in the seemingly ordinary things in our every day life.

Kim and Scott Holstein were in a supermarket in Wilmette, Chicago looking for unique flavored pretzels. However, all that was offered in the frozen food ailes section was plain salted pretzel.

Then a lightbulb lit up: why not offer uniquely flavored soft pretzels as the gourmet alternative to the plain salted pretzel? They would experiment with various flavors, adding fruits, cheeses, spices, cheddar jalapeno, herbs, sun dried tomatoes, and others to see which flavors work best.

Believing that a huge market exists for their distinctive pretzels, the Holsteins decided to launch their business in May 1995 out of their cramped studio apartment. With $25,000 borrowed from family members and credit cards, the couple launched Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels (http://www.kimandscotts.com/).

The challenge, however, was that they both did not know anything about the pretzel business. Though Scott's family owned a Ben and Jerry's franchise, the Holstein's had no culinary experience and education. They had never sold baked goods before either! To help them develop their pretzels, they hired a chef to bring forth their ideas for a unique line of pretzel.

Now their pretzels are sold in restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores nationwide, including Barnes and Noble coffee shop, Sams Clubs, Whole Foods, Albertsons, among others. However, their biggest sales outlet is the home shopping network QVC where they have appeared more than 22 times selling about 625,000 pretzels!

Check out (Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels ).

Sara Blakely: Success from an Ingenious Invention

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Sara Blakely, creator of the footless hosiery company Spanx, is proof positive that successful business ideas can be found everywhere, even in personal vanities.

Sara stumbled upon the idea for her insanely successful footless panty hose when she was frustrated with visible panty lines that shows under light colored pants and stockings that precluded her from wearing open-toed sandal. She wanted body shaping pantyhose that she could wear with pants and sandals. As she says in her website:

I never dreamed visible panty lines and uncomfortable thongs would inspire me to become an inventor.

Frustrated that no such product exist in the market, she cut her control-top pantyhose to remove the feet. The result was a primitive version of Spanx, but she saw that her idea provided a slimming effect on her hips and thighs, and allowed her to wear open-toe shoes.

Sara realized she had stumbled across a product that women like her are waiting for. She was then selling fax machines and office copier for office-supply company Danka Business Systems in Atlanta, Georgia. Even though she had no experience in the hosiery industry, she decided to go into business plowing $5,000 of her own money into getting a prototype made.

Today, the company she built, Spanx , has grown into a $150 million hosiery business offering about 100 different styles. Read about Sara's story in her Spanx website.

Suzi Drnec: How Extensive Product Knowledge can Propel Business Success

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:02:00 +0000

Suzi Drnec is the owner/manager of the world's largest supplier of Ready-To-Win western show apparel company Hobby Horse clothing. Her company sells blazers and jackets, tunic tops, hats, even body wear smoothers and slinkers for women horse riders.

A lifelong fan of horses, she dreamed of starting a horse-related business when she was just 8 years old. With her focus and determination, she realized her dream by establishing her company when she was in junior high school. She mailed her first catalog in 1991.

Hobby Horse now posts $2-3 million in sales a year. Suzi attributes the success of the business to her extensive customer knowlege as well as lack of competition (lucky gal!). In an interview with Catalog Success magazine, she was quoted as saying:

I really know the market because I'm my own customer."

Read more of Suzi and learn from her success

Maria de Lourdes Sobrino: Success with Gelatin Desserts

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:53:00 +0000

Maria de Lourdes Sobrino stumbled upon the idea of selling ready-made gelatin products in cups after failing to find the products in the United States. A favorite dessert in her native Mexico, Maria felt that there's a huge market, though untapped, in the United States for delicious gelatin, flan and rice pudding desserts.

In 1982, she opened LuLu's Dessert to sell gelatin desserts in a cup she made from her mom's recipe in Torrance, California.

Given that the American market is not yet familiar with the product, she initially focused on first generation Mexican immigrants who know the concept of "gelatina." Even supermarkets only agreed to sell her products if it is on a consignment basis. Her biggest break came in 1999 when Wal-Mart agreed to sell some of her product lines.

Today, the company she started, Lulu's Dessert, has grown to become a $10 million business. Her delicious products are now sold in grocery stores (in the refrigerated section) as well as in her online store http://www.lulusdessert.com/. She even exports her dessert to her native Mexico! Maria has also published her book "Thriving Latina Entrepreneurs in America."

That's sweet success in a cup!

Karen Belasco Staitman: Success with Custom Fortune Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:29:00 +0000

Some of the best ideas are created unexpectedly.

Karen Belasco Straitman, a party planner, created giant fortune cookies for party invitations. While walking in a department store in 1995, she saw apples that have been decorated and thought about her giant fortune cookies. She had the idea of dipping the giant fortune cookies in chocolate, decorating them for every occasion and putting personalized fortune messages inside.

The giant fortune cookies were a hit.

While she had no idea initially of starting a business around her sweet treats, the demand for the cookies were astounding. Hence, Good Fortunes http://www.goodfortunes.com/ was created.

She borrowed from her family and friends to steer her business to success. She grew the business through phone sales, word of mouth and PR, getting featured in media such as Food Network and magazines such as Elle and InStyle.

Karen transformed the ordinary fortune cookies into something special, and found success by offering a unique product that she never expected.

Catherine Keane: Tapping a Lucrative Ipod Niche

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:46:00 +0000

Ipods are the hottest music accessories today, with the signature white earphones showing up everywhere from subways to streets to offices. In March 2008, about 170 million Ipods have been sold worldwide.

Given the popularity of this product, it is no wonder that service industries revolving around Ipod would crop up. HungryPod.com, a business that converts CDs into MP3s that can be uploaded to Ipods is one such example.

Catherine Keane, then 23, started HungryPod.com in September 2004 after hearing an acquaintance pay $500 to convert her CDs and load them up to her Ipod. She initially provided her services in the New York area, later branching out to the Web through her website HungryPod.com.

Her niche business grew primarily through word of mouth, Craigslist ads, and a 2004 New York Times article. In addition to CD conversions, she also offered music consulting services by selecting songs for her clients and buying them in iTunes. Her business soon earned revenues of more than $100,000 a year, employing three people.

In May 2008, Catherine sold her HungryPod business for an undisclosed amount to competitor Moondog Digital. But Catherine has shown that money can be made with the right niche business.

Christy Webber: Success in the Landscaping Business

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:25:00 +0000

Christy Webber is one of the most succcessful landscape and lawncare business owners today. She is the founder of Christy Webber Landscapes , a full-service landscape provider, offering landscape design, construction, and landscape maintenance programs to residential, commercial and municipal properties throughout Chicago.

Her company, which she built from the ground up in 1990, is ranked by Lawn and Landscape Magazine as one of the top companies in this industry in terms of revenues. She started mowing lawns when she was a student for extra money, but sold the first business to start a teaching career. However, she realized that teaching was not for her and restarted her lawn care business. She started Christy Webber Landscapes in 1988 with only two people working out of her home.

Today, her company's 2007 revenue is estimated to be at $18.2 million!

A very hands-on business owner, Christy's tip to other business owners:

"It's important to surround yourself with the right people who know what they're doing. For example, I don't know where I'd be right now without my CFO. He's taught me how to be smart when it comes from borrowing money and provided me with valuable insight when it came to the company's finances. I could never have achieved this success if not for these people around me. That's the key to running a business this size."

A Mom's Work is Never Done

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:56:00 +0000

Here's a nice chart from the Heritage Foundation providing a breakdown of a mother's time -- and the chart does not even include the time spent in running a business for the work at home moms out there!

Kathy Gendel: Success in the Undergarment Business

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:07:00 +0000

Ever watched QVC? One of QVC's best selling products is Breezies Intimates, a line of undergarments created by Kathy Gendel. Breezies Intimates is a wide range of undergarments sold exclusively by QVC.

What sets the Breezies apart is the patented fabric used in panties and bra linings. More than underwear-as-sexy-objects pitch like Victoria Secret, Breezies positions itself as an underwear that addresses women concerns on odor control, staining and feminine issues. And the products have gained a huge customer base, becoming one of QVC's favorite products.

Breezies Intimates, launched more than 10 years ago, started -- and remains -- a family affair. Kathy, who was then a fashion merchandiser, created her line of undergarments with her husband Craig, who was a panty manufacturer. Today, Kathy's two daughters are now involved in the business and have designed their own lines.

Kathy's approach to business is "slow but sure" and never trying to grow too quickly -- a strategy that worked well for this millionaire mom and her family.

PowerHomeBiz Small & Home Business Blog: Mom Entrepreneurs: 10 Rules for Doing Business

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:52:00 +0000

Mom Entrepreneurs: 10 Rules for Doing Business

Very informative rules for doing business from Kim Levine, a successful woman entrepreneur and Wuvit's inventor.

Eureka Moment: Kim Levine, Creator of Wuvit

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:02:00 +0000

Great business ideas are everywhere -- if you're willing to look closely.

Kim Levine, invented Wuvit, which are little bags that comes in various patterns and provides soothing penetrating moist heat. She describes her eureka moment in her book "Mommy Millionaire: How I Turned My Kitchen Table Idea into a Million Dollars and How You Can Too" that led to her product invention as:

"My husband was feeding deer in the backyard of our sprawling tree-lined suburban neighborhood ... I saw a fifty pound bag of corn he had left standing upright next to my sewing machine and a lightbulb went off in my head. I had heard of rice in socks, surely corn would be better: It had a bigger grain that would hold on to heat longer. I put the corn in a hastily sewn pillowcase, heated it up in the microwave for a couple of minutes, then took it out and held it against my chest. I was blown away by the wave of soothing moist heat that enveloped my body."

Kobold Toys: Home-Based Mom Launching a New Online Toy Store

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:21:00 +0000

A former colleague of mine who have left the workforce to be a full time mom to her kids has recently launched a unique specialty toy store. Ana Eiras, together with her partner Carmina Valdizan, are bringing to the Web a different kind of toy store called Kobold Toys.

Kobold Toys brings its customers not only exclusive toys designed in many countries around the world, but also great new services to make their customers’ shopping experience a unique one.

With the toy industry earning $22 billion in sales in 2007 in the United States alone, Ana is hopeful that there is room for Kobold Toys. This toy store has been operating in the last four years as a successful brick and mortar store in Panama with Carmina at the helm. With Ana on board, she will move Kobold Toys on the Web and eventually hope to start brick and mortar shops as well in the United States.

To learn about the strategies and Ana's experiences in launching Kobold Toys Online, read the article Kobold Toys: How a Brick and Mortar Toy Store is Moving to the Web

Banu Ozden, Starting a Business After Cancer Diagnosis

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:59:00 +0000

When people are diagnosed with cancer, some panic and wallow in fear; others pray; while many prepare themselves physically and emotionally for the battle ahead. Some will start doing the things they’ve always wanted to do but never did, like travel to some exotic land.

But not Banu Ozden. When she heard that she had breast cancer, she started a business.

While many will think that starting a business when one has been diagnosed with cancer is not the best time, especially if the cancer has metastasized to the bone, but Banu knew she had to do this venture.

Banu, then 35 years old, was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in 2001. During her treatment, she became frustrated navigating the medical billing process as she received overcharges and errors in her bills. She couldn’t make sense of the medical codes and statements, which did not accurately reflect what she needed to pay.

A former director of research of computing systems at Bell Labs, she realized that she is not the only one confused and frustrated with the medical billing process. That led to the idea for a business that will help ordinary medical consumers make sense of their bills by automating the billing process and weeding out billing errors.

Computer expert Banu, who has multiple patents under her belt, then started just such a service, Web-based SmartMedicalConsumer http://www.SmartMedicalConsumer.com.

The free online service offers its users automatic error detection, alerting them as to how many potential errors it has detected and where they can be found. It’s free to consumers but she’s planning to generate revenues by selling ads on the site and selling her proprietary software to companies.

Banu is a rare breed of a woman, and we wish her well.

Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:46:00 +0000

Financial Post has an interesting article entitled "Understanding the psychology of the successful" which lists the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. According to the article, those who succeed in entrepreneurial activities share the following attributes:

often relatively comfortable with ambiguity, uncertainty and risk
strongly influence events (or self-efficacy)
have high levels of work motivation
characterized by high levels of social competence and social intelligence
has an ability to build relationships and to connect with others on a social and interpersonal level
single-minded and devoted to their unique passions
have a unique ability to see opportunities others fail to recognize
may judge ambiguous business conditions in more positive, enthusiastic, and optimistic terms
takes advantage of resources such as mentoring, counselling and other small business development assistance
has some blend of critical analytical thinking, creativity, and practical implementation of ideas

The question now is, do you have to be born with these characteristics or can you develop them through experiences and education?

Brenda Dronkers: Finding Success with Inflatable Party Spaces

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:36:00 +0000

Sometimes the best business ideas are just around us -- if you know where to look.

Brenda Dronkers, founder of the inflatable party place Pump It Up http://www.pumpitupparty.com/index.htm, got the inspiration for her business in her church's fall festival in 1999. She was then a California mother of three who struggled to make ends meet with no college degree and no money.

In that festival, she saw her kids' excitement as they rushed to the inflatable trampoline. And the idea hit her -- since kids love inflatables and inflatable slides and trampolines are always a hit during parties, why not create a place full of inflatables where parties can be safely held?

Brenda moved fast with her business idea. With a friend giving her some capital, she leased a cheap warehouse and commissioned much-sturdier inflatables. She opened her first Pump It Up in Pleasanton, California that year.

And her business worked! She booked 90 parties in her first month. Last year, revenues of Pump It Up reached $55 million. She has franchised her idea, and now has about 160 franchises in 38 states.

Check out Brenda's successful venture at PumpItUpParty.com

ADDED:
You can read about Brenda's new venture and the lessons she learned from Pump It Up in the article "Brenda Dronkers: Moving from One Successful Business to Another"

Debbie Weiner: Interior Design for Budget Conscious Families

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 15:30:00 +0000

As a small business, you can't offer everything to everyone. Hence, niche targeting has been an effective a strategy used by many small businesses to succeed. With more limited resources, you can offer better products or service if you concentrate on a smaller (but profitable) market that the giants of your industry has overlooked.

This is the strategy that interior decorator Debbie Weiner of Designing Solutions LLC in Silver Springs, Maryland has successfully used for her business. Instead of competing with other interior designers for high-end designs in the Washington DC area, Debbie's interior design firm specializes in creating real-life family-friendly designs for busy homes. Not the immaculately perfect interior designs fit only for magazines, but designs for budget-conscious families for the way they really live.

With kids, it takes a yeoman's job to make sure that everything is in order -- and Debbie understands this need. Instead of creating fancy designs, she says that her

"elegant decorating style is influenced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in that it is carefully thought out to survive whatever life throws at it, including incontinent pets, food fights between siblings, vomiting babies and extremely sloppy spouses"

Debbie's fresh approach to decorating has earned for her rave reviews from publications such as Washington Post, New York Times, Good Housekeeping, and other publications.

Ashley Qualls: 17-Year Old Success Story

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:05:00 +0000

One of the most interesting success stories of 2007 is Ashley Qualls, only 17 years of age but has already built a million dollar website.

Her site, WhateverLife.com offers free MySpace page layouts giving her main target audience -- young girls -- the ability to change their MySpace pages using Ashley's flowers, hearts, celebrities that they can put into your own MySpace layouts.

With the term "MySpace" layouts one of the most searched term in Google, Ashley stumbled on a market with huge demand. No wonder her site attracts more than 7 million individuals and 60 million page views a month.

Ashley is able to leverage her site's gargantuan traffic into a huge moneymaking machine through online ads, such as Google Adsense and Valueclick's banners. She has dropped out of high school to focus on her growing empire and even bought a house. Not many 17 year olds can boast of these accomplishments!

Her site is not much to look at; in fact it looks cluttered and will not win any web design prizes anytime. But it is a solid proof that even small businesses can thrive on the Internet -- if you are able to speak the language of your target audience and relate to them.

Fast Company has a very interesting article on Ashley that you can read http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/118/girl-power.html

11 Simple Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurship

noreply@blogger.com (WomenHomeBusiness.com) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 18:43:00 +0000

According to the new book "Beat the System" by Robert W. MacDonald (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; October 2007) the key to becoming an entrepreneur lies in the implementation of basic concepts and, there are only 11 simple secrets to learn to make it happen.

Here are the secrets to successful entrepreneurship:

Secret 1: Build parallel interests.
Secret 2: Be an architect of the future.
Secret 3: Be decisive, multifaceted, and ethical to a fault.
Secret 4: Know the risk -- measure the reward.
Secret 5: Communication -- be a shower not a teller.
Secret 6: Power to the people.
Secret 7: Become a trust builder.
Secret 8: Sharing wealth increases wealth.
Secret 9: Be constant, consistent, and concise.
Secret 10: Treat important people like important people.
Secret 11: Do simple things -- simply do them.

Read an excerpt of the book "Beat the System"