WHAT: Myself Belts; a line of belts for children and adults featuring a one-handed patented belt closure which allows the wearer to open and close their belt easily with only one hand

WHEN: 2003

WHERE: St. Louis, Missouri

HOW: When Goldfarb’s son ditched his diapers, the idea for Myself Belts was born. “We discovered a void in the marketplace when my son was 3 and became potty trained. Without the bulk of his diaper, his pants didn’t fit him correctly anymore and when we searched for a belt, we discovered that there were not any belts on the market that young children could actually use independently,” says Goldfarb.

From there, Goldfarb and Eason took their idea and ran with it. “We did a patent search and discovered that our idea was actually an invention. We patented the Myself Belts’ belt closure and then began the steps of actually manufacturing our line of belts,” says Goldfarb. Using their own personal savings, the sisters took a risk, put five figures into launching the business and ordered 10,000 belts before receiving any orders from stores. Thankfully, trusting their instincts paid off. “By the time our belts arrived, we already had 100 stores that had placed orders from a marketing mailing that we had sent out while the belts were in production. We were pretty relieved that our instinct was correct!” says Goldfarb. Today, Myself Belts are sold in retail stores across the country and on a variety of websites including Target.com.

When Myself Belts officially launched in September 2004, Goldfarb, a former social worker and therapist dedicated herself fully to the company. Her sister went from working full-time to part-time as a financial planner for a wine company. “We were both very happy in our previous professions and had never planned to become entrepreneurs. It didn’t take long for the business to require our full attention,” says Goldfarb.

Within their first year of business Goldfarb and Eason’s business was profitable. To date, the sisters have sold over one million dollars worth of belts, and despite the state of the economy, they’re actually seeing revenues that are up 20-25% from last year. Their belts are increasingly in the spotlight too—thanks to a following of celebrity fans. “We have heard from celebrities like Courtney Cox, Brooke Shields, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Shaquille O’Neal who all love their Myself Belts. Last week Madonna’s daughter Mercy was photographed wearing a Myself Belt,” says Goldfarb.

THEIR ADVICE: According to these sisters, one of the most important things you can do when starting your own business is asking questions. “Our best tip of advice is to ask questions. Ask, ask, ask!” says Goldfarb. “We have found that people are extremely helpful and generous in sharing knowledge and it never hurts to just reach out to someone and make that phone call,” she adds. For these sisters, customer service is key too—especially when your company is small. “When you have a small business, I think that customer service is the element that can separate a company from the pack,” says Goldfarb. “Having customers understand who you are and what your intention is with your product is of utmost importance. We pride ourselves on keeping our customers happy and building a customer base that is supportive and rooting for us because we’re just like them,” adds Goldfarb.

Would you like to win a Myself Belt? Click here and write “Myself Belt” in the message box.

-Lori, New Jersey

It seems logical right? Don’t use your card, you won’t have a balance and you won’t have to worry about paying it off. Unfortunately however, that’s not the case. “Card issuers have been closing out millions of inactive accounts…they are doing this in order to limit their risk as they are facing mounting losses related to card members who are unable to make payments on their credit cards,” says CardRatings.com’s Curtis Arnold.

If you don’t use your credit card over about a six-month period, it may be considered inactive and your issuer may cancel your account. Unfortunately, this will impact your credit score. “Closing out an account that you haven’t used in a while on the surface may seem like a prudent thing to do, but doing so will likely adversely affect your credit score,” says Arnold.

The decreasing of your score has to do with a little something called your utilization ratio. Your utilization ratio compares the amount of credit you’re using to the total credit you have at your disposal. If you have a small amount of debt and a lot of available credit, you have a low utilization ratio—and that’s a good thing when it comes to your credit score. When your issuer closes your account due to inactivity, it decreases your available credit, therefore dinging your credit score.

How can you avoid this problem in the future? To keep the rest of your cards active, be sure to use each card once a month or so—even if it is for something you’d typically pay cash for, like a movie ticket or a coffee. “Keeping a monthly automatic charge on your card is also an easy way to keep your account active,” suggests Arnold.

WHAT: Corso’s Cookies

WHERE: Syracuse, NY

WHEN: 2001

HOW: “I always loved to bake since my first easy bake oven and I also loved art. Once I combined them both into decorated cookies I knew I had found my niche,” says Corso. When Corso had trouble finding a unique gift to send to a friend who had a baby, she decided to take matters into her own hands. The result? A million dollar business. “I decided to send her some cookies decorated like flowers in a basket. She loved them so I started making them for thank you gifts…they created quite a buzz around town. Every time I sent cookies out the recipient would want me to make more to send to someone for them. It seemed to be a snowball effect,” says Corso.

Working as a real estate agent, Corso used part of her commissions to fund the start-up. “I would go to the store, buy a pound of sugar and ten pounds of flour pretty much every other day. Then I’d wait to get paid on one bouquet to go out and do it again,” said Corso. The fledgling cookie business received its biggest boost from its first large order. “One thing that really helped was an order for 5,000 heart shaped cookies from the American Heart Association. We didn’t have any equipment for this. We had to do all the rolling by hand. I called every relative I had, every friend I had to help. With that order, the money we made helped us get things really started,” says Corso. A new and improved website also helped Corso’s Cookies gain exposure. “Once we got a really good website up, other companies started coming to us wanting to sell the bouquets on their site,” says Corso. Today, Corso’s Cookies are sold on over 100 websites, including ProFlowers and Amazon.

As orders kept getting larger and more frequent, Corso decided to leave the real estate business behind and pursue her true passion. “Within 6 months of starting cookie bouquets, the cookies just dominated. The tipping point for leaving real estate was my getting three hours of sleep a night,” explained Corso. But Corso wasn’t the only one burning the midnight oil—her husband Peter Hess also worked overtime to get the business off the ground. “My husband worked a full-time job to support us and worked with me in the evenings and weekends to prevent us from having to hire an accountant, janitor or salesperson. He kept on top of business matters and I made sure the product was made and orders were fulfilled,” says Corso. Over the course of the first three years in business, the couple went from engaged, to married to full-time business partners. “It was a huge challenge to the relationship but we both came out stronger and so did our business,” says Corso.

After three years of hard work, Corso’s Cookies began to turn a profit. In 2008, their revenues topped two million dollars and they expect things to only get better. “2010 should be our best year ever based on the sales we are starting to see come in for next year,” says Corso. For Corso’s though, it isn’t just all about making a profit—giving back is important too. Recently, the company teamed up with Vera Bradley’s Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer to sell their “Hope Garden Cookie Bouquet,” with a 20% of the proceeds from each bouquet going to help the foundation.

HER ADVICE: For Corso, slow and steady is the key to building a successful business “Don’t get in over your head or think you have to have everything right away. Grow slow,” says Corso. “Buy equipment used, and don’t worry about the competition. You have stay focused and have a plan of your own, don’t let their decisions influence what you are doing,” she adds.

Are you an entrepreneur with a story to share? Click here to tell us how you turned your bright idea into a money maker.

-Jack, Connecticut

Answer: Despite tough economic times, Americans are still finding ways to donate to charity. According to the Giving USA Foundation’s Annual Report on Philanthropy, Americans donated $229.3 billion in 2008.

Unfortunately though, there are a number of false charities looking to capitalize on the good nature of those looking to donate their hard earned cash. Thankfully, there are websites out there designed to help you vet charities you’re considering donating to. Here are a few of my favorites:

Charity Navigator: An independent charity evaluator, Charity Navigator offers information on over 5,400 charities in the United States. Charity Navigator assesses charities based on two factors: how responsibly it functions from day to day and how they expect the charity to be able to sustain their programs in the future.

Guidestar: Guidestar combines information provided by the actual charities with data from several other sources. View a charity’s profile to find out about it’s mission, leaders, goals, programs, accomplishments and needs.

The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance: A part of the Better Business Bureau, the Wise Giving Alliance produces reports on nationally soliciting charitable organizations. They also publish the Wise Giving Guide, a quarterly report of the Alliance’s latest national charity evaluations. You can get a complimentary copy by clicking here.

The American Institute of Philanthropy: A nonprofit charity watchdog service that researches, evaluates and grades charities across the United States. Some of their information is available online, but with a donation of $40 or more, you’ll receive their Charity Rating Guide and Watchdog Report, which is published tri-annually. You can receive a sample copy of the report for $3 by clicking here.

Once you’ve researched the charity you’d like to donate to through one of the above sites, it’s a good idea to pick up and talk to the charity directly. Here are a few questions that should definitely be asked:

When were you established? When choosing a charity, you’ll want to select one that has a proven track record. If the charity was created recently in response to a major disaster, proceed with caution. “I would say it is very risky to give to a start up nonprofit that is created to respond to a major disaster. Other start ups are a little less risky,” says Charity Navigator’s Vice President of Marketing Sandra Minnuti. “At Charity Navigator we do not rate charities until they have been in existence at least 4 – 5 years. This gives the charity time to get established and for us to have a track record to examine,” she adds.

How much of my donation will go to helping others? According to the American Institute of Philanthropy, in most cases, 60% or more of your donation dollars should go to program services.

Do you have information you can mail me? Almost any legitimate charity will have information they can mail to prospective donors. If the charity you’re talking with doesn’t, consider it a major red flag.

Does the IRS recognize you as a charity? If the charity in question isn’t recognized by the IRS, you wont’ be able to legally claim your donation as a tax deduction. “You want proof of their nonprofit status. You should ask the charity to send you copies of their three most recently filed Forms 990. By law charities are required to provide those filings to anyone making a request in person or in writing,” advises Minnuti.

WHERE: Saddle Brook, NJ

WHEN: 2008

HOW: “Much of how we got here feels like serendipity,” says Scherl.  Both former successful marketing and strategy consultants, Scherl and Jaensch focused on women’s issues for most of their careers. “We focused on women-driven businesses – birth control, health and beauty, fertility– servicing leading companies including Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth and Church & Dwight,” says Scherl.  

Knowing about their passion for women’s issues, a venture capitalist friend showed them a business plan for Zestra.  “He said, ‘This opportunity, this category is for you’,” says Scherl. In April 2008, the pair met with the company’s higher-ups hoping that they could potentially manage the company.  They was under the impression that Scherl and Jaensch were coming to the table with funding to back the troubled brand.  “We parted ways believing that our interests were not aligned,” says Scherl.

Although the meeting didn’t turn out the way they hoped, Scherl and Janesch’s walked away with their curiosity piqued.  “As we looked at the category, which we now define as sexual satisfaction, it looked like the “perfect storm” from a marketing perspective,” says Scherl. The pair noticed how many women were looking for increased sexual satisfaction that didn’t have access to very many solutions. “Women weren’t talking to their health care professionals about sexual satisfaction, even though studies showed that 43% of women were sexually dissatisfied.  Most doctors were reluctant to bring it up with their patients,” says Scherl.  

With the facts in front of them and clinical, healthcare and marketplace evidence that showed Zesta worked, Scherl and Jaensch decided to take action. “Mary and I saw and seized an opportunity to “start a conversation” with women about something very important to them,” says Scherl.
 
Three months later, Scherl and Jaensch launched Semprae Laboratories.  After about a year later, the company that formerly owned Zestra declared bankruptcy.  Semprae made an offer and they were awarded the company’s assets several months later for $2.5 million dollars.  After acquiring the assets, Scherl and Jaensch put an additional $3 million towards making over the product and re-launching.  They also decided to leave their consulting jobs too to put 100% into making Semprae and Zestra a success. “After spending 8 months researching and developing the brand’s new story, Zestra “launched” with new packaging, flavor, positioning, messaging, business model and organizational support in April 2009,” says Scherl.
 
After just 9 months in business, Semprae is on track to be a seven figure business in 2009. Semprae has big plans for the future too.  “We are focused on driving significant growth to get to breakeven by the middle of next year.  We expect that the Zestra franchise is capable of driving $100MM in sales.” says Scherl.

THEIR ADVICE: According to Scherl and Jaensch, their business motto can be summed up in a line from the 1975 movie “Rollerball”: “No time-outs.  No substitutions.” “Get up every day and work as hard and as smart as you can for as long as you can.  Figure out the two or three things that drive your business and focus 100% of your time, energy and creativity on those elements,” adds Scherl.