"I didn't know a thing about running a bed and breakfast," says DeLuca. "But [it] came very naturally to me because I love to entertain and have people in my home." DeLuca aims to triple those revenues by operating at full capacity (the Inn is at 50% now) and having guests during the week.You don't need a fancy pedigree or specialized set of skills to launch a business. Some start-ups require more capital than others, of course, and all companies demand care and feeding. But if you can muster the courage, do a bit of research and secure a tax identification number (so Uncle Sam can take his cut), you can be your own boss.
Low-tech ventures that work best tend to target a devoted customer base and offer an easy-to-grasp product or service. Take dog walking (as in, walking dogs).
A former Unisys call center representative who went back to college in his late 30s, Kevin Meadows started walking dogs part-time while attending St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. A friend told him about a stockbroker in San Francisco who quit his job to start a dog-walking service. Rumor had it the guy made six figures carting dogs on a flat-bed truck to a park so they could run around for a few hours a day.
Now 41, Meadows hasn't bought a flat-bed, but he's making money. Austin Dog Walkers handles 20 to 30 pooches a day; Meadows piles six in his sport utility vehicle and the rest go with two other walkers, each of whom cover a specific part of the city. Daily revenues: about $450. Out of that, Meadows pays his two contractors 80% of the revenue they generate. Gas eats up $700 to $800 a month, but advertising costs are minimal--though Meadows did take a course in animal first aid. "Anything you can do to give people confidence that you're trustworthy is important," he says. Estimated pretax income this year: about $60,000.
Keri Cooper, a corporate-event manager in Seattle, went after another fanatical group of customers: anxious brides and grooms (and the parents who write the checks). "I was doing some soul searching, so I just started coordinating a few weddings on the side," she says.
The demand for these services is breathtaking. Wedding consultants charge $1,000 to $20,000 per event, depending on location and breadth of services. The best clear $100,000 a year.
To drum up business, Cooper mails clients a formal, mock wedding invitation when she schedules an introductory meeting. She now coordinates 20 weddings per year. "More than that and I can’t give enough time to my clients," she says. Cooper charges between $1,600 and $10,000 per event. Three-year-old company Bliss Events now nets between $40,000 and $70,000 a year.
While a business may look quick and easy to start, profits might be a long time coming. Just ask Kimberly Raymond, who decided a year ago to quit her soul-sapping sales job to start her own personal concierge service in Washington, D.C.
"I got started in day--I'm not kidding," she says. "I decided on a bike ride that [this] was the right idea. Instead of heading home, I turned around and went over to my friend's house. She became my first client."
To her credit, Raymond chose a growing industry. "Everybody is trying to squeeze 36 hours into a 24 hour day," says Katherine Giovanni, founder of International Concierge and Errand Association, which has 600 members in 20 countries, up from 20 members a decade ago.
But Raymond's hair-pin turn brought pain. While start-up costs were minimal--Web site design (a few hundred bucks), accountant ($400), fliers and business cards ($200), her new business is still under water. After 13 months, Raymond's 12 clients have only yielded $25,000 in revenues--far short of her $33,000 in living expenses. She fills the gap, in part, with $5,000 in credit card debt, now at a low 10% interest rate.
"It's been a really challenging year, financially," she says. "I'm thinking of spinning off into event management."
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