What’s Your Story?

There’s nothing more special and near and dear to the hearts of entrepreneurs than the story of the founding of their company.  So, why did you start your business? What opportunity did you fulfill?

Q: What’s Your Story?

I started my photography blog, because when I bought my first DSLR camera, I couldn’t find a resource that explained how to use it and digital photography to me in terms that I could understand. The books I bought and sites I found seemed to expect me to have a working knowledge of my camera and to be familiar with the terms. I wasn't.

I’m not a moron, but even the Photography for Dummies book didn’t help. Once I learned how to use my camera, I decided to become that resource for new DSLR camera owners. I write in a way that anyone can understand.

I love receiving emails from someone who finally get’s it thanks for reading my blog or eBook. It’s a fantastic feeling when you finally look at your camera and understand how to create beautiful images with it; we invest a lot of money in our cameras and photography gear, too much money to shoot in Auto mode.

Now, I continue to promote my photography blog and I have two more eBooks coming this summer. I’m having a blast!

Thanks to Kimberly Gauthier!

http://www.kimberlygauthier.com/blog

My company was founded from inspiration from my father who’s been battling cancer. He wasn’t comfortable attending events away from home because he didn't have a bag to carry his personal essentials; medications and supplies for his colostomy in privacy. I seen a need to create, design a bag after researching and seeing there was not a bag that fit his and others needs in the market. My brain took off and I designed the WhatchyaGot bag that he and others can carry all their personal essentials while on the go. It is a wonderful feeling knowing that I seen a need and created a bag that helps many in several ways. It is rewarding to get feedback from customers stating that they have a sense of freedom now when leaving home knowing that they have everything they need in one convenient bag. I enjoy building relationships with my customers and hearing their story’s and how the bag has helped them live life with more ease and confidence.

Thanks to Julie Gallegos!

http://www.whatchyagotbags.com/

This has probably happened to just about everyone who has used the internet. You go online to look something up, you click-through a bunch of distractions, and three hours later, you still haven’t looked up that one thing you went online for in the first place.

I realized the culprit was often the start page. I had one of those start pages that had tons of distracting links, and I was losing lots of time as a result. I might have switched to a basic search engine, but that seemed to limited. I also could have switched to one of the mainstream customizable start pages, but those have too many widgets. Why is that a problem? The widgets are things like RSS feeds, social network status updates, games, and more. Not only does this make the page slower to load, it means that every time you start your computer, you’ll be faced with a collection of precisely those things most likely to distract you.

I wanted a fast-loading, customizable site where I could have my favorite links and search tools without anything else. That’s why I created Blinkdash.com

Thanks to Blinkdash.com!

http://www.blinkdash.com

I started Quincy Tutoring in 07 to provide my students with a resource that provided high quality low-cost standardized test prep. My idea has evolved to where I now offer tutors a free platform to market their tutor skills. I also give my tutors the option to write blog posts.

Thanks to Eric Clark!

http://www.quincytutoring.com/

In August 2009, I created Briefs Magazine. Briefs Magazine is an online magazine for men ages 26 to 55. The idea for the magazine came to me in the form of my husband. I needed some time to myself and thought, “How can I get my husband out of the house?” What I needed was a magazine with brief articles on activities that men would like to do. Thus, Briefs Magazine was born with articles on sports, cars, women and man’s best friend- his dog.

Thanks to Giovanna Di Biccari!

http://www.briefsmagazineonline.com/

My microbusiness was founded in 1997 as a response to being downsized from corporate America, over 40 and computer phobic, but skilled in the pet world. There is no other business like it to my knowledge in the entire US, having no precedents has been more fun than scary. Pet Stuff Resale buys and sells new and used pet supplies, saving people money and keeping things out of area landfills. I absolutely love my job even though it requires me to work every weekend, when pet adoptions are the highest.

Thanks to Janet Huey!

http://petstuffresale.com/

My business was inspired by an angel. After the death of my sister, instead of the usual condolence flowers, a friend sent me an angel figurine that had a comforting inscription on the skirt of the angel. This special keepsake brings fond memories of both my sister and my dear friend. I wanted to provide that same experience of comfort and remembrance to others, so our store was born.

The concept of a niche store that sells only sympathy and memorial gift items was unique but I felt that it had a target audience that had limited choices of products elsewhere. I am continually searching for items that will honor the memory of a loved one.

Thanks to Barbara Harwood!

http://www.hearttoheartsympathygifts.com/

I started Jason Sole Consulting LLC to help juvenile and adult offenders get their lives back on track. As a three-time felon and a former gang leader, I went through a great deal of trauma but I turned it around. I am a professor at a university with a year or less left to complete my PhD in Public Safety. I created my business to help others overcome their pitfalls!

Thanks to Jason Marque Sole!

http://www.jasonsole.com/

I am what you may call Entrepreneur by necessity. My previous employment as a Business Support Officer, was with a non-profit organization (EBSP LTD) based in Cardiff, United Kingdom. We were funded by the Welsh Assembly and the European Union governments to reach out, by way of business seminars and road shows, to ethnic minorities all across the nation to challenge them to consider self employment as an alternative to unemployment and  underemployment. At the height of the economic downturn, in 2008, our funding ceased and that aspect of our operation had to unfortunately wound up, thus my being laid off.

After about 6 – 8 months of unsuccessfully getting a job. I started my business VIKE INVEST (UK) LTD, a business consultancy firm. And a year after wrote my first book “The Business You Can Start – Spotting The Greatest Opportunities In The Economic Downturn”.

Thanks to Victor Kwegyir!

http://www.vikebusinessservices.com/

A few years back I got myself into trouble with credit card debt while trying to start a business. I had always wanted to be my own boss, so I made some foolish decisions while trying to make this happen. Sadly I reached a point where the debt far exceeded the income, so I had no choice but to give up. A few years later, as the Internet became popular, I once again had the desire to start my own business. I learned about affiliate

marketing (where you sell other people’s products, much like a sales rep). After a few bad ideas, I ended up starting a debt-related website to share all the lessons I had learned the hard way. Now, about 10 years later, the website is still going strong.

Thanks to Kris Beckwell!

http://www.debt-tips.com/

I’m a nurse by profession, but at the tender age of 40 I met somebody sailing around the world in a 28′ boat and decided to join, not knowing anything about sailing! We sailed through the Med, across the Atlantic and sailed around the Caribbean for the next 7 years. I certainly learned to sail and am now using all that information/experience in the company I started when I was 51. My company is a charter brokerage, which means that I arrange other people’s vacations on boats.

Thanks to Rebekah Rombom!

http://amazingcharters.com/

Why I started the business is a classic case of accidental good timing. I had been making Invisible Shoes as a hobby when a local barefoot running coach, Michael Sandler of Run Bare said, “If you had a website, I’d put you in our upcoming book.” I pitched the idea to my wife, who summarily shot it down… So I waited until she went to bed and built a website  . Within 3 months of launching, http://www.InvisibleShoe.com was our full-time job, and now in just over a year we’ve sold over 5,000 pairs in 35 countries.  The rest, as they say…

Thanks to Steven Sashen!

http://www.InvisibleShoe.com

I started Chipkos because I knew that people were concerned about protecting our environment, but I didn’t feel that an easy and proactive avenue existed to do something about it. Aside from just recycling or buying organically, I wanted to give people the opportunity to do more for our environment, but in an easy, fun and fashionable way. Chipkos sells sandals, but we also sell hope for the future; for every pair of sandals that we sell, we adopt 100 square feet of the rain forest. Chipkos sandals are a wearable badge that let you express your support for nature preservation, while showing off your unique and diverse style at the same time. The only way to create widespread change is if we all stand together, and I started Chipkos to give the public a platform to stand together, unified in our goal of protecting our natural resources.

Thanks to Priya Dua!

http://chipkos.com/

Everyone always says, “Find something you love and the money will come.” Living in New York is a food lover’s paradise. I eat out 8 days a week and am always stumbling onto new places. About a year ago I started writing down specials at some of my favorite places. I didn’t want to spend $100 all the time! Before I knew it what I loved became my book, 365 Guide. Drink. Eat. Save. Every Day of the Year. 365 Guide is packed with a food and drink deal for every day of the year in New York City. Now my love of New York can be shared with the world! So for me, finding what your passionate about really does inspire creativity to follow your dreams. It is just a matter of figuring out “how.” So my advice…think about what you love to do. Write it down and let the juices flow.

Thanks to Monica DiNatale!

http://www.my365guide.com/

 Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net