If so, you aren’t alone. Many people dream of quitting their day job and opening a business that will allow them to truly follow their passions. A large percentage of these people think that their dreams can never come true, but entrepreneurs like Jim McGown are living the dream every day.

Jim McGown went to school to be a mathematician and ended up a career real estate developer, but neither field felt right. He longed for a career change and went out on a limb, buying a neighborhood pub and revamped it into an up and coming pizza shop that is the talk of Brooklyn.

Being noted for good pizza in a neighborhood known for it is quite a task, especially for a novice. However, he learned from the best. While the area was once known for authentic Italian pizzas, most of the old generation had retired. As it turned out, there were many old timers willing to share their secrets with someone who shared their passion. Check out the top 10 pizza company logos.

McGown took notes and caught on quickly. He focused on quality, making an authentic crust that any Italian would love and cooking it in an authentic coal brick oven. He decided quickly that toppings would overcomplicate his masterpiece and prefers to leave it to pizza companies like Dominos Pizza, and instead offered just one style of pizza: the old world margherita.

Focusing on one dish and mastering it proved to be a good business move. When South Brooklyn Pizza opened, it earned high reviews from locals and newspapers alike. Within months, people were traveling from nearby boroughs and even neighboring states to try this authentic Italian pizza. While many small businesses struggle to break even, this pizzeria will bring in well into the six figures in its first year.

The restaurant business is particularly fickle, but McGown accidentally hit on one sure recipe for success: mastering a signature dish. Although restaurant failures run between sixty and ninety percent depending on the study, offering a dish that people will return for is one way to buffer a business against these staggering odds.

McGown hasn’t always been so lucky. For instance, he recently lost money in a yacht club he purchased years ago. However, he was willing to learn from his mistakes and take steps to rebound. One lesson was in branding. In his current business, he focuses on a signature dish that has become the focus of the entire venture. However, the pizza is not the only thing sold on the premises. After experimentation, the savvy owner introduced two side dishes: breadsticks and oven baked chocolate chip cookies.

One of the secrets to the success is that McGown opened his pizzeria in an area where pizza remains a popular choice. Many Brooklynites go out for pizza three times per week. They are passionate about the savory pie and will discuss it with friends and family. This created the word of mouth buzz that has been the sole marketing of the restaurant.

McGown plans to open more locations using his keep it simple business plan. His aims are easy: he wants his patrons to leave feeling that his pizza and cookies are the best they have ever had. Because he focuses solely on those products, this kind of excellence is within his reach. The uniqueness and good branding of the restaurant ensures that it will have many years of success in pizza-loving Brooklyn.

Many veterans have trouble transitioning into the civilian work force. Others, however, seem to take to the change in pace without a pause. Brian Iglesias is one of these success stories. After a thirteen year career in the Marine Corps, he knew that film making was his true calling. However, he quickly found that, despite his hard work and leadership serving his country, he was having trouble getting the big break he needed.

Iglesias realized that the only way to get the job of his dreams was to open his own business. He was further held back by a service-related disability, a neck problem requiring a metal plate to be fused in his neck. Many veterans in this situation feel that they are alone and without options. However, there are many programs available to help former soldiers open small businesses. Iglesias chose one of these programs, the fourteen month Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). Here, Iglesias learned the basics of opening and managing a small business, including how to develop a business plan, market a small business, attain financing, obey relevant laws, and manage a supply chain.

Run by James M. Haynie, a business school professor and former Air Force member, this program is available free to injured and disabled veterans at several American universities. It is a definite change of focus from most employment programs for veterans, which overwhelmingly encourage getting a traditional job. However, there are many other opportunities like this.

One such place, SCORE, has a Veterans Committee staffed entirely with veterans. This allows veterans to speak to people who understand the unique language of military service, people who understand the importance of their jobs in the military. This understanding attitude helps them to make a smoother transition to the world of employment. Another company, the Northeast Veteran’s Business Resource Center, offers information and assistance with financing, insurance, and writing grants. Founded by a 23 year Army vet, this business also understands the unique issues facing veterans opening small businesses.

There are also businesses that help veterans with one of the most challenging steps in opening a small business: procuring capital. The Veterans Corp. is just one of these businesses. With a new chief executive, this business is marching into the future, helping veterans present a package that will attract investors and then connecting them with lenders and grant writers. This eases the transition from the military to small business. Many states even offer direct assistance to veterans, either offering government contracts to veterans or offering advising services and referrals to local resources.

There are many different types of services for veterans looking to open businesses. The key to success is seeking them out and never taking no for an answer. In Iglesias’ case, this doggedness paid off. With business training under his belt, he has successfully launched his film company, Veterans Inc, and plans to start filming his first documentary in the near future. For people coming back from military service, and small business owners in general, the resources are out there for anyone seeking them.

Everyone who has been to college remembers the high price of textbooks. On one hand, there is no way to get an education without the required reading; on the other hand, few people believe that a small bound stack of paper could possibly be worth four hundred dollars. Editions are changed every few years just to deplete the used textbook market and keep prices high. In the midst of this expense and waste, a group of college boys came up with a great idea.

Chegg, the brainchild of two college students, was originally designed to function as a campus-only version of Craigslist. However, the owners noticed that most of the ads were for textbooks. Before long, the website was a textbook only site that allowed rentals of the most popular texts. This was the niche that would lead the company to success.

Once limited to one college campus, Chegg now rents to students all over the nation at a small fraction of the price needed to buy the same textbooks. Their marketing is mindful of the special needs of their niche. For instance, they recently gave away breakfast burritos at USC and have been known to hand out free coffee in downtown Los Angeles.

Students who have used Chegg quickly buy into the concept and promote the idea to their classmates and friends. In a recent promotion, satisfied customers dressed up as large yellow chickens to be the website’s mascot. This kind of loyalty can buoy a business through the hardest times.

Chegg also has begun to embrace the environmental side of their business. Renting a textbook rather than buying one saves trees, a fact that college students are acutely aware of. This has prompted Chegg to use a more environmental approach to their business, now beginning a pilot program in which a tree will be planted for every textbook rented from the website.

The key to Chegg’s success is that they are effectively solving a very emotional problem for starving students all over the nation. For students who cannot afford their books, procuring them can be an upsetting and even bankrupting process. Offering a one stop shop with books for rent at a fraction of the price cuts back on a lot of unnecessary angst and creates brand loyalty. Students see Chegg as a friend and are willing to put in energy promoting that friend.

Another key has been the nontraditional marketing. Modern college students have been bombarded with marketing images since they were infants and are less susceptible to traditional advertising. By handing out food and beverages while spreading the word in a good natured, low pressure way, this company has set themselves apart from the millions of companies who are seen as dishonest and greedy. Instead, Chegg is a friendly presence that offers a solution to a common problem for a fraction of the price. This has been, and will continue to be, the reason for this company’s enormous success.

One reason many people prefer small businesses is the quality of their product. Small business owners give every aspect of their business that little something extra, a little piece of their soul. It’s this personal touch that keeps people coming back even after the business has gone national, which is why it is so essential for a small business not to lose their soul as they expand.

New Belgium Brewing Co. is one example of a company keeping its soul while undergoing immense growth. Located in Fort Collins, Colorado, this microbrew is not so micro anymore. The flagship ale, Fat Tire Amber Ale, has enjoyed worldwide acclaim, and other niche beers are hitting the market at this very moment. With an estimated 100 million dollars in sales this year, success would be an understatement when it comes to describing this innovative company.

One way that New Belgium has kept its soul is by staying in touch with its roots. The company is located in a relatively small town, and the CEO cycles to work several times a week to keep her finger on the pulse on the town. In the summer, the company sponsors movie festivals where beers can be sampled by locals. The company uses these occasions and others to gather information on the way their customers interact with their product.

New Belgium’s policy of staying in touch has been their secret to success. First, they are in touch with employees, offering them a range of perks from the mundane to the incredible (daily shift beer, anyone?). This has kept the retention rate at an unbelievable 92 percent and reduced the costs of attracting and training talent.

Keeping in touch with customer has been another key to success. New Belgium Brewing Co. currently sponsors a ‘Tour de Fat’, a bicycle tour that promotes the use of a bicycle as transportation. Their facilities use solely wind power as well. These alternative values resonate with the company’s fan base and show that this business is dedicated to doing their part for the planet, which keeps people supporting them.

The company culture prizes hard work, and this is a value that is held from the CEO on down. In fact, the owners had to open the brewery in their basement and work without pay for extended periods before the beer really took off. Once the beer had began to develop a following the couple hit another obstacle. The funding needed to expand was difficult to obtain because they were ahead of the micro-brew movement. Banks were reluctant to give capital to a company that was barely keeping its head above water, but that capital was the necessary step to success.

Now ran by just one of the original owners, New Belgium Brewing Co. has a bright future on the horizon. The company has made the transition from a small business to a large one with the same tenacity and determination that was used to develop the first beer. Their smooth transition and continued emphasis on quality make this brewer a small business success story.

Not Just Winging It: A Hot Business Success Story

When people think about opening up a restaurant, everyone seems to be full of dismal statistics. However, few people want to share the success stories. Portland, Oregon’s Fire on the Mountain Buffalo Wings is a small restaurant that has been lead to success by owners Sara Sawicki and Jordan Busch. With annual sales in the seven figures and another location in the works, it’s fair to call this a small business success story.
Busch and Sawicki claim that their success is due to their love of hot wings, but this is not the only factor. Here are a few things that the two owners have learned along the path to success.

It takes time. Owning a business will draw on your tiume the way no other small business could. Owners often find themselves working days, nights, weekdays, and weeknights, something going into work as soon as they wake up and leaving after the last dinner plate has been washed and put away.

You need a concept. Passion for food is not enough; you need a factor or set of factors that will set your restaurant apart from all of the other restaurants on the same road. This concept needs to extend beyond the food and into the décor, the clothing worn by staff, the telephone greetings, and yes, the marketing as well. This will provide the cohesive experience that keeps customers coming back. It would also help to have a great looking restaurant logo design.

Experience is key. Everyone has eaten in a restaurant and most people have worked in one, but this isn’t the experience that is key. The most important indicator of success in opening a restaurant is whether you have actually ran one before, actually managing employees and tallying books. If you simply don’t have the right experience and are still determined to forge ahead, consider talking to someone who is successfully running a restaurant similar to yours. While neither of the owners of Fire on the Mountain had ran a buffalo wing restaurant, one of the owners offered to work for free at one in exchange for guidance from the owner.

Be different. The owners of this hot wings shop loved hot wings but disliked the loud, sports bar establishments where they are generally bought. The two owners decided to give their hot wings store a calmer ambience, with a chalkboard menu sign and the cozy feeling of a local deli.

Location, location, location. Busch and Sawicki both were open to different locations for their hot wings restaurant. They were particularly interested in the Pacific Northwest and finally settled on Portland. Portland had the right bohemian feeling for the two, and it was sorely in need of a decent hot wings restaurant. It seemed like a match made in heaven.

Change the formula as necessary. After turning away what seemed like troves of vegetarians, the two owners knew that they needed to add a vegetarian option to their menu. The ‘Portland wing’ was born, a soy based wing that was herbivore friendly. Tweaking a business formula even when it is successful is crucial to changing with the times as with all food and drink industry.

The Taste of Success: What Every Small Business Can Learn from In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out burger began as a burger stand in sunny California. Soon, however, it spread to locations all over the Golden State, then to even more far-flung locations. Now with locations in four states amd more slated to open in the near future, In-N-Out is a true American success story. In-N-Out is not just a great place to have a burger and fries; it’s a great place to learn about branding as well. Here are a few of the branding lessons that took this tiny fast food joint from a small business to a thriving chain.

Your brand is not just a logo. In the case of In-N-Out, the logo is less than the brand. The logo is a typical fast food logo, with a classic red and yellow scheme and an arrow to suggest movement. However, the brand also includes happy employees, delicious food, fresh ingredients, and a fun restaurant logo ambience. Identifying your brand and knowing how to make every customer experience a branding opportunity is one of the keys to finding success in the small business market. In-N-Out’s success can be attributed to the brand more than to the logo.

Let them pay you to market. In this case, In-N-Out skips the expensive national campaigns used by the big guys and instead focuses on selling products such as hats, t-shirts, bumper stickers, and plants. These actually earn money for the company, making this a true win-win situation.

Create a company culture. For In-N-Out, the culture includes a series of codes that let ordering customers like women and cooks express their preferences in the least amount of words possible. Having these codes also gives customer a sense that they are part of a secret club, and that there are variations they haven’t tried because they do not even know about them yet.

Choose your target audience. It does no good to market if you don’t know who you are marketing to. In the case of In-N-Out, the target audience isn’t so much a gender or an age group as it is a type of person. The typical In-N-Out customer has a good sense of humor, a love of kitsch, and likes being ‘in the know’. Knowing this makes it easier for the owners to market their restaurant accordingly.

Set yourself apart. In-N-Out must have an innate understanding of its customer base, because it has done a stellar job of setting itself apart from the competition. First, it doesn’t market itself or its culture through traditional avenues such as television and radio. While the secret ordering system would make for a fascinating commercial series, the owners are loyal enough to their client base not to take advantage of it.

As you can see, there is no magic formula when it comes to branding. The secret is to know your customers and conduct your campaign in a way that builds their trust of your brand rather than alienating them. In-N-Out is one example of a brand that found its niche; your small business could be the next.

If you have a small business, you likely feel intimidated and at a huge disadvantage going up against the big guys. However, there is one area where small businesses have a huge advantage: the internet. Small businesses are the driving force of internet commerce, and the following story proves it more than any statistic I could dig out.

Pink Cake Box was a New Jersey business that struggled to compete in the competitive wedding industry. They faced hurdles that are likely familiar to small business owners: a lack of credibility and difficulty spreading the word about a high quality product. Many prospective brides and grooms are willing to pay more for a specialty cake, especially with the advent of many television shows showcasing custom cake businesses. However, few are willing to risk the success of their big day on an unknown brand.

Despite this disadvantage, Pink Cake Box had one golden ticket: a well designed website and often-updated blog at www.pinkcakebox.com and a nice looking cake shop logo. Through this internet presence, the owners managed to draw attention and traffic to their business, albeit virtual traffic. However, there was one benefit that Pink Cake Box never expected to get from their internet site: massive media exposure. Through their website, this custom cake company managed to spread the word about their story to media outlets ranging from CNN to glossy national magazine. This gave the brand credibility while showcasing the high value of their products.

Exposure is not without its drawbacks. Pink Cake Box was initially flooded with inquiries, not so much from potential paying customers as people who were merely interested in the business and its products. The owners quickly had to adjust their web campaign, narrowing their message so that it reached mainly people who were interested in ordering a custom cake.

What can small business owners learn from Pink Cake Box? First, branding is important with a great cake shop logo and a cake shop website. Without a cohesive brand, Pink Cake Box would not have received interest after their national exposures. In fact, they might not have gotten their national exposure in the first place.

Second, it’s important to have a professional, well put together website with information both for customers and for a general audience. The general information will be what media outlets focus on, but the customer information can turn that media exposure into sales. While the owners of Pink Cake Box were successful in designing and maintaining their cake shop website themselves, they were already design oriented people with a good sense of their brand. If you are lacking either of these qualities, it’s important to outsource website and brand development to a professional rather than settle for a sloppy job.

Last, your products must back up your claims. If Pink Cake Box had not made delicious and beautiful cakes, the buzz would have turned negative quickly as word spread that the product was not worth the hype. Because they offered a high quality, custom product, the media attention instead was merely a continuation of and a bolster to their reputation. If you have the right combination of brand and quality, a website may be just the impetus you need to find success in any field.

Many people are downsized during recessions. Many of these same people decide to open their own business when new jobs aren’t available. However, few people have been as successful as Tina Hilton, owner of Clerical Advantage.

Like many people in her field, Tina Hilton lost her job as a real estate title processor in the midst of the real estate crisis. Because her job was so specific to her crumbling industry, Tina knew that she had little chance of finding another any time soon. However, rather than falling apart, Tina started thinking outside the box. That has made all the difference.

After researching several work from home business opportunities, Tina decided to open her own virtual assistance company. Her unemployment office offered to continue to pay her unemployment benefits while she opened her business, which solved one problem. The business would make could use of her extensive social and computer skills, which was another plus. However, like many people in her situation, she found herself short of the money needed to market her company, Clerical Advantage, and find new clients.

Tina decided that since her company was ran mainly over the computer, free internet marketing would have to suffice as advertisement for a while. She started a blog and also visited blogs of people in her industry, leaving comments that could be tracked back to her website. This alone led to two long term clients. Tina also joined Twitter, which allowed her to stay in the public eye while having access to her clients’ daily needs and issues.

After seventeen months, it’s fair to say that Tina was successful in her free marketing campaign. She has a steady stable of clients that create enough income to support her and her business completely. She has written an e-book and thus established herself as an industry expert. She and her clients are both confident that her virtual assistance services are valuable and needed in the modern digital world. Best of all, Clerical Advantage is growing almost by the day. Tina hopes that this year will be the year that her ‘small’ business takes its place among industry giants as one of the premier virtual assistance firms.

What does this success story mean for you? Tina took her passions—people and computers—and combined them into one in-demand modern business. She used free means of marketing to find prospective clients. Once Tina had those clients, she wooed them with a superior work ethic and great results. Last, Tina did it all during one of the most drastic downturns in United States histories.

Do you have a great idea that can make you a bundle? Are you waiting for the right time, or the money to get your business off the ground? As you can see from the story of Clerical Advantage, a great idea and a great work ethic may alone be enough to add up to success. Don’t let the economy hold you back; every day, people like Tina Hilton are finding success in the downturn.

Adventures in Teambuilding: A Nontraditional Way to Market Your Small Business

There was a time when Adventure Teamworks, LLC was the average small business with the average problems. The business was built on a dream—in this case, helping all types of businesses to create stronger teamwork. The founder, Brian Wilson, had been through several careers and was dismayed by how detrimental the lack of teamwork could be even to small businesses. He made his dream a reality when he opened a business that focused on helping companies build team spirit through an innovative program.

Wilson knew that he would need a solid marketing campaign, but chose to go about it a little differently from most business owners. He ended with a low cost plan that was the impetus to success for his small business. Now, the company is not just solvent, but successful in every possible way. Here are the three main ways that Adventure Teamworks, LLC markets its business and services without blowing a ton of money.

Networking. About three-quarters of the marketing at this innovative company are spent going to events where it is natural to network. Whether you are involved with your local Chamber of Commerce or merely speaking at a local meeting that is relevant to your business, there are many places that are always in need of speakers and eager to hear what you have to say. In Wilson’s case, his target market was business owners, so he focused on business organizations and marketing consultants. You will likely find that there are businesses dedicated to your target audience that are happy to hear what you have to say.

Personal connection. People who care about their customers are more likely to keep them, so don’t be afraid to show that you care. Choose the most personal means of communication: phone calls over emails, and face to face interactions above all else. As a business owner, any communication that you give out will be taken with more weight than the same communication coming from an employee. These types of personal connections will keep people coming back even in the worst economy and help build your identity with word of mouth marketing.

Offer a deal that no one can turn down. In the case of Adventure Teamworks, LLC, they offer a money-back guarantee that assures business owners that they will get results from their team building purchases. Because this company offers a high quality product, their customers leave happy and the company is able to keep their fees. If you can stand behind your products in the same way, people will be more likely to give them—and you—a try.

Adventure Teamworks, LLC has been amazingly successful at attracting customers and growing their business, and you can be too if you follow these three easy guidelines for cheap marketing. As you can see, effective marketing even in an economic downturn is not only possible, but downright easy once you learn to think outside the box. Branding and marketing don’t have to cost a fortune if you are always looking for new and fun ways to get your message out into the public eye.

Is it possible to build a brand using social networking? Our latest YouTube marketing success story proves it is! Sometimes, in fact, it is actually possible to build an entire business! If you don’t believe me, consider the case of Chris Badynee, the owner of Bogdon Box Bass, who built a mini musical instrument empire on Youtube.com.

Badynee had one key problem that ended up becoming the impetus to his success: he couldn’t afford an upright bass, a musical instrument that he had always wanted. He did the research and discovered that the cheapest working upright basses were somewhere around eight hundred dollars. Although he tried to save to fulfill this longtime dream, his family and household obligations kept him from achieving his goals. After receiving a bathroom cabinet mailed in a box that was approximately the size and shape of an upright bass, Badynee had the idea of his lifetime. He used that box to make a cardboard upright bass with weed whacker twine as strings and scrap wood as a base. He then posted video of himself playing his makeshift instrument on the popular video site youtube.com.

Chris Badynee didn’t realize it, but he was setting himself up for an unbelievably successful business venture. His video was interesting and amusing enough that it received national coverage on Good Morning America as well as being featured in several magazines and even receiving music awards. He knew he was onto something, and asked his uncle to help him perfect his new instrument. Together with a veteran entrepreneur uncle and several engineers, the Bogdon Box Bass was born. Over one thousand product requests immediately followed the national television coverage.

Badynee had accidentally fallen upon several successful business strategies. First, he was offering a low cost alternative to a very expensive item. While a used upright bass in barely useable condition starts at $800, Badynee’s cardboard bass can be bought brand new for around $100. Another successful strategy that Badynee inadvertently used was catering to a niche market. Even owners of traditional upright basses are interested in the novelty of a cardboard bass. While the sound is different from the original instrument, it is nonetheless a high quality, enjoyable sound that can be enjoyed by amateur dabblers and experienced musicians alike. Last, the Bogdon Box Bass is easy to assemble. In a nation of do-it-yourselfers, there is inherent joy in being able to put together a playable music instrument—and therefore a huge market that was until Badynee’s bright idea completely untapped.

What can we all learn from Chris Badynee and his Bogdon Box Bass? The number one lesson is to find a niche and fill it. Second, as with so many other social marketing success stories, that nontraditional marketing is not necessarily less effective. In the beginning, Bogdon Box Bass was discovered and marketed exclusively on the internet. If your idea is original enough, you just might get your own share of the national attention being focused on winning youtube.com ideas every day.

Go With What You Know: Finding Success by Capitalizing on Your Passion

Are you looking for the perfect small business that will be both fulfilling and a money maker? If so, you may need to look no further than your hobbies. For many small business owners, following their passions has been not just a good life plan, but a good business plan as well. Erin McKenna of the popular New York bakery BabyCakes NYC is one such success story.

McKenna grew up with an insatiable sweet tooth. When she was diagnosed with an allergy to both wheat and dairy products, she thought she would have to give up this passion for sweets. After all, all of her favorite treats contained one or both avoided ingredients. This led McKenna to begin experimenting in the kitchen. After several years, she had developed a long list of delicious recipes that were free of animal products and other common allergens. Her baked goods were so in demand among friends and acquaintances that she had no choice but to start a small food and drinks business—a bakery offering her vegan treats to the general public.

Erin had accidentally hit on the first step to small business success: finding your niche. New York City, like many other large cities, has a large population of people who choose to eat a restricted diet, such as vegans, as well as people who are forced by food allergies into a limited range of foods. Because the most commonly forbidden foods are included in most ‘treats’, not being able to eat them either by choice or by health reasons can lead to an overwhelmingly boring diet. BabyCakes NYC was the first bakery in this booming area to offer food items that catered to the most common food restrictions, and was thus an instant success.

Another successful business plan for Erin McKenna and her business was staying outside of the bakery box. Instead of having a store with cutesy decorations typical of a bakery, BabyCakes NYC is a chic place to hang out. In fact, it has even become somewhat of a night spot in the area, especially among people who do not drink. Because the bakery was already quite different in offerings from most bakeries, the owner was free to try new decorating and branding strategies that were very different from the norm—and very popular among her unconventional clientele.

Another key to Erin McKenna’s success was word of mouth advertising. People in the vegan community are eager to share new places that cater to their needs with other vegans. Similarly, many food allergy patients belong to communities and support groups that cater to people with their needs, and thus have opportunity to share with each other about businesses such as BabyCakes NYC.

Just a few years later, Erin’s niche bakery has been the springboard to success, financial stability, and even fame. With a popular book of vegan baking recipes as well as a list of national television appearances, McKenna can officially call herself a small business success. Another store is opening soon in Los Angeles, giving McKenna the opportunity to test out her unconventional strategy on a whole new target market.

Can Expansion Recession-Proof Your Business? One Entrepreneur Says Yes!

With expenses soaring, saving accounts dwindling, and customers holding onto their cash with white knuckled fists, it can be hard to keep the doors open during even the smallest economic downturn. During these difficult times, many business owners cut back, focusing on core products and putting off any kind of expansion. However, in a few notable cases expanding a small business has been instrumental in keeping it alive in a downturn.

Success with a Capital ‘T’

StinkyKids LLC was poised to become another victim of the recession. The company had risen from its humble beginning as a hobby painting business into a mini custom t-shirt empire. Boutiques all over the nation and even a few upscale chains carried these t-shirts, which were snatched off shelves despite a price tag that ranged from twenty-eight to forty-four dollars. However, this amazing success began to die down with the recession. Sales dwindled as cash-strapped customers began to reevaluate extra expenses such as clothing, and big name stores began to talk about dropping the line.

Building a Brand

While some business owners would simply accept their bad fortune, Britt Menzies, the owner of StinkyKids LLC, decided to take it as a wakeup call. Knowing that most people love to buy books for the children in their lives, Menzies designed a whole new product line including books and dolls that corresponded to them. Because these items are less expensive than the t-shirts that had previously been the sole products, they stood a better chance of surviving the recession. Best of all, the new items tied in with the t-shirts and helped create a more rounded brand, one that was nearly recession-proof.

Worth the Gamble

This unusually timed expansion did not come without an element of risk. Menzies began pouring all product earnings back into the line, even giving up her own salary. She dedicated some of her husband’s earnings to the cause and put thousands of dollars on personal credit cards. There have been setbacks, including problems with overseas production, but the willingness to learn from changing times rather than resisting them has helped this company survive where so many fail.

The results of Menzies’ risk-taking speak for themselves. StinkyKids t-shirts are still a fixture at Nordstrom, which will also be carrying the new doll and book line. Other stores, including FAO Schwartz, will be joining the upscale department store. Instead of dying out, StinkyKids LLC is expanding into new and lucrative markets, with a newly minted brand identity and a plan for a bright and successful future.

This is certainly an approach to be used with caution, as it may involve taking on new debt and borrowing time and money from core parts of the business. However, sometimes the only way to stay afloat is to throw caution to the wind, to take a chance that might pay off. In Menzies’ case, the risk was rewarded richly, with increased product sales and a fresh new direction for her now not-so-small company.

While many businesses continue to struggle, there are certain products that seem to flourish in the worst of times. One of these products is premium beer in the food and drink industry. Even as sales figures are plummeting across the nation, microbrew beer sales are up six percent. In a market where customers are watching every penny, this is an astounding figure.

A Budget Luxury

One possible reason that premium beer sales are increasing is that beer, even higher end beer, is an affordable purchase that nonetheless brings a great deal of enjoyment. People who drink boutique beers rank their complexity and flavor on par with a fine wine or liquor. With a bargain price tag, craft beer has a lot to gain when extra money dwindles. People still need to enjoy themselves occasionally in a recession—if anything, they need it more than ever. Craft beer offers an element of escape as well as an exclusive luxury feel, all at a recession friendly cost.

A Beer Success Story

Houston’s Saint Arnold Brewing Company is one of several companies flourishing. While many brands focus on the bottom line, Saint Arnold has relentlessly built a brand that revolves around flavor and brand personality. Customer loyalty is important to the brewery, which was one of the first companies to have an established web presence. The company’s owner quickly realized that this was a key part of his audience and encouraged them to join the e-newsletter mailing list. Now, 19,000 people receive news about the brewery twice a month, which may be responsible for well into six figures in annual sales. Revenue at Saint Arnold, which employs just 15 people, is steadily rising every year, while other industries struggle just to stay afloat.

Friend-Raising On the Web

The newsletter is not a sales tool, although it certainly leads to increased sales. The newsletter is used to promote company events and introduce new products. The owner has used it for diverse purposes such as selling discounted hockey tickets and getting loyal customers involved in relevant political issues. Because the newsletter is written with a fun and personal tone, customers feel bought into the brand and are more than willing to stay on the list. This has created a captive audience and a free source of marketing for the company. Because customer loyalty is one of the biggest motivations for beer choice, having an interested audience or target market is a huge advantage.

Saint Arnold is not the only craft beer finding success in the recession. However, this is not entirely a windfall for the industry. This upturn in sales and polarity comes on the heels of near industry-wide disaster just two years ago. Increases in the price of glassware as well as hops and malt, two of the key components of beer, strained small beer companies’ ability to stay competitive in a cut-throat market. The increase in sales came not a day too soon for the flagging trade.

The moral of this story? Offer a great product, get your customers involved, and don’t be afraid to change with the times. With companies all over the country flailing, you can get the success you want and deserve if you are smart about it, similar to how a now famous shoe brand is doing or what a company is doing against all odds.

The odds are stacked against a small business in the best of economic times, but it can feel almost impossible to open your doors during the worst recession in decades. However, millions of small businesses all over the country are finding success in the worst of times. Here is the path one small bookstore has taken with colossal results.

Carey McCallum, owner of a small bookstore and gift shop called The Sacred Circle in small town Virginia, didn’t expect the economy to take a sharp downturn just as he began his career as a small business owner. However, when faced with this challenge, he took action. While his actions since opening his small business have been important, it’s what he did before the doors even opened that has made all the difference.

Educate Yourself

McCallum credits much of his business’s success with good planning. Before starting his business, McCallum took part in Staunton Creative Community Find’s CORE FOUR Program. This community program offered classes for new and prospective small business owners. In particular, this business owner took classes in marketing and business management. There are classes like this in almost every community, offered through community organizations as well as community colleges. A small business owner has a better chance of success if they begin their operation with a solid footing in accounting logos, marketing, and management.

Network

Not only was he educated about critical aspects of running a business, he was able to use these classes as a way of networking and garnering support from other business owners and community members. McCallum was able to discuss ideas with people who had faced the same challenges and find out what historically has worked—and what hasn’t. In addition to finding camaraderie in classes, small business owners can join various local societies and groups intended to give small business owners a chance to make valuable contacts.

Create a Business Plan

Among other things taught in these and other classes was the importance of creating a business plan. Indeed, a business plan is key to success because it will give you a better chance of getting a loan for start-up capital. Banks are more likely to invest in a person who has done their homework and taken the time to create a plan. For many small businesses, this capital can make all the difference, such as allowing a business to open in a better location or giving valuable capital for corporate branding and professional marketing. In McCallum’s case, the same organization offering the business classes also gives loans to promising new businesses. Opening a business on a shoestring budget is a sure recipe for failure.

Not every small business can find the unlikely small business success story that Carey McCallum and The Sacred Circle have enjoyed, but following McCallum’s recommendations can certainly increase the odds. In fact, not taking steps such as educating yourself about running a small business, networking with other businesses, and creating a business plan will almost guarantee failure. If you have a great business idea, don’t let the economy hold you back. Take the actions necessary to accomplish your goals and create your own success story.

Crocs have become a new American classic, with millions sold every year to a very loyal audience. These resin clogs come in a variety of colors and styles, with a pair to match almost every sense of style. Despite their rather nontraditional shape, or perhaps because of it, Crocs are now a fashion must-have. In fact, their company’s revenue has increased from just one million dollars per year to hundreds of millions in less than a decade.

Crocs

In this midst of this growing trend, one stay at home mom had a great business idea. Sheri Schmelzer and her three daughters had long been fans of Crocs. However, they wanted to personalize their collective twelve pairs even further. To this end, they began making charms that fit in the holes of their Crocs. These charms came in a wide variety of styles, from little clay animals to bright and sparkly rhinestones. The backs were designed to fit neatly in the holes covering most models of Crocs and stay put until they were removed. The home decoration logos were such a hit in their own household that Sheri and her husband knew they had a powerful business idea.

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Against all odds, the couple took a home equity loan and began manufacturing their charms, called Jibbitz, in their own basement. They created a shoe brand, a great looking shoe logo design and they began selling their product on a website, but soon expanded to retail outlets. The Schmelzer family small business quickly outgrew the confines of their home, and production was outsourced as the family moved to shiny, professional offices. Within just years, the Schmelzer family was moving millions of dollars in shoe charms per year and Jibbitz had become just as much of a staple as the shoes that they adorned.

The line has been expanded to include a variety of licensed characters, such as Spiderman and Hello Kitty. Jibbitz have become a staple among the middle and upper middle class households that are most likely to purchase Crocs. At just a few dollars per charm, many families will select several with every clog purchase. It’s not unusual to see a child wearing a pair of colorful clogs proudly embellished with several Jibbitz representing her favorite things.

Crocs bought Jibbitz in 2006 for a whopping $20 million. However, the Schmelzer family remains an integral (and well paid) part of the business, with Sheri acting as the main designer and her husband involved in the management. As Crocs remain a popular choice for both adult and children’s footwear, it’s easy to see Jibbitz remaining a success for years to come.

What can the average small business owner learn from the success store of Sheri Schmelzer and her Jibbitz? Find your niche. Sheri may not have been a retail fashion expert, but she knew what she and her young daughters wanted. From there, it was a short leap to unbelievable success. The next big idea is just waiting to be identified and harvested. Will you be the next small business owner to develop the right idea and make it big? Only the future can tell.

YouTube Marketing: A Success Story

Lauren Luke may not be the first person to own a successful makeup line, but she may get credit for the most uncommon way of starting her cosmetics business. This single mother was once a taxi dispatcher struggling to make ends meet. That is, until she began posting makeup tutorials on popular website YouTube.com to support her part-time eBay business.

Lauren began posting basic makeup tutorials, but discovered that her videos showing how to recreate celebrity looks were the most popular. Following the tide of popular opinion, Lauren has posted tutorials for celebrity makeup looks from Britney Spears to Angelina Jolie, her high page hits making her now the hottest YouTube celebrity in the United Kingdom. She also has posted popular videos showing how to create different looks for proms and weddings. Without spending a day in beauty school, this internet celebrity has made herself a makeup maven.

Lauren has parlayed her internet renown into a mini-media empire. Although she once sold makeup on eBay to supplement her income, she now has a makeup line being sold in Sephora stores called ‘By Lauren Luke’. She also has published several articles on the subject, is writing a book, and even will be featured in a video game being developed by Nintendo. Negotiations for a television show are also in the works. While her method of marketing is superb, Lauren Luke clearly knows how to seize opportunities.

Lauren Luke’s popularity is attributed to several factors. First, she posts videos on a subject that is near and dear to many women’s hearts, the same was as we create clothing logos and beauty salon logos. With women all over the globe clamoring to look like their favorite celebrity, it’s easy to see how videos addressing this subject would be popular. Second, she is friendly and natural on the camera. Although she clearly is an expert on her subject, she is down-to-earth and takes a conversational tone that makes viewers enjoy their time with her. In the end, this is what has kept viewers coming back to see Lauren’s next celebrity look. However, there is a bonus: Lauren is considered a credible expert on the subject of cosmetics because she has vowed to never recommend a makeup product that she does not actually use and enjoy.

This novel way of building a brand should not go unnoticed by small business owners. Like Lauren Luke, a small business depends heavily on its image to sell product and should be more responsive. Posting useful videos on related topics is one way to garner an audience, especially if your videos are high quality and informative. Best of all, YouTube is totally free both for video makers and their audience. Even if you don’t get Lauren’s level of results, your only loss will be a few minutes of your time.

There was a time when people wrote off social media networking as a waste of time. However, Lauren Luke is just one piece of proof that the internet is the most powerful marketing tool of our times. Beauty is an industry where image is everything, but every business can benefit from more positive exposure. YouTube is just one way to market to your target audience and make yourself a virtual expert on your product.

• Marketing Your Business on YouTube
• Guide to Video Marketing on YouTube
• YouTube Brands: 5 Outstanding Leaders in YouTube Marketing