Tycoon in a Teacup: Home Business Entreprneur

A Home Business Article Contributed by Sandra Bell

Why a Home Business?

Take this job and shove it, I ain't workin' for the man; I'm going to start my own home business. Inside every American there lurks a Steven Jobs yearning to be free. We all know the story of Apple, which started as a home business in a garage. What do people want from a home business? In a word, freedom. Freedom from a boss; freedom from a regimented time frame, freedom to do the work they choose and how they choose; freedom from commuting.

But just having freedom will not guarantee the success of a home business. There is another, even deeper motivation and that is a passion for the work. But even this passion won't guarantee success unless it is accompanied by some business ability and sometimes some plain old luck. Actually, nothing can guarantee success so the person with a home business needs to be a bit of a risk taker.

The Case of the Home Business of the Hapless Harper

Herb worked at a job he didn't really like much, although he did enjoy the 10 mile commute by bicycle. He was a very skilled craftsman in wood and metals and he had a garage and some tools. On the side, he painted scenes and flowers on the sound boards of harps so he already had a part time home business. He decided to go into harp making full time, using his garage for his home based business.

He had a few months savings so he quit his job, used credit cards to buy more power tools, advertised his product, and started making a harp. Soon he had a customer. They agreed on a price of $ 800 and she put a third down. Herb went to work with a passion, trying for a harp that was perfect, beautiful to look at and beautiful to hear. In six months he had a harp and his customer was overwhelmed. But for six months of work he had made $1800. This is the way it went.

His harps were worth about $15,000 but the market was for harps in the $1000 to $3000 range. His perfectionism wouldn't allow him to make a lesser harp, his crditer's called daily and he was finally forced to shut down and declare bankruptcy.

A Happy Ending for a Home Business

In spite of this failure, Herb still wanted a craft based home business. He realized he had no business sense and that he needed to find something where his meticulous craftsmanship would find a market. So he needed someone to handle the business end of the home business and he needed to find another product. He had many contacts in his community and shortly after his harp making business failed, he was contacted by Roger.

Roger needed someone who could restore antique slot machines and antique amusement park items like the strong man machines. Herb was his man. He now does something that people are willing to pay fair price for and he has Roger to find the machines and the customers and, in general, handle the business end. So in the home business world, failure need not be permanent.