The Home Biz Notes post, My Mother, The Country Grocer, won this round of the b5 Business Channel’s “Apprentice” type challenge, an ongoing 8-week contest, with a different version each week.  This week we were to tell the prototype business owner, Kay, a success story. 
I chose to relate the story of my mom, who influenced many people throughout her years as a country grocer, and hoped this would inspire Kay and others.  As I wrote about Mother, I realized (as I said in one of my comments at the post):
I think we all can find inspiring stories within our families. I …read more

Family businesses operated from home take on many aspects.  This is a fun story about the Christiansen family in Utah, who have developed a web site with instructions on how to tie a tie along with ties you can purchase.
This story, at PowerHomeBiz.com, A Real Family Home Business:  Utah Family With Knot Problems Creates a Website All about Neckties and How to Tie Them.  The Christiansens, with five boys who needed to know how to tie their ties, developed this business to help instruct others with the same challenge.  From there, the business evolved.
This goes along with the old saying, “Find …read more

We generally like to learn about other’s success stories that give us the feeling…
“Ah! If she/he can do that, I can be successful with my business” 
Or…“What a great tip!  I’ll have to try that with my home business.”
Over the existence of Home Biz Notes, I’ve interviewed and mentioned numerous home business.  I’ll round up some of these in case you missed them…or are at a point in your business where some of these tips now will inspire you.
*Mark Allen operates an online business through the utilization of CafePress as his “store.”
*Dorothy Thompson has discovered that the Internet offers her the opportunity to …read more

 When I learned Laura Spencer, of Writing Thoughts, had juggled  a home business with caring for her father, as well as her family, I thought some of her tips would be helpful for other home business owners who are in the midst of this, too.  They’re part of the “sandwich generation” with responsibilities in numerous directions.  Even if your business doesn’t involve writing, Laura’s tips should help you.
Juggling Caring for a Loved One With Your Home Business
 By Laura Spencer
When Mary Emma asked me to write this guest post I was hesitant for two reasons. First of all, it’s been less than …read more

Do you operate a jewelry making or similar business from home?  Have you been thinking of doing something like this?
Check out Laura Spencer’s interview of Barbara Giordano , owner of SunfleursJewelryDesigns.  This is the fifth in a series of interviews of women who work from home that Laura has conducted at her Work From Home Momma blog.
An adoptive parent, Barbara developed a line of jewelry reflecting this theme for her online business.  In doing so, Barbara discovered a niche that no one else appeared to be filling at the time.

In a previous post, The Exciting Evolution of a Home Business to a Big Business, I told you about Patricia Bolton, founder of Quilting Arts Magazine and Cloth Paper Scissors.  Her venture evolved from a home business headquartered in the family barn to it’s merger with another corporation.
Now Patricia has taken this business and her career to another level…TV.  I received the announcement that Patricia will be hosting a series of Quilting Arts programs on PBS around the end of 2007.   Taping of the episodes begins shortly and her staff is lining up guests for these programs. 
(I’ve also written about Patricia’s success on my Quilting …read more

Some businesses that start out as home businesses, then reach the point where you have to expand into larger quarters or settle for the status quo. You have decisions to make whether you try to do everything yourself or begin to hire employees.
Traci Bisson, owner of Bisson Barcelona, in Barrington, NH (USA), recently found her public relations firm for authors and entrepreneurs had outgrown her home. This was a result of having to expand and acquire employees as her clientele grew. It soon became too crowded with six of them working in her children’s playroom and around …read more

Developing a craft or hobby into a business, operated out of the home, or at craft shows and by mail order is the dream of many people.  The Werts’ wood quilt business now is in the second generation.  It evolved from Jewell Wert’s classes in folk art painting.  Reading their story, on their web site, may give you some pointers on developing your own business.
I’ve also written more about the wood quilts on my Quilting and Patchwork blog, since this in a variation of quilting.

I find it exciting when I learn about small home businesses that evolve, through a great deal of work by their owners, into a business that has to move out of the home. Sometimes these businesses become so successful they’re offered mergers or associations with other business.
Quilting Arts is one of these. What started out with Patricia Bolton publishing a quilting magazine in her in-law’s sheep barn has grown, and grown and grown into a company publishing two much admired quilting and mixed media magazines, Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors. Eventually they moved to a larger …read more