EnTrends

The Best Time To Start A Business Is Now

By Donna Schwartz Mills

I love reading success stories. The good ones always include accounts of adversities that were overcome and teem with lessons I can
apply to my own home business. Best of all, they inspire me. If Ben and Jerry can start an ice cream empire with a five dollar investment,
just think what I can do! So I eat up all the Top 500 lists published by the glossy business magazines... which is how I came across this
interesting statistic:

Nearly half of the companies on the Inc. 500 list were started from home!

Think about it - not long ago, guys like Thomas Massie, CEO of SensAble Technologies( #211) and Edy Bedoya of EBC (#81) were
building computer gadgets out of their dorm rooms (although not together). And we all know the story of Michael Dell (not on the list -
he's too big).

But it's not just high-tech. Corporation #32, Twin Hills Collectables, started out as a hobby of owner Steve Halsell. He earned $8,000 his
first year selling die-cast replicas of NASCAR cars and $200,000 the next - At which point, his boss told him he should quit his day job
because it was costing him too much money. His 1998 sales revenues reached $8 million.

These stories underline the fact that there has never been a better time to start a home business: 500,000 new ones are launched each
year, and that number is expected to grow, thanks to new tax rules that make working from home more cost-effective than ever.
Affordable technology makes it possible to offer products and services that rival those of big corporations.

That same technology is rapidly becoming a staple in households where owning a computer was unthinkable just five years ago -- in
new yet familiar forms, like TV's and telephones -- creating new markets.

The companies on the Inc. list share some things in common. One is a founder/owner with vision; someone who identifies a need, has a
good idea and the courage to run with it. Another is perseverance. Bedoya's story is especially moving: a Peruvian immigrant, he arrived
in the States in the mid-80's with just $100 in his pocket. After his first job -- cleaning toilets in a restaurant -- he worked his way up to
dishwasher and finally to head chef before switching gears and entering the jewelry business. A few years later, his car was stolen -
along with all of his money, credit cards and inventory. By this time, Bedoya had enrolled in a college work-study program to earn a
degree, and this is when he discovered computers. Six months later, he was in business buying and reselling parts. In 1998, his
company's revenues reached $13 million.

Successful businesspeople also know how to get the capital they need to launch and maintain their ventures. The Internet has recently
become a force in funding startups; several underwriting organizations have sprouted online to help match investors with projects. Some
good places to start the search are Commercial Finance Online (http://www.cfol.com) and Garage.com (http://www.garage.com).

Interestingly, almost 200 of the companies on this year's Inc. List were capitalized with investments of under $10,000. And 79 were
founded just five years ago.

Anything is possible, even becoming the subject of your own Success Story.