KATU NEWS - May 24, 2004
Better have business plan before being own boss
Pearl District boutique retailer Bella Moda Imported Shoes finds immediate success on NW Lovejoy and 11th Avenue, in Hoyt Street Properties' Kearney Plaza. "In just five months of business, we have exceeded our goals and expectations," -Catherine Cooper, Bella Moda owner.
PORTLAND ORE. - Would you love to set your own hours, or get the largest
salary in the company?
It is possible, if you are your own boss, but starting a successful
business is no cake walk.
One person who has been a local success at being her own boss is Katherine
Cooper.
After she started her own business selling designer shoes in Portland's
style-conscious Pearl District she bypassed any doubts of failure.
"In just five months of business, we have exceeded our goals and
expectations," says Cooper.
She is confident that with her natural sense of fashion, she will succeed,
"by offering some wonderful shoes from Italy and around the world
that you can't find in Portland or for the most part on the West Coast
for affordable prices."
So far her business plan has worked, whereas ventures by other entrepreneurs
have flopped.
One victim is longtime Portland jeweler Alan Zelll who now is a business
consultant.
"I've got a business plan now I'm reviewing. She's walking 30 feet
off the ground. It's pie in the sky. There's no way she could do this
business," says Zelll.
Dreams of succeeding in business are shattered 95 percent of the time.
Yet, this is a land of risk-takers who want, "More money, my own
independence, freedom, financial freedom and being able to be my own
boss," says heavy equipment repairman Tim Grady.
Grady wants his own heavy equipment repair business. He works for a
company that charges others $65 dollars for his repair services but
only gets $15 an hour. Because of that he's ready to gamble on himself.
So who succeeds in business?
"We consider it a success if someone learns about business and
decides not to do it," says Jackie Babicky-Peterson's Portland
Community College Small Business Development Center.
Consider all the community college programs that teach how to start
a business. So how is it a 'success' if the entrepreneur bails out?
"We'd much prefer they did it on paper before they ever risk their
money," says Babicky-Peterson.
Then consider, what is the right business for someone to risk his or
her money on? Here's a rule of thumb from the Small Business Association.
"If you don't have a passion for it, if you're actually escaping
from something, a boss you don't like, or the job, or the nine to five
deal, you're probably not going to make it," says Kent Smith who
is a Small Business Association SCORE Counselor.
Janet Plumber, a stay-at-home mom has succeeded. She runs a basement
on-line business-selling gourmet foods and kitchen supplies.
"I started at zero, obviously and we're at about a quarter of a
million dollars a year," says Plumber
Finally, there's one thing all the experts say about owning your own
business.
"The big misconception is that it's not much work," says Plumber.
There's certainly no shortage of entrepreneurs in the region.
Nearly 68 percent of the companies in Oregon have four employees or
less, 90 percent have fewer than 40 workers.
