Open Thread: What Was Your First Business?
Posted September 9, 2008 in Business, Open Thread 18 Comments »
The road to freelancing is often very different for each of us. Some freelancers are just born with the entrepreneurial itch, and may have dozens of businesses under their belt. Others find their way to freelancing through lots of life experience, and may still be working on their first business.
No matter what the case — whether you’ve had ten businesses or are just starting — we want to hear from you.
What was your first business? Why did you start it? What did you learn?
About the author: Mason Hipp is an entrepreneur, marketing guru, and writer. He blogs about life and business at FreelanceFolder.com and is co-author of the Book The Unlimited Freelancer. Follow him on twitter @MasonHipp
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18 Comments
Jonathan Harms
September 9th, 2008 at 11:21 amRadical Notion (independent media), LLC is an all in-house music company playing the roles of a Venture Capital for Artists, Management Company, Booking Agency, Publicity Firm and Publishing Company.
I am still on my first company, but I suppose we (the three of us partners) have 2 or 3 daughter companies, only one of which is another LLC. We started the summer of 2007 because in our current state of music business, there is a disconnect between a performer and the audience. We want to change this situation, bringing a personal accessibility to this culture. It is hard to rise above all the noise that has saturated the market. But we are forward thinking. We believe we can be remarkable. With your help we want to be a part of the re-invention of entertainment.
Daniel Richard
September 9th, 2008 at 11:22 amMy first actual business was selling cookies made by my friends and me. Branded as the “man-made-cookies” as all of us were guys and we did cook up quite a good quality brand to last for the 3 days event.
We used social based stuffs and applied them onto the field by using mobile sales personnel, to running a huge testimonial board, and also to network with more people there. Could say that we were like the only mavericks during the period.
That was when I was like 19? :)
rjleaman
September 9th, 2008 at 11:34 amMy first business was dog-walking. While other kids were lugging around big heavy bags full of newspapers at their after-school jobs, I was playing in the park with puppies!
I started my little business to prove to my parents that I was responsible enough to have a dog of my own – nothing more.
What did I learn? How to hold myself accountable for the commitments I made to clients, that it was important to me to be in a business that made other people’s lives a bit better in some way, how to manage my hard-earned dimes, and that even the best of jobs will have some “doo-doo scooping” that must be done!
Mason Hipp
September 9th, 2008 at 11:37 amYou can put me squarely in the ‘entrepreneur since birth’ category. I’ve never wanted a job, and consequently I’ve gone through a lot of businesses over the years.
My first business was when I was 7-8 years old. It started when I found a pad of graph paper, and realized that I could draw pretty cool mazes by tracing the lines. Within a few days I had hand-drawn maybe 10 or 15 different mazes…
Here’s where the business came in — I took those mazes to a copy center and had them make a bunch of copies. I designed a cover page in word, bound everything together with a report cover, and voila — a maze book. I sold them to anyone I could find, mostly my grandmother, and actually made $20-30 profit. I remember feeling like the richest man in the world.
It has all been downhill ever since :-)
Joann Sondy
September 9th, 2008 at 11:40 amI suspect I’ve always been a “freelancer”… choosing to go it alone, thinking outside-the-box, etc. I spent 11 years working for a leading IR/PR Chicago firm in which the CEO fostered the entrepreneurial spirit and testing new ideas. I essentially started by own “design and publishing” department servicing four offices and 200+ clients. Basically, I billed enough hours each month to pay for myself (salary + benefits).
When I left the firm in the fall of 2000 for a move to northern Michigan; I had every intention of finding work with a local design firm and/or publication. Fat chance! The technologies and pace of workflow from my Chicago years didn’t quite fit with the smaller markets. I found myself freelancing national accounts and working a few hours for a local ad agency.
It’s been eight years, now. A few bumps along the way, especially 2007. Last year was one of my worst years and I have been re-branding and re-inventing myself since the spring of this year.
I have been fascinated by the popularity and value sites like “Freelance Folder” and “Freelance Switch” and the impact on the new me as a brand. The articles, resources and comments help retain proper perspective and a sharing of like minds.
Tina McAllister
September 9th, 2008 at 12:52 pmAs a child, my sister and I would go door to door…selling painted rocks, offering to wash cars and weed yards and selling our dad’s tools.
What did I learn? That some neighbors will do the right thing and bring your dad’s tools back so you won’t get in TOO much trouble with Dad.
Ross Patterson
September 9th, 2008 at 1:04 pmBefore high school I sold lemonade. During high school I had the NY Times concession at the school, and ran a first-day-cover business by mail (it’s a stamp thing). Since then I’ve founded a few larger businesses and given people jobs. None of these were significantly lucretive, and some were extremely costly personally, but all of them were worth it at the time, and maybe even in hindsight.
Working Smarter
September 9th, 2008 at 1:30 pmMy first business was a sole practitioner web development business. Started it when I was in middle school.
Mike Smith
September 9th, 2008 at 7:09 pmDoes buying candy bars and stickers in bulk and selling them in elementary school count? :) I also sold those metal ball necklaces when they were “in”. :)
As for my first big business, you’re looking at it. Blog designing for a living now.
Shannon Snow
September 9th, 2008 at 10:10 pmMy first business was started in middle school. I ran an ezine for teen girls that went out monthly I believe. I built a fabulous website utilizing the tools aol had to offer because I didn’t know anything else! I contacted companies asking for donated prizes for my contests, hired “writers” to write articles, and solicited subscribers. Pretty good for an 11 year old!
Mason Hipp
September 10th, 2008 at 7:39 am@Tina — Haha! That’s great! You and your sister had quite a selection to choose from. Selling dad’s tools? Priceless.
@Mike — Of course that counts :-) And I definitely remember those metal necklaces, very odd fad…
These are fantastic stories everyone, keep them coming!
Anna
September 10th, 2008 at 10:35 amMy first business is selling beauty products online and started to branch out here in Muntinlupa City. The name of the company is Beyond Perfection Beauty products.
The official website is: http://www.digitalbodega.biz
I started it because during the time I was working with a Bank, it was selling like hotcakes. For a couple of years I had very huge sales but due to the worldwide economic crisis, business slowed down. I learned that having own business has its risks too. That’s why I am a freelancer now, I have to think of ways to add income espeically now that i have a kid. :)
Nicole LaMarco
September 10th, 2008 at 10:42 amIn high school I prepared to open a coffeehouse, complete with a business plan!
Jeremy
September 10th, 2008 at 2:12 pmI would have to say that I have always had the entrepreneurial spirit, I sold anything from bike parts to candy bars when I was younger. The only problem there was that I wasn’t very talented at keeping the books but I sure could find ways to spend the money.
It wasn’t until about four years ago that I took a crack at starting a legitimate business with Asone Clothing Co. Things went ok and I would certainly love to get it back on track now that I feel a bit more confident in being a business owner. I would say the most important lesson I took away from it all was the fact that you need a good plan and an even better understanding of how you will reach your customer.
I took a full time job in between, but then a few months back when I learned that I had a little guy on the way I decided to make the break and have been freelancing ever since. With each new business endeavor I have learned a bit more and so far things are going great.
Robert Armstrong
September 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pmWay back as a child, I had a Badge-a-minute button maker. I turned that into a business making campaign buttons for my mother’s politically active friends.
George Fragos
September 10th, 2008 at 3:39 pmAs a kid I provided numerous unrelated services for spending money. The first real business I started was as a commercial photographer. What photographers charged for their work was more based on what was being photographed than the labor content. I collected prices from a number of studios and the structures very very inconsistent. I’d seen friends work on the cheap and saw that it effected the quality of their work and their attitudes. To build my price list, I took the highest price charged by anyone for each type of photograph and marked it up 10%. I was guaranteed to be at least 10% more expensive than anyone else. I matched that price with my very best efforts for quality and attention to detail. I felt good about my work and its value to others. I also found that my higher pricing tended to keep away the kinds of customers I didn’t want to deal with anyway. What I learned was that there’s no substitute for a positive attitude and taking pride in your work.
Alexander Langer
September 13th, 2008 at 8:52 pmMy first job was as a cashier besides school. I started when I was 16.
I learned that most people have to work hard for long hours and still don’t make much money. But it also taught me that somehow I wanted to work with people and at least from time to time I would meet them in person.
Adam Hill
September 13th, 2008 at 11:00 pmMy first business is my current one – a small web development business “Advanced Design Online”. However, while that was starting out, I also ran a coffee vending machine business, A La Coffee (www.alacoffee.com) with 2 housemates and was working 4 other part time jobs and studying my Masters at Uni. Crazy times.
None of us had time to continue the coffee vending business, so we sold out, which was a shame because we’d all be better off if we kept it :(