|
My Entrepreneurial Spirit
 Housekeeping: My first
company was Jennifer's Housekeeping. I started my first
business when I was about 14 years old. I spent a lot of
time with my Grandma and Grandpa, mostly to get some alone time
away from the big crazy family and partly to help them out.
My Grams had a hard time getting around, so I would clean her
house, organize cubbards, closets, etc, and rearrange furniture.
She would give me a cute little salary and eventually her friends
asked about me and if I could help them. It started with
family and friends and grew and grew. I sold off my client
list in my 20's.
Photography: Somewhere
in that time I started playing with photography. I got a lot
of compliments on my photographs, people started handing me the
camera to shoot the group or picking my shots for their framed
photos. My interest in it really got more urgent when my sister
Beki, author of
www.RebeccaKnowsEverything.com, took a photography course at
the Votech. I started working at a local portrait studio and
then another and another. I began landing jobs on my own and
it grew into a business. I just fell into it I guess.
www.JenniferNickert.com
Web Design: I started
another company in 1999 selling, cough, "things". I had to
hire a web design company to build my site and it was expensive
and the site never functioned. In frustration I bought a
program and a book. After beating my head against the desk
(I tend to do this, sometimes literally tapping my head on the
desk), once again, my little sister came to my rescue and read the
book out loud to me while I learned the software. I built my
webpage and the site did well, but more than my products people
inquired about me building them their webpages. Again
another business fell into my lap.
www.MoonPetalDesigns.com
Graphic Design:
The graphic design was a natural extension of the web design and
photography. When I went digital with my photography I had
to learn to manipulate the photographs. I taught myself to
do touchups, restoration, and illustration. With my other
business demands I taught myself to design logos, business cards,
letterhead, flyers, brochures, calendars, and all the other little
things for marketing and advertising. Sure enough clients
came. It was word of mouth at first and the more competent I
got at it the more I started advertising.
Marketing & Advertising: With
all these businesses I had to market and advertise these
companies. I started advertising when I was so young, I
didn't realize you could hire anyone. Even if I did know it,
I couldn't have afforded it. My creativity came shining through.
I hadn't read a book or had a class, my natural instincts kicked
in and I knew I had to let people know about my businesses.
I learned by trial and error, lots of error. Eventually I
did read a lot of books and take some classes. This became a
natural extension to my list of services I could offer my clients.
Consulting: As my
skill set grew the number of people asking me questions grew.
My time became limited and I had to start billing my clients for
my advice. One client would tell another and another and it
became a business all on its own. I always have people
asking me how they can work from home like me. I am clearly
not going to charge my friends and family consulting fees, but I
don't always have the time to walk people through things.
That's why I created a free webpage with instruction on how to
work from home.
www.CashBakery.com and
www.MoneyBakery.com
Writing: I've always
written stories, even winning a few contests as a kid. While
I have terrible spelling and grammar, I have a lot to say. I
usually can convey the message in an entertaining and clear way
that people can read.
|
