Home-Based Entrepreneurs Offer Their Success Tips for Earning Seven Figures
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Most home-based entrepreneurs start out small, but these top earners didn’t stay that way. Many of these operate worldwide through various means and enjoy the patronage of repeat customers. Here are their secrets for making it big. Their business types include Business Service, Mobile Business, Personal Service, Invention, Franchise, Internet/E-Commerce, Mail Order, Direct Sales, Consultant, and Family Business.
BUSINESS SERVICE
MILLIONAIRE #1
Nathan Jamail, Salesperson, Business Coach, Trainer, Mentor and Author
His brother’s job loss intersecting with his own desire to public speak prodded Nathan Jamail to quit his corporate sales career of 20 years, hire his brother, and found Jamail Public Speaking Group in 2005.
Jamail’s passion for motivational speaking and writing helped the company grow. In 2009, he moved the business out of his home for spacious digs to accommodate his flourishing books sales. In 2013, he booked more than $1 million in speaking engagements for sales and leadership workshops and keynote presentations for sales professionals and leaders worldwide.
Jamail has sold more than 65,000 of his three self-published books, and Penguin slated his fourth for release this month. Jamail believes in the power of face time. Each month, he signs books at airport gift shops that carry his books. But he also balances face time with his virtual presence on social media and media exposure in trade periodicals.
The home-based entrepreneur life offers Jamail a great income and flexibility so he can take his family out to dinner and attend school events. “If I worked for corporate America, those little — and big — things are a lot harder to do,” he says.
He hopes to become a New York Times best-selling author and expand his teaching and coaching pursuits. “Big things happen when we are willing to take risks,” he advises entrepreneurs. “Be willing to go all in and do whatever it takes to make your dreams happen. The only failure is to give up, or not attempt at all.”
For more information, visit nathanjamail.com.
MOBILE BUSINESS
MILLIONAIRE #2
Michelle Cote, Founder of Bricks 4 Kidz
While working for an architect in a typical 9-to-5 office job five years ago, Michelle Cote lacked the family time she wanted. She started Bricks 4 Kidz to offer elementary schools after-school classes, field trips, and camps throughout the year. The mobile company has grown to more than 550 franchises globally, with two million children “customers” in 26 countries.
Cote developed proprietary models with LEGO Bricks that incorporate simple machines, motorized models, robotics and more to inspire kids to build. Cote uses both social and traditional media, offers giveaways, hosts public events, and cross markets with other small businesses in her community. She also offers parents incentives if their children recruit friends to sign up.
Now in the role of Creative Director, Cote meets with new franchise owners for monthly training sessions face to face. “I believe this is the best way to promote our great enrichment program, introducing Bricks 4 Kidz® into communities around the world,” she says. She tells people to “discover what makes you happy and work as hard as you have to in order to fulfill that dream. Imagine yourself five years from now and create the path that will get you there.”
For more information, visit bricks4kidz.com.
PERSONAL SERVICE
MILLIONAIRE #3
John Flanders, Founder of Academy of Scuba
John Flanders never aspired to build a scuba empire, but success sneaked up on the family man, whose start-up grew from zero in 2008 to $1.2 million in five years. A serial entrepreneur, he founded Academy of Scuba from home to accommodate his personal life and get more in touch with clients.
Formerly a techie, he built a content-rich scuba site. The site draws customers who never seem to mind his unimpressive physical location. When asked, he quips, “‘In the kitchen’ or ‘Upstairs in a spare bedroom,'” he says. “It always got a good laugh.”
Academy purchased other companies and grew to employ 40 between two locations. One acquisition supplied an office, but two months later, he realized the location buffered him from customers. The office now serves solely as a landing pad for mail; he’s more efficient and closer to his family at home.
Flanders describes his company culture as “a ‘Cheers’ front end and a ‘Wal-Mart’ back end. Our company is more like a community of like-minded people versus a business.” As he anticipates company growth — eyeing his oldest son’s spacious bedroom, perhaps — he pledges to maintain close contact with customers. “Ask yourself what you are doing right and what you can do better,” he says. “If you think you are the best, you are just fooling yourself, not your customers.”
For more information, visit academyofscuba.com.
INVENTION
MILLIONAIRE #4
Michelle Elizabeth, Inventor of Effortless Extensions
What happens when a “hair chameleon’s” tresses break off? If she’s Michelle Elizabeth, she makes a fortune. After lopping off her fried locks seven years ago, the clip-ons Elizabeth tried never looked right. She wanted to make extensions, but had never worked in a creative business. Problems plagued her. Spotting her son’s fishing gear inspired her with the solution. She finished a prototype and the numerous compliments it garnered her spurred her to start Effortless Extensions.
Elizabeth uses FEELsoREAL synthetic hair to create seven styles. It can be blown dry, curled, and flat ironed and still look like genuine human hair without the ethical drawbacks of the real deal. Elizabeth obtained more than 30 US and international patents — recognition she feels validates her product.
Elizabeth likes the affordability of social media and also works with a PR company. The latter landed her spots on the Rachael Ray Show, The Today Show, and others. Most recently, Effortless Extensions exclusively provided extensions to the cast of “Life of a King,” a movie starring Cuba Gooding, Jr.
She ships from a warehouse, but still works from home, a venue that lowers stress and helps her focus better. She hopes to expand to national retailers in a few years. “Nothing worth having is easy,” she says. “Whatever your passion is, remember not everyone sees it the same as you do. All doors are not open, but keep knocking.”
Visit Michelle Elizabeth at effortlessextensions.com.
FRANCHISE
MILLIONAIRE #5
Paul Mann, Founder of FETCH! Pet Care
Paul Mann turned a problem into profits. After unsuccessfully looking for a trustworthy, dependable pet sitter, he realized others must share his problem. In 2002, he founded FETCH! to provide bonded, insured and screened sitters for pet owners’ furry and feathery companions.
Mann had previously served as CEO for an Internet software company. He parlayed that knowledge into a robust website for FETCH!, which helps bolster consumer confidence. Word-of-mouth advertising and attending pet-related events helps draw consumers also.
The business opened its first franchise in 2004 and grew until it became the nation’s largest professional pet sitting company with more than 3,000 sitters. Services include dog walking, feeding pets, cleaning litter pans, playing with pets, and if desired, other minor household chores such as picking up the mail and watering plants for vacationing pet parents.
Mann believes that just as his pet clients like staying at home, his franchisees and their support staff should enjoy the same by working from their homes. “Understand that everything you do in your business should all translate into overwhelmingly positive customer satisfaction,” Mann says. “Exceed expectations at every opportunity.”
For more information, visit FetchPetCare.com.
MILLIONAIRE #6
In-Hyuk Suh, Founder and Grandmaster of Kuk Sool Won Korean Martial Arts
In-Hyuk Suh began his lifework at only five years old. Not surprisingly, that passion grew into a business spanning the globe with 800-plus locations today. Suh’s grandfather selected him to preserve 16 generations of carefully guarded martial arts knowledge. By age 20, young Suh had also studied under hundreds of other masters throughout Asia. He recorded a comprehensive curriculum of 32 Korean martial arts, the foundation for Kuk Sool Won, and began teaching in South Korea in 1958.
Sixteen years later, Suh emigrated to America. He copyrighted the curriculum and the name “Kuk Sool Won” to preserve his business interests and the martial arts system’s purity. Schools worldwide teach the identical 3,000 techniques, 24 weapons, and more based on his curriculum.
Suh established his headquarters on his home’s 20 acres in Texas. Eventually, the facilities grew so large that he moved to a home off-site. Today, franchises operate in 27 countries with 1.3 million students. Franchise applicants must earn a minimum first-degree black belt, passing eight stringent tests of endurance, knowledge, and martial arts etiquette. Suh personally screens black belt candidates and franchise applicants, also.
“Each school’s success is my success, and they are extension of my goals and dreams,” Suh says. The 75-year-old travels nationwide to visit every American-based school annually, and to many schools worldwide.
A tireless promoter, Suh explains that Kuk Sool Won is “not just learning to defend yourself from any attacks or from assailants, but also enjoying good health and longevity…[by] ‘defending’ your body, not just from outside factors but from within. I teach the principles and philosophy of good life, so I connect to people that way through martial arts training.”
For more information, visit kuksoolwon.com.
INTERNET/E-COMMERCE
MILLIONAIRE #7
Donna Steinmann, Founder of Medicine Mama’s Apothecary
Broke after the recession five years ago, Donna Steinmann mixed up recovery in her kitchen sink. A self-proclaimed skincare fanatic and ingredient geek, she spent $35 for supplies and created organic skincare products in her home.
The business quickly grew from two or three jars a week to 40. Friends of friends began asking for cases. When she made a large sale to store, she realized she could go big. She expanded both the product line and her production scale. By necessity, Steinmann moved the burgeoning business out of her home.
Steinmann promotes Medicine Mama on the company’s website, blogs, Facebook, store demos, newsletters, product sampling and giveaway programs, editorials, and inside sales calls.
Medicine Mama sells wholesale to about 1,000 stores nationwide and online from its site and through retail stores.
Currently, Steinmann is expanding into distribution in South Korea, Japan, and the European Union. She sold more than $3 million in products over a 10-week period in South Korea alone recently and forecasts $12 million in sales by the end of 2016. “Passion, for your work or art is everything,” she says. “Energy, enthusiasm, and potentially-eventually investors orbit around passion.”
Visit Medicine Mama at medicinemamasapothecary.com.
MAIL ORDER
MILLIONAIRE #8
Joshua Hadley, Founder of Farmers Brand and Now Communications
Joshua Hadley’s success with Farmers Brand, which makes Green Lightning fertilizer, builds on his success with his other business, Now Communications. The recession wiped him out in 2009. Hadley sold possessions and borrowed money to launch Now Communications in a friend’s spare bedroom, which they quickly outgrew. Hadley now employs 100 and has been nominated for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Now Communications ranked #36 on the Inc. 500 list in 2013, an honor that satisfied his urge to earn an MBA.
Operating Now Communications developed Hadley’s marketing chops to help launch Farmers Brand Green Lightning. Developing a good product represents just the first step. Effectively marketing it has caused Hadley’s product sales to skyrocket at brick and mortar stores, and online through retailers and his own site.
Hadley enjoys working at home to stay near his family and to set an example of hard work and success for his children. In the next few years, he hopes to gain international distribution and acquire celebrity spokesmen and perhaps sponsor a NASCAR. “The difference is in the details,” Hadley says. “Focus on improving your leadership and everything else will fall into place.”
For more information, visit farmers-brand.com.
DIRECT SALES
MILLIONAIRE #9
Lisa M. Wilber, Avon National Senior Executive Unit Leader
A laid-off secretary, Lisa Wilber desperately needed a job. The 18-year-old Navy wife turned to Avon, expecting only pin money. Little could she imagine her future as a seven-figure income earner with Avon, an $11 billion dollar company which now lauds her as the “best known Avon representative in the world.”
After meeting other Avon ladies who sold full-time, young Wilber followed their lead. A leader in the rough, she eventually built a nationwide team of more than 2,500 other Avon representatives whom she mentors and supports. “I heard early on that if enough people know who you are and what you do, you can be a success at just about anything,” she says, “And I believe that is true.”
Wilber promotes her business through classified line ads, joining networking organizations, applying an advertising wrap on her car, and even running for public office. She has run a radio show, has given scholarships at school, and sponsors a little girl’s baseball team, “Lisa’s Avon Ladies.”
Wilber enjoys the flexibility and the comfortable income selling Avon provides. At age 42, her stability helped the single woman adopt her daughter, a feat impossible if she were still struggling to keep secretarial jobs.
Wilber hopes to add 500 more downline team members. She loves traveling on Avon reward trips and leading Avon seminars. “Always be willing to learn more and grow as a person,” she says. “I study many topics such as marketing, sales, finance, advertising, leadership, motivation, and more. I take time to learn about myself, too. There is no magic bullet. Success requires a lot of actions taken consistently over time.”
For more information, visit winnerinyou.com.
CONSULTANT
MILLIONAIRE #10
Bruce Piasecki, Business Consultant and Author
Bruce Piasecki escaped corporate digs to his backyard in 2001. He had co-founded AHC Group, Inc. 20 years before, advising companies about energy and environmental strategies. He wrote several books, became well known, and bought out his partners along the way.
As rents ramped up, Piasecki and his staff felt as if they worked to support their pretentious Saratoga Springs office space. One day, he realized he could succeed on his name sans the impressive location. That’s when he built the HQ behind his house.
At first, Piasecki worried that no one would want to work in the boss’s backyard, but his employees agree that the tranquil setting lowers stress and distractions. Piasecki shares the workload with 15 employees on four continents.
Piasecki markets his books through his website, video feeds, and workshops. His top clients include Toyota, Wal-Mart, Warren Buffett’s Shaw Industries, and more. However, he considers his biggest achievement is figuring out how to stay closer to his family. “Be a captain of your own destiny,” he says. “…Play the game fair and open…Recognize the key talents and capabilities, and the weaknesses, of their core team members, and balance them for the market or the crowd.”
See brucepiasecki.com and ahcgroup.com for more details.
FAMILY BUSINESS
MILLIONAIRES #11 & 12
Tina Engler and Patty Marks, Partners at Ellora’s Cave
For years, Tina Engler wrote romance novel manuscripts rejected by publishing houses because of their raciness. Her mom, Patty Marks, believed in Engler’s ability. Together, they founded Ellora’s Cave, their own publishing house that combines Engler’s creative talent with Marks’ business prowess. In 2001, Engler sold one e-book a day. Today, the company sells 150,000 to 200,000 e-books per month and grosses about $15 million per year.
Engler has come a long way from her stint as an airline reservation agent with welfare filling in the gap in her budget. She promotes her erotic romance novels through all the normal media avenues and maintains a notable presence at Book Expo America annually. Engler networks at the industry event. A write-up in Forbes “was the first time I felt like I’d been patted on the back,” Engler says.
Their initial naiveté about publishing proved an asset in the end. “A huge part of our success was because we didn’t know how the big publishers did things, so we just made up our own way of doing things and we ended up blazing new trails,” Marks says.
Marks has helped Engler snag contracts with Amazon, Sony, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Google. A single mom, Engler loves the flexibility of working at home. Marks quips, “You don’t have to get dressed up, put on make-up, and do your hair every morning.”
Engler and Marks hope to expand into film. “Great business persons become successful for one reason: They create a demand for a product consumers didn’t know they needed,” Engler says. “Creating a product consumers want will make you some money; converting that want into a need will make you a fortune.”
For more information, visit ellorascave.com.
GET SUPER-SIZE SUCCESS
Though their businesses represent a diverse cross section of industries, all of these entrepreneurs demonstrate the secret to success lies in believing in yourself and your idea and never giving up, regardless of the challenges you face. Learn from their success tips for earning seven figures, and attain super-size success in your own home-based business. HBM
About the Author: Deborah Jeanne Sergeant writes from her home office in Clyde, N.Y. Visit her online at www.skiledquill.net.
