BellaOnline Forums Career Small Office/Home Office Businesses You'd like to Know More About

I've been writing this column for over 3 years now and I have covered a ton of business ideas, but I'm wondering what you might like to read about.

More people will be looking at starting businesses this year, in order to combat the effects of recession. So, if you are one of those, (or know someone who is), what ideas are you wondering about?

I'll make a list and look to including those businesses in future articles, or maybe just in posting info here in the forum.

So, is anybody thinking of starting a business?

Yes, Deb,I am. Crafts and fiber arts of all kinds are my passion and I'd love to be making some money at it. I've never run a business before, so I'd be starting from scratch. To tell you the truth, just reading your articles gives me butterflies in my stomach at the thought of actually doing it.

Having been an Art Major in college the whole business thing scares me. And the only subject I was not good at in school was, you guessed it, math. Add to that, I have a starting budget of $0.
How's that for a challenge?

Sweet! That's an excellent challenge. I love the butterflies, too--butterflies always tell us something, don't they? But, usually, we misread them as fear, when they are really excitement!

We are so lucky today that it is truly easy to start a business with minimal cash, little to no direct selling, and sometimes in just a few hours! HONESTLY!

I'm gonna write an article (maybe several) on all this for real instead of writing the world's longest forum post (I get on a roll!). I'll post the link when it's up.

In the meantime, in case you haven't found this article yet, it's a good starting point for you:

Crafts Business

I am always thinking it would be great to have a back-up or something else on the sidelines in case my freelance business slows. But I'm not sure if the ideas I have are really viable or will make any money in the real world, and also I'm not sure where to start. Things I would love to learn more about are:

��Is an online store that would sell products that I design really worthwhile? There's so much competition out there. I'm thinking about Etsy and Cafe Press type of places, and designing art or logos that could be applied to different items. For Etsy I think about small sculptures or carvings, or paper art like stationary and cards.

��Textile/paper design: I would love to design fabric or wrapping paper, but have no idea how to get into that

��Body products/herbs: I grow herbs, and make teas, bath and body products, and seasoning mixes. For teas and herb mixes, because they are edible, the regulations might be too complicated, but I don't even know where to begin looking at how that works

��I have an idea for a design/logo that could be applied as a set for the kitchen (matching aprons, floor mats, wall hanging, etc.). Something like Cafe Press wouldn't quite work because they only have certain items, and not everything I have in mind. I'd probably need to find a printer or manufacturer, and I know nothing manufacturing a product.

That's all for now. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have!

Thanks, Deb, I'm looking forward to reading your article.

Here's an article on Four Easy Steps to Starting your Own Business.

Deb! Thank-you so much! I was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief after reading your article. The funny thing is I've already started to follow your four steps, I just didn't know it or think about it as a plan.

Glad to help, Helen! Most of the time, we do make it too complicated and that gets scary, but it's really quite simple when you get down to it.

Frieda7, I'm working on an article about how to start selling online. The sites you mention are all great places to start. Even if they cannot do everything you need, the help you get started and starting is the hardest part.

And, one thing I almost always recommend is to start your business while you have a job or another way to pay the bills. It takes a long time to build up clientele and find your groove, and panicking about paying rent does not help!

So, you take the leap and post one item and see how that goes. If you do your marketing and get the word out about your product, you will start to make a few sales, then you can expand.