Raising a well-rounded child may be the most difficult task for any parent, but it is just the project that Grant Garris undertook when he started A Village to Raise.  In his words, “A Village to Raise enables all family types to connect, chat, network and socialize — toward sharing information, tips and resources necessary to support all parental roles in raising a well-rounded child.”

Question and Answer:

Q: Have you ever started a business from scratch before?
A: Yes, I started a home renovation business once before and built it up to sell it.  It was a lot of fun but nothing I wanted to do long term.  This time was completely different because of the passion I have for adoption, fostering and the parental need to talk to other parents!

Q: When you lost your professional job, was creating a new business the first thing you thought to do?
A: Yes, the thought of going back into a corporate environment was one of the last things on my mind.  I have wanted to do this for a while, and with me having the time, everything just fell into place.

Q: What is the largest challenge you have had as you started a new business?
A: Having enough hours in a day is probably the most difficult challenge.  I wake up and start working and work 7 days a week.  I want to make sure I am offering our members the very best experience possible, and right now, I am the only person working all aspects of the business.

Q: What is the largest lifestyle change you had to do undergo as you moved to being an entrepreneur?
A: Balancing life and work, believe it or not!  I now work solely at home and can’t go into the office to focus on what needs my attention.  Working at home is both a blessing and a curse in that I love being around my family all of the time, but when I am on conference calls, it is difficult for my children to understand that I can’t be disturbed.  I am trying to get them more involved, but at 14 and 11 years old, they do not get the impact.

Q: Do you ever see yourself going back to the corporate world?
A: I would only go back to the corporate world for the right company that understood that it is important to treat people in your business like people and not make decisions solely based on business needs.  One that takes the impact to the person into account.

Q: When will you consider yourself a success as a start-up?
A: I feel like we are currently a successful start-up because we are attracting more and more members everyday.  I remember when I got my first email from a man thanking me for creating such an amazing site.  That to me is success!

I have over 100 ties in my closet and wear almost none of them.  The open collar, suited look is what I wear most of the time these days.  But I was still intrigued by the story I found with Joe Sale, President and Founder, The iTie, LLC:

I was working for a Fortune 500 company and lost my job in August of last year.  I was a top producer, number 7 out of 350 account executives and making well over 100k a year. During my time at Robert Half Technology, I had to wear a necktie just about every day.  In my spare time, I started thinking of ways to make the standard tie more functional. Shortly after losing my position, I filed the patent, got the website up and running, and am bringing The iTie to market. It has definitely been a blessing in disguise, and I would have never had the time to work on my idea if I were still working.

Questions and Answers:

Q: Have you ever started a business from scratch before?
A: Not a legitimate one, The iTie is the real deal and am treating it as such!

Q: When you first loss your professional job, was creating a new business the first thing you thought to do?
A: I have had the idea for The iTie for over a year while still working, always thinking about it. When I lost my job, my first reaction was to find a new opportunity. Given the state of the economy, it was nearly impossible to do. So, I moved forward, filed the patent, started the website, formed the LLC, and here we are!

Q: What is the largest challenge you have had as you started a new business?
A: Having the financial resources to do elaborate marketing and events. I have been able to establish professional business relationships with several vendors that have lowered their initial fees for an exclusive long lasting agreement.

Q: What is the largest lifestyle change have you had to do undergo as you moved to being an entrepreneur?
A: Instead of going out with friends, I attend networking events and trade shows to generate awareness and increase sales.

Q: Do you ever see yourself going back to the corporate world?
A: Personally, NO! I would rather work this hard for myself and be accountable for my own production and actions. Why make money for a company that does not appreciate your efforts when you can make money for yourself?

Q: When will you consider yourself a success as a start-up?
A: I already do, starting from scratch with nothing but some personal savings and unemployment compensation, I have established a sustainable product and revenue stream.  The sky is the limit with The iTie, I am pursuing licensing agreements and retail partnerships, once those are established, I will also be financially successful!

Anyone that has tried to park in a major U.S. city knows how tough it is to find a place to put your car.  That is why this week’s Wasabi Ventures start-up profile is so interesting.  Read as Aynsley Deluce,  Partner, Parkingspots.com tells her story:

I launched my company at www.parkingspots.com in January of 2008 while holding down my role as Director of Strategy for an ad agency.  It was a year filled with incredible highs and lows especially in light of the economy et al.  Then in late November it happened. I was let go from my role as strategic director, as the agency was forced to respond to the changing economy.  Instead of feeling low, frustrated or angry as many of my peers have felt I was rather elated!  I’d been toying with the idea of focusing on my new business more permanently but was just too scared to make the leap.  The economy forced me to and I haven’t regretted it for a second.   That said, what it did force me to do was figure out how in hell I was going to make money as I grew parkingspots.com.  So – I took the skillset and contacts I’d already accumulated and decided to market myself as a freelance marketing strategist so that I could pay my bills.  In essence, building two companies at once for the last 6 months.

Questions & Answers:

Q: Have you ever started a business from scratch before?
A: Nope.  This is the first.

Q: What is the biggest struggle to having to do side work to cover your day-to-day bills?
A: Trying to find the right balance of time spent on the side work vs. time spent on the actual business.

Q: What is the largest challenge you have had as you started a new business?
A: Trying to find the right business model and not feeling like  a failure when I’ve had to make tweaks.

Q: What is the largest lifestyle change have you had to do undergo as you moved to being an entrepreneur?
A: Life takes a complete overhaul when you start working for yourself.  From cutting back on extraneous expenses to keeping focused on sunny days when the temptation to take an ‘afternoon’ off is overwhelming.

Q: Do you ever see yourself going back to the corporate world?
A: If I can financially make it work, I have no intention of ever going back into full time.

Q: When will you consider yourself a success as a start-up?
A: When I start bringing in enough money to operationally keep my business moving ahead while also providing me enough to draw a salary from ( my early target $10000/month), I will feel as though my business is finally being realized.

At the Wasabi Ventures Entrepreneurial Bible, we like sports and often work them into our business postings.  So, it was a special treat when we go to interview a start-up who was actually trying to make a business in the world of sports.  This week our Start-Up profile is Scott Swanay – President & Chief Sherpa , Fantasy Baseball Sherpa & Fantasy Football Sherpa.

Question and Answer:

Q: Have you ever started a business from scratch before?

A: No, prior to starting my fantasy sports advice business I worked as an actuary in the property-casualty insurance industry for 17 years.  I have an Applied Math degree from Harvard – it just took me a long time to discover that I wanted to apply my math to fantasy sports!

Q:  When you first lost your professional job, was creating a new business the first thing you thought to do?

A: Yes.  I’ve actually been laid off twice – the first time (2000) as the result of two regional offices within the same company being combined; the second time (2004) as a result of a merger between two companies. When I was laid off in 2000, I wrote a business plan for an online insurance agency that would serve as the middle man for small to mid-size companies looking to purchase business insurance.  However, after writing the business plan I realized I needed a lot of money ($25-50 Mil) to make the project work, and I also needed a nest egg that would allow me to go without an income for a couple of years.  I had neither.  So, I decided to take another actuarial job in the insurance industry, then put all my discretionary income at the end of each month into a “career transition account”.  When I was laid off for the 2nd time in 2004, I immediately began planning to start my own business using the savings I’d accumulated over the past 4 years.

Q:  What is the largest challenge you have had as you started a new business?

A: My industry (fantasy sports advice) is unique in that happy customers generally will not recommend my service to others – they view me as their secret weapon or competitive advantage, and they don’t want to share that with others!  This creates a marketing challenge:  how do I get the word out about my business when I can’t rely on my customers’ word-of-mouth?

Q:  What is the largest lifestyle change you have had to undergo as you moved to being an entrepreneur?

A: Constantly thinking about finances.  When I worked as an actuary in the insurance industry, I made a good salary, and since I don’t have any expensive hobbies, I could generally spend money whenever I wanted to without having to worry about it.  As an entrepreneur I’m much more conservative in my spending, and I watch every penny like a hawk.

Q:  Do you ever see yourself going back to the corporate world?

A: I have a strong preference not to, but I’ll never say never.  If a bigger company were to acquire my business and offer me a personal services contract to continue managing the business, that’s something I’d have to seriously consider.

Q:  When will you consider yourself a success as a start-up?

A: I already consider my start-up a success in that I’m doing something I love, I’m following my dreams, and I have customers willing to pay for my service.  However, it will be nice when I get to the point where my customer base is large enough to support some of the plans I have for future expansion.