Advice To Entrepreneurs By Rags To Riches Millionaires

Thursday, March 15, 2012, 2:00 AM | 2 Comments

Small Biz Success

American dream is still alive. It used to be a few things you must have had in America. Buying a home, a car, a good decent job. It still is. One other aspect of the American dream is to start your own business and keep working at it – flourish it and expand it – so you leave something to your kids they can be proud of.

There are still quite a few success stories in this vast landscape of the American entrepreneurship that we can benefit from by following some of the traits and the quality of goods and services these businesses provide.

The following are 6 entrepreneurs that have been quite successful in their endeavor because of their hard work, perseverance and sometimes good luck that they were there at the right time and place.

Kiplinger online ran a story of six self-made millionaires who, thanks to hard work, determination and sound advice from mentors, friends and family, have been able to build thriving businesses from the ground up.

Catherine L. Hughes

Founder and chairperson, Radio One.
Her Advice: Sometimes the ones who love you the most will give you the worst business advice.

She says the early years were rough. Hughes slept on the floor of her radio station, along with her son, because she couldn’t afford to live anywhere else.

Thirty-two years later, in addition to the radio company, Hughes’ empire includes her television network TV One and several interactive ventures, including News One and Hello Beautiful.

Bert Jacobs

Co-Founder and CEO, Life is good.
His Advice: Try to shoot for a timeless business.

Co-founders Bert Jacobs and his brother, John Jacobs, 43, started peddling their tee shirts on the streets of Boston — going door-to-door at college dorms and sleeping in their van to save money — in 1989. It would take nearly six years, however, before their shirts finally caught on with consumers.

Ali Brown

Entrepreneur, business consultant and publisher, Ali Brown.
Her Advice: It’s important you seek out other business owners for information, advice, support and resources.

Fed up with her dead-end job at a New York City ad agency, Brown decided to quit in 1998. Armed with her brother’s hand-me-down computer, she launched her first marketing agency, AKB Communications, from her kitchen table.

Jill Blashack Strahan

Founder and CEO, Tastefully Simple.
Her Advice: Having goals is absolutely critical.

For Strahan, starting her multimillion-dollar company, Tastefully Simple, a direct sales retailer of specialty food products, began with “a dream and a shoestring.” She grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota and later started selling gourmet food baskets, which inspired her business.

Farrah Gray

Founder and CEO, Farrah Gray Publishing.
His Advice: Keep your business small . . . niche yourself.

By the time he was 17, Gray had founded and operated several businesses, including Kidztel, a prepaid phone card company, and Farr-Out Foods, a food company targeting young adults.

Now, Gray’s focused on his latest venture, Farrah Gray Publishing, a boutique celebrity book publishing house he started in 2009, which includes titles such as “Transparent” by CNN’s Don Lemon.

Jesse Conners

CEO and founder, Peppermint Park.
Her Advice: There is constantly some fire that you have to put out . . . Don’t let it discourage you.

In 2008, she began building Peppermint Park, a membership-based fashion and luxury brand online retailer. The Web site has been up and running for a little over a year and has a ten-person staff.