How many of us own our own business?

[kstaven]

Organic farm and dairy here. Business is building quicker now than before the recession.

 

[BBK]

I'm in retail....The Lil Toy Store... i don't compete with the BIG BOX store, just can't and the China thing....welll, that was tough last yr. probably will be again this yr...

I have educational toys, scientific, stuffed, FUN, retro...I offer FREE wrapping, always have...it's a big plus. And we just had our 2nd birthday last week.

This yr..well let's say it's been tough! I have to say, our little town is behind all of the merchants on Main St. and that's great. We do a lot of things as a whole, which helps everyone. Next up is our Winter Walk Dec 12th.

I employee 2, my older son and my sister. And i also have a job, drving a school bus. WO/ my job, i don't think i still would be here...No website yet.

I'd love to bring a chicken to the store, the kids would love it.

Melinda

 

[bargain]

Yes, a small chemical free farm that sells many bunnies, rabbits, milk goats in addition to all our varieties of eating eggs, chickens and poultry. We also sell baby chicks, poults, keets (guineas) etc etc. We do hatches for a fee.

We have done this now for 4 years and hope to continue until the Lord calls us home.

We part time manage a local farmers market, have sold some products to restaurants.

Currently in the process of finishing a commercial kitchen to be a local bakery (only part time) and catering service.

Oh and also our great organic principalled veggies and cooking herbs.

Be blessed and have a great day!

 

[McCord6]

I have more of a "WORK AT HOME" but it's just like owning your own buisness. I sell AVON products.

 

[Goose and Fig]

We make custom eco-friendly furniture. I travel around TN finding barns to demo, and we use every piece we can. What is too rotten ends up heating our home. Even the metal parts get recycled. You should see my coops!

The economy hasn't really effected us. We believe that green should be affordable, not overpriced. People seem to like that

The weather has hurt us more than anything. Can't weld or run the plasma cutter in the rain, so we get a little behind sometimes.

We did however stop participating in the juried art festivals. The entrance fees are ridiculous, and I'd rather spend the weekend with the kids & animals than schmoozing with strangers.

 

[SunAngel]

My DH is co-owner of a Salvage yard. Dh is a notary and does title work. They also do inspections, sell used cars & car parts, do car repairs, pick up junk cars, crush them and haul them to the recycling places.

The price of steel keeps fluctuating which means they sometimes have to hold onto their crushed cars til the price rises some. Some weeks they are busier than others, lately they have had a lot of repair business. More people are getting their older cars repaired instead of buying new and calling to have the junk sitting in their yard removed for some money. Overall they are probably making about half of what they did 2-3 years ago. But they have managed to stay in business for 7 yrs in a backwoods town and support 3-4 households...so I guess they are still doing pretty good. Hopefully they can hold on til the economy turns around.

 

[luvmychickas]

I am a groomer and I work at a shop as a sub-contractor and work from home as well

I needed to supplement my in home grooming money, so I found a great place to work. I have already been there a year and my in home grooming has increased as well

 

[FarmerChick]

Own 120 acre farm that I farm for income.
Recession hasn't effected me much at all....people still want good quality food so they are buying our produce.
My natural goat milk soap business is thru the roof. People want usable, small priced luxury gifts so biz is great.
Stores re-ordering soap at record rate which is good.
Our sausage/chops from our hogs is selling wonderful also.
Eggs are moving fast.

So not effected much by the recession right now.

 

[Sjisty]

I make and sell bird toys for exotic birds. Hubby and I travel all over the southeast every weekend to bird shows and sales where we sell our products. We also have a web site - www.fancyfeathers.biz. For that last 2 years the head count has been down at many of the shows, but we have had some of our best shows sales-wise. It seems people are appreciating the quality in American-made versus foreign. Our main difficulty is finding wood for our toys since so many American mills are closing due to the importing of wood turnings.

It's not enough to sustain us yet - I also work full-time. Hubby is in construction, so he has been laid off most of the last 2 years. If I could quit my job, I think I could make the bird toys work for us full time, but right now I am barely able to keep enough toys made for the demand. It's a vicious cycle - more time would mean more time to make toys and more time to market, but I don't feel confident enough to quit my regular job.

Anybody want to buy a bird toy????

 

[Big C]

We own a nursery and garden center, along with our small farm. No recession here since we are always in a perpetual recession. No booms or busts just steady business. Been this way since we opened in 1990.