What inspired you to start your business? Do you still feel the same way? ☁️

[isabelle]

Hello Seller Community! ☀️ 

Today, we'd like to hear about what inspired you to start your business and if you still feel the same way about it now. 

Please feel free to reply below with your thoughts and a bit about your business! 💭 

✨

[Donnie-M]

Why did I get into this business?

Change....I was tired of working almost 7 days a week on a salary growing someone else's business.  I was actually not looking for anything hard.  I found a Monday - Friday Cafe Supervisor job for a little hole in the wall place with 1 employee.  The owner felt it could do more and gave me the key.  I was supported with a hands off approach and it just organically grew.  Word of mouth, pride in what I was doing because it was my product...my food...my work.

Fast forward 8 years and I now manage 5 locations and all different concepts.  I work with square testing products and giving back on the forums here.

So, I got here with my business and am very happy.  I am always looking for the next direction.  I am a restaurant manager by trade but turned out to be a pretty good cook too!.  Change brought me to this business and I embraced that change.

[RC_360_HOBBIES]

When covid-19 hit us in February 2020 and the schools got shut down,  I was driving home from work thinking to myself "how can I keep my kids entertained outside?". I didn't  want my kids sitting behind the tv all day so had to think of a way to keep them outside and playing together.  On the drive home, while passing a house, I saw a kid driving his RC truck up and down the road. It dawned on me! Get them RC Cars! I did, and they loved them!

Soon my wife and I had one of our own and found them surprisingly fun to drive. We started building wooden jumps and we'd go out as a family and drive them for hours. 

One night we were packing up our cars and jumps and my wife looked at me and said "we should start an RC Hobby store a other families could share the fun together". We prayed about it and a few months later we opened our 1st hobby store RC 360 HOBBIES

We've seen so many families, husbands and wives, and children start there Rc passion with us. Seeing the joy and excitement our customers have when they come in to our store, it's so rewarding for us that we have no regrets starting this business.  

God Bless

Brandon

[SecondAct]

With the pandemic, my three kids didn't have in-person schooling and their dad and I were 60 hours a week in the construction industry. We weighed out our options and decided that I would leave my career to give the children a shot at graduating on time and I decided that idle was not my style. I scrounged the last of my emergency money, bought a laser CNC and opened a woodworking and laser cutting business from our house. I've never been more grateful for anything in my life. For the first time in their lives I can focus on them, bring in money and find some peace. I didn't realize how much of myself I'd given to my career at their expense and at my own. I'm so much better healthwise, mentally, spiritually. I'll never go back. 

[Ziemael]

The main reason I started my business.  The root is Autism.  I have a terrible history with traditional employment, I have been drawing & painting winning awards and such since I was a child.  And so, have been selling my artwork haphazardly throughout the years.  I tried out Square and my sales doubled, simply because I could accept more than cash.  Now I am more comfortable and consistent with my art sales, I know what will sell and where, and I always use my square reader.  I still have no idea how to sell online, this is frustrating because my autism interferes with live events (masks end up making me hyperventilate which makes talking to customers impossible). So still trying to figure out online sales, for years now.

[isabelle]

Hey @Ziemael!

Thanks fo much for sharing your inspiration and story ✨

This is a fabulous resource which includes a video that goes over how to get started with Square Online. Additionally, this is a great resource to see other seller created Square Online sites. If you like one of them, feel free to reply to the seller snd tag them with any questions you have. Folks in the Community are usually eager to help. 

Best of luck with business and let me know if you have any questions. 

[VanKalkerFarms]

Being born into a second-generation immigrant farm family my business life was chosen for me 😂.  But slowly over the time I have taken over as the third generation, we have grown into a multi-million dollar seasonal garden center also, expanding our options to the point that we have ended our farming operation after 60 years.  It was a sad decision to make but financially and from a labor standpoint it was the only viable decision.  We take every day seriously in our business as there are almost 30 employees depending on us to support their families.  One of the greater motivating factors for me is watching employees succeed and prosper over the 25+ years some have been with us and having some of their children working here too.  That keeps me pushing myself so we as a business can prosper, Our family can grow and my kids can start taking over, and our employees can succeed.

[aarontw]

Thanks for sharing your story here @VanKalkerFarms - I would imagine the legacy of your farming operation lives on through the garden center 🌱

Speaking of legacy, I'll take a quick moment here to say thank you so much for all you've done for other business owners here on the Community. You've impacted the businesses of thousands, we're extremely grateful 🙏

[porktaco]

My business partner and I started MOGO Korean Fusion Tacos back in 2012. The inspiration came from candid rolling conversations about our own unique experiences with traditional Korean flavors and the lack thereof in our geographic area. Back then, Korean food was less popular in American food culture with access being limited to traditional Korean restaurants only located in areas with high Korean-American populations (New Jersey). We knew that the fresh, bold flavors of Korean food culture demanded mainstream attention but the barriers-to-entry were high in our area.

At that time, Korean food was gaining attention on the West Coast which helped us to refine and cascade our early conversations as well as validate our idea. We settled on the humble taco to serve as the bridge to connect both worlds in the progressive community of Asbury Park, NJ. Everyone loves a taco and it serves as the perfect no-nonsense vessel to highlight the exciting flavors of our traditional family recipes.

Fast forward ~ten years and we've expanded to include two locations, a food truck, and a production commissary centered around the singular mission of spreading traditional Korean flavors to the masses one taco at a time.

While the business has grown over the years, so have we as individuals and so has our affinity for juggling. There are far more hard days than easy ones but the work is dynamic and the commitment to our mission and creating value for our core customers and the communities we choose to serve, keeps us fulfilled and moving forward everyday. We're looking forward to getting back on course post-pandemic and for the journey ahead... onward!

[aarontw]

@porktaco  I love how ahead of the curve you have been on Korean Fusion. I have to avoid reading your posts in the morning because I always click into your site and then I wind up craving lunch at 10:00AM.

[teambryant21]

Hi, my brother and I created a Manufacturing, Printing, and Custom T-Shirt company during Covid. Our parents were the ones who brought up the idea. Our parents wanted us busy rather than bored in quarantine. Another  reason we started this company is so we can express ourselves and our creativeness using different kinds of clothing. 

[Mike48]

The reason I started my business is when I was in college my parents bought a Timeshare. At one point they owed $175,00. They were pressured and tricked into buying it. They told them numerous things that weren't true. Long  story short it put them into bankruptcy and I had to drop out of college because they didn't have the money. So I applied for student loans and finished college. After that I went  to law school. After law school I worked for a firm for 10 years. I finally started my own business called Timeshare Debt Release and now fight for family's that have been scammed by Timeshare company's. I love being able to help people everyday and help them get out of a bad situation. 

[Jaycane]

After 2 knee surgeries the VA issued me a standard cane but it had no character. I had prev been cutting down a black maple tree and as a retired engineer I saw potential for a cane in a branch. I hand crafted my 1st cane, the limb had character w the knots, and irregular non strait shaft. I loved it and began culling other branches for stock. I honed the process to a fine art and have made over 60 canes and taller trail/walking stiks. I've been successful at the 2 prev craft shows and have gifted several folks w a free cane, mostly fam & church fam.

[Rollinwithresin]

I got the idea one day in quarantine to make resin art keychains at first. Then, I saw the molds and what I can actually make alongside my keychains. I decided to start selling not only keychains but wine caddies, coasters, stash jars, rolling trays, and next up are grinders. I’m Rollin’ With Resin; I make resin art and I love what I do!

[Mekti]

That's totally awesome!  True inspiration that change can motivate!  Thanks!

[Aweston81]

Well you see, I have a couple felonies. It's all drug related, and eventually I plan in being a drug counselor, but in the meantime the felonies limit my job opportunities. So I figured hey, why not start a business and use the extra proceeds to fund a half way house for recovering drug addicts. It helps me in the long wrong once I begin to counsel because I'll already have experience, and it helps those who also can't quite help themselves at the moment. In fact here is a link to a go fund me account raising funds for premium features on the square site and just some general working capital as I work towards my dream. If anyone is interested in helping me with a hand up click here but feel free to visit my square site and look at some of my designs before you decide. https://www.thespace-shop.square.site https://gofund.me/92d93ff5

[awschoobie]

I really wanted to have the freedom of setting my own schedule, how much money I could make and have the freedom to do other things I enjoy in my life. I started by leaving a corporate salon and branching off to be a studio owner. I now am perusing that and moving forward to reach some of the goals I thought I never would reach!

[Belindadoeshair]

I worked for a company that constantly put the owners, their profits and their preferences above those who worked for them as well as the clients who frequented their establishment. I chose to start my own journey, and completely change the expected dynamic. I was exceptionally successful, and I don't regret it for a moment.

[QuokkaCoffee]

I was made redundant during the start of the pandemic and thought there might not be a better time to start my own bricks and mortar cafe. 🤷🏻

There've been more downs than ups but I think finally accepting that there isn't a whole lot of money to be made even if I work stupidly long hours has been an eye-opener. (Now I have naps on the weekends...) Sometimes the world just doesn't work the way you want it to, but there's merit in showing up and doing the work anyway.

Small business ownership feels like freelancing in a way, so it's made me more comfortable with being less productive in a given week if I can make it up in the next one, or taking some time to bond with my family and not feel guilty the whole time. I can always sell the business and move back into full-time work with a steady paycheck but I like the balance I've achieved now.

What keeps me inspired is watching Bob's Burgers. 🙂 I think they really nail the push-pull of being stretched thin financially but still being able to provide in one way or another.

[isabelle]

I absolutely love this reply @QuokkaCoffee. 

Sometimes the world just doesn't work the way you want it to, but there's merit in showing up and doing the work anyway.

⬆️ SO TRUE ⬆️ 

And yes, I absolutely love Bob's Burgers, the fact that he remains passionate about what he does, never stops trying, and took a risk to do it, is such a heartwarming aspect of the show. It's been my comfort show for many years.