Small business owner Articles and News

By uniting, these artisans give each other a chance to make a living.

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The first time Hema Balakrishnan started working with clay in a course taken with her kids — she knew it would lead her somewhere.

But where? Making a livelihood as a terra cotta artisan — transforming riverbed clay into colorful jewelry — was next to impossible. Freelance jewelers in her community would sometimes have to wait 40 days to be paid for their products.

All images via Facebook's #SheMeansBusiness campaign, used with permission.

That's more than a month before seeing cash flow.

Hema reached out to other artisans and found they all were experiencing the same problem.

She also knew there had to be a better way. A stronger business solution.

So she did it herself.

On her own, Hema connected with 11 separate terra cotta artisan groups — 200 terra cotta artisans total — and coordinated these groups to make feasible career options for the artisans.

The business is thriving.

As she was starting out, things weren't exactly all cheers and support.

"My in-laws were not in favor of me going to work," she told 99% TV Telugu,"so it was a sort of forced staying at home, which made me interested in pursuing lot of courses. So that's what made me interested in pursuing the clay course with my children."

But she didn't give up. This business was her calling.

As Hema told 99% TV Telugu, "Perhaps they thought this was a hobby or something that I would sit from home and do. This is something beyond a personal gain for me. This is something I want to do from the core of my being. It's an inner calling for me."

Many of the women who do the meticulous work of creating terra cotta jewelry are in the field for the love of the craft but also to support their families. Families don't have 40 days to wait for payment. So Hema got involved in all aspects of production of the jewelry to create a system where a livelihood for women artisans was possible. She knew that by pursuing her business, Color D Earth, she would not just be helping herself grow, she'd be empowering others.

"When this business is giving livelihood to so many terra cotta artisans, it gives me great happiness."

Using Facebook to not just sell products, but to promote the social good of her business, Hema has seen her customer base grow. As she told the Facebook #SheMeansBusiness initiative, "The story mattered, and the best way to communicate that story, aside from just speaking about it, was to use the internet."

And she's not stopping there.

After reflecting on all that she has learned in growing Color D Earth, Hema knew she wanted to pay it forward. Now, in addition to running this business, she offers mentorship workshops and coaching to women looking to start their own enterprises.

From a love of clay, she's created a business infrastructure that gives that love back to her community.

And it all started with her following her instincts, listening to her gut, and sticking to it.

With her past haunting her, this small-business owner was struggling. Until Marcus came along.

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Small businesses keep this country afloat; over 50% of U. S. workers are employed by them.

And this is where Marcus Lemonis, aka "The Profit," comes in. He identifies small businesses that are in trouble and then helps them get their act together by investing in and owning part of the companies and — most importantly — by taking control and turning them into viable, profitable entities.

One such business named The Blue Jean Bar had up to 13 stores around the country at one point, but many of them floundered. So the owner, Lady Fuller, trimmed them down to three.

You'll discover, as she relates to Marcus in the clip below, her mother died at age 43 — when Lady was 9 years old — of suicide.

Lady, now age 40, is concerned she's going to be a failure by that same age, and it's coloring all of her actions as she runs the business.

“My mother passed away when I was 9, and she took her own life. She left me money, and I wanted to do something with her money that paid homage to her. …. She killed herself when she was 43. … I always felt like, that this business would be so successful by the time I reached her age."

Marcus sees her potential and that of the business itself, but he also sees her looking through the rear-view mirror at haunting failures and sadness, and he needs to help her look at the road ahead.

It's the kind of thing he does regularly on "The Profit," and he handles it deftly as he helps pull her out of the tailspin — but only after some growing pains, tears, and pushback from Lady.

The final transformation of their flagship store is remarkable, as is that of Lady herself.

Starting a small business takes guts, determination, and every bit of resilience that human beings have.

And the numbers show how they pay off. Here are some interesting statistics on small businesses to consider (for more, check out this post):

In 2012, 36% of small-business ownerswere women.
As of 2013, small businesses had created over 65% of new jobs since 1995.
There were, in 2013, nearly 28 million small businesses in the United States.
An estimated $68 of each $100 spent in a business returns to the local economy.

Let's all try to appreciate that and support them in our communities — shall we?

small business owner

How one woman went from art classes with her kids to coordinating over 100 artisans.