Hey all,
I am a mother of two young children, and about to end an 8 year military enlistment. My husband is an electrician and our current game plan is for me to stay home with the kids, which means our income is about to be slashed in half. I've been messing around with a business idea, but not sure yet. We have very little start up money, but I was thinking of starting on the internet, and then opening a store. I want to go into scrapbooking/handmade cardmaking. If I start online, I could do custom scrapbook layouts and cards. People could digitally send me their pictures and I could create a scrapbook page and send it to them. Then if I make enough money, I could eventually become a retailer. Any thoughts?

You might want to try checking into Creative Memories. My sister-in-law has been with them for a few years and the start-up is minimal.

It allows her to be a stay at home mom, make a pretty decent living, and have a whole lot of fun.

Good Luck!

Lisa

>Hey all,
>I am a mother of two young children, and about to end an 8
>year military enlistment. My husband is an electrician and
>our current game plan is for me to stay home with the kids,
>which means our income is about to be slashed in half. I've
>been messing around with a business idea, but not sure yet.
>We have very little start up money, but I was thinking of
>starting on the internet, and then opening a store. I want to
>go into scrapbooking/handmade cardmaking. If I start online,
>I could do custom scrapbook layouts and cards. People could
>digitally send me their pictures and I could create a
>scrapbook page and send it to them. Then if I make enough
>money, I could eventually become a retailer. Any thoughts?

Again I think that almost any idea is a good business idea. When I read your post I was thinking about QVC and remembering that they have scrapbooking segments on their show so that just shows how popular it is.

Starting small and starting online is a good place to start but you have to remember the crux of what it is you will be trying to achieve. While you may be very good at being able to provide this kind of service you are going to have to face the "mechanics" of doing something like this and the main crux of it will be getting people to your website. It's comparable to the artist that paints and wants to sell his paintings but doesn't want to go thru the hassle or bother of the business side of it.

Remember you'll have to set up the website and then start generating visitors whom you hope to turn into clients and customers (and hopefully repeat customers).

I'm not trying to discourage you and like I said above every idea has potential. It is very enjoyable being able to earn money online and one of the best things about the Internet is that it is 24/7.

My youngest sister is in Creative Memories. As far as I know, they are limited on what they can sell via the internet. She also did custom pages, but my goodness, the time it took for what she got paid. Maybe she wasn't selling in the right arena though....
Good luck.
~jennifer
http://learntosucceed.successin10steps.com

Just a thought but since you just ended an 8 year military career, I think you can get special funding to start a business as a Veteran.

Suzanne
SHB Consulting, Inc.
www.newbiz-coaching.com

Starting a business is a geat idea. One thing you could do before you jump in feet first is to check into affiliate marketing and promote related products on a website and blog. There is alot of competition on the internet so you will need to come up with something a bit unique that will intrigue the masses.

Stick with your idea and don't let it die!