How To Start Your Own Business

Angela asked:

Have you ever written about why you started making these (Organizing Bags), how you got the idea and finally at what point did you stop making them and start ordering them?

Lazy says:

I'm sure many of you are wondering the same thing. You want to know how I started my wildly successful Organizing business so you can do the same thing right? I have literally made thousands of dollars in only six years. Now that you know the great amount of money we're talking about here I bet you can't wait to get started. Here we go...

• Have such a cluttered home and disorganized life that you think you will run screaming through the streets if you flush your keys down the toilet one more time.


• Read an on-line book review of Confessions of an Organized Homemaker by Deniece Schofield.


• Proceed to spend the rest of your life trying to get organized.


• In the mean time use plastic baggies as Deniece suggests to organize your games and puzzles.


• Watch the baggies fall apart within a few weeks.


• Duct tape the baggies back together.


• Buy more baggies and watch them fall apart.


• Decide you are going to make your own bags because you are tired of taping baggies.


• Wait till your sister is visiting so she can help you make them.


• Wonder why it is taking your sister so long to get a drink of water.


• Realize she didn't want to stay up all night sewing bags so she snuck off to bed.


• Stay up the rest of the night sewing.


• Love the bags!

I loved using them so much that I redesigned them and kept making more and more for myself. A while later I had a garage sale and sold some bags to a neighbor friend. She agreed with me that they were fabulous and said I should start selling them. I sold a few bags on E-Bay and to family and friends before I started my own website. I also taught organizing seminars and the participants always wanted bags. I didn't sell a lot but enough that I got tired of sewing them so I looked around to find someone else to do it. Imagine my surprise to find I could pay someone to make them cheaper than I could even buy the fabric myself!

About two years ago I invested $1,000 to place my first order. In the mean time I was busy designing, and building a house so I didn't worry too much about the bags. Finally in January I asked Laura to try them and write a review for me. Within weeks I was sold out!

It took me a while to decide that I wanted to keep doing this but then I finally designed and ordered new bags which came in last week. We'll see how long this order lasts but I promise it won't take me seven months to get my next order. I'm already planning some new styles and I have ideas for other organizing products as well. I also had some organizing seminars scheduled for this month but it's all on hold because I'm too sick to sew, or go anywhere at this point of my life. However, with my kids' help we are busily shipping out your bag orders so keep them coming!

I'm trying to get more professional and pretend that I have a real business. I just bought business cards and opened my own bank account. Now I only have about a hundred more things on my to-do list which should take another five years to accomplish while I'm having babies, building houses and raising chickens.

I'm sure some of you have started successful businesses and could give me lots of advice so let's hear it because I need all the help I can get!