How long has it been?

[Bronze_Palms]

How long have you owned your business for? 

What did your business start out as and what has it evolved into? I recognize as time moves on, our businesses shift in a different direction.

I started my business in November 2019, officially opened March 2020 as a spray tanner, and now I own two storefronts. One with staff that offer spray tans and the other I rent out rooms except for one and take services there.

[SheilaWhite]

8 years.

I enjoyed doing a little bit of woodworking for many years and kept trying to think of something I could make and sell. My husband asked me to make an end grain cutting board and that was my ah-ha moment. I started Kitchen Wood Etc. (Etc. because I didn't know what it would lead to) So that was Feb. 2018. In Dec. 2020, I bought my first lathe. I'd never used one, but wanted to add things like bowls and pepper mills to my kitchen inventory. Well, I was hooked on turning immediately and barely did any flat work after that.

I was asked to display/sell my work in a local gallery that had been looking for a turner and were thrilled to find a woman turner. I eventually stopped saying "I'm a woodworker, not an artist" after having pieces accepted (and even sold) in local art exhibits. 

This year, I decided on a new name ... and that is how ART MEETS WOOD by Sheila evolved.

According to my sales vs. expenses numbers, it's still more of a hobby than a business, but I'm hoping to make more than I spend at some point and retire from my day job before I'm 90 lol.

How to become a millionaire doing woodworking? .... start as a billionaire 😁

[DinaLRosenberg]

We've been in business for 7 years.

We started out as a teeny tiny retail store. Now we have the whole building with garden, the storefront next door, a podcast, and a conference LOL!!

[ehflower]

We are a fourth-generation family business, proudly serving our community from the same location since 1908. For more than a century, we’ve remained relevant by embracing change — and by staying nimble. Being small has always been our superpower.

We began as a truck farm, later evolving into growing and selling fresh-cut flowers and transmitting floral orders across the country by telegraph. As our community grew, so did we — expanding into ornamental annuals and perennials to serve the gardeners around us.  We had our first website in 1995, selling native plants online which then switched over to a more floral website through one of the larger companies.  We started with square in 2020.  Often we "zig" when everyone else "zags".

[brown17]

15 years!  My husband started it back when my son was young.   I had the steadier job at the time and our son had some needs.   15 years later and we all work in it now!   Started with 6 customers and have over 250!  1 other staff member, hoping to add another and another truck this year!  

[lilisalazar]

@Bronze_Palms Congrats on your 2 storefronts! Which of the two do want to focus on growing more? 

I started officially in 2018, I provide web designe/tech support to small business owners, started soft of by accident after my daughter was born.

Started doing web design for Spanish speaking service providers like landscapers, roofers, etc that needed help getting online and now focus on food businesses as my family now owns a local Mexican restaurant in our city. I will say I enjoy this niche a lot more 🙂 

[rtfulk]

1986 is when we started our business, we have always been a mobile business, with the exception of 20 years when we would open a pop up storefront in a mall for Christmas. We’ve made 3 transitions in that time. When we first started out we owned a ceramic shop and made items to sell at craft fairs and fairs, when the dollar started started popping up and you could purchase ceramic items for a dollar we started our transition. We went from ceramics to embroidery in the 90’s. embroidery was a little harder in the 90’s more punch tape and embroidery software was just starting to come out, very basic embroidery software.

Fast forward to the 2010’s when everyone and their brother could buy an embroidery machine for about 6k with basic software, the market started getting flooded. The only bad thing about that was it was getting flooded with bad embroidery, just because you can buy an embroidery machine doesn’t mean you can become and embroiderer (the same with any profession).

Towards the late 2010’s we were wanting to make a switch. We finally figured out to become really profitable we needed to become an importer  for 2 reasons, 1. Cut out the middle man, 2. We wanted to have items that not everyone else would have. Plus we wanted to become a niche, and the fact that we were having our first granddaughter. We decided to transition to children’s clothing. The best and most profitable decision we have ever made. We are hoping to be able to work until she is old enough and hopefully wanting to take over the business.

[MudFire_Dex]

I've been in the clay business since 1999 as an employee - and owned my first supply business from 2008 - 2014 - I took over the studio and gallery at MudFire in 2013 and here we are in 2026 getting ready to buy our building.

[rtfulk]

I know pottery is different process  than ceramics, but people don't appreciate the time and energy that goes in either one. you make it, then have to wait for it to dry, then fire, paint or glaze. It's a lot of work,

[MudFire_Dex]

Truly it is a process - we have 275 members and teach 200 outside folks per week so I fire about 3000 pieces a week in our 8 kilns. Our gallery is one of few spaces that sell only pottery/ceramics. It is a lot of work but rewarding work to see people make so many different things each day. There's so much personality in what everyone is doing here. 

[perkits]

We open Dec 4th 1984 and still in the same location.