Local Business

Local Business  » How One Woman Found Her Perfect Home Business --- Three Times

How One Woman Found Her Perfect Home Business --- Three Times

Have you ever noticed that what works for you at one point in

your life, might not work five years down the road. Maybe a

divorce happens, or a partner gets a job transfer. Someone in

the family could fall ill, and of course, kids come into our

lives and then leave the nest to start their own lives. New

opportunities arise and old ones disappear; it's what we often

refer to as...LIFE.

I've recently been introduced to a woman via the Internet who

has changed her self-employment career three times. She has such

a great story. Her name is Anlé. Her story starts back in the

early 90's when she and her husband emigrated from South Africa

to Germany. It wasn't an easy move for Anlé, but she was young

and full of adventure and optimism.

Anlé's husband, who was of German descent, found work right away

when they moved, but Anlé could barely speak ''ja, nein and ich

liebe dich.'' Not being able to speak German was a huge

hindrance to her getting hired. In Africa, Anlé was a

promotional and advertising manager for their second largest

wholesale group, but now, Anlé was going to have to think of a

different approach making money, like starting her own business.

She had no idea what type of business to start, so she began to

use the Internet as a resource. She happened upon a site called

Bizymoms.com and was able to read about women who had their own

home businesses. "I couldn't stop reading, all those business

ideas! I printed it all and read all the stories of all Bizymoms

and their home businesses. I made a decision that I too can

start my own business". Explains Anlé.

What Anlé did next is key to finding a profitable business. She

looked at the needs of her area. Anlé says, "It was a time in

Europe where English suddenly became a necessity because of the

borders opening between the countries and most people between

the age of 30 and 50 suddenly needed English for their careers."

Anlé had no problem speaking English, even though Afrikaans was

her native language. She decided to take a five-day course on

how to teach people a second language.

Now we all have fears that keep us from improving our lives and

moving forward. Anlé was very scared to take the course. She

feared of making grammar mistakes, or that she wouldn't be able

to cope. Anlé explains, "I think the biggest problem is that you

loose your own identity when you move to a country where you

can't speak the language. You loose confidence in yourself when

you go to the bakery and you cannot even say what you want. The

phone rings and you just stare at it and don't dare to answer

cause you don't understand and can't speak to who ever is

calling you. The fear probably came from living with this

situation for months and loosing confidence in my abilities and

myself." Amazingly today, Anlé speaks German better than English.

The first day of class was hard. "I must admit that first day I

was so petrified that I could hardly get my legs to move from my

car to the entrance, but I survived." Anlé took it one day at a

time though and completed her five-day course.

Then it was all about getting the word out about her business.

She put an ad in the newspaper and waited, she really didn't

know if anyone would actually contact her or not. But it

happened. She started to get clients. Then large companies

started to contact her to teach their office staff. Anlé says,

"English is not my native language, but with determination and

good preparation one could make a success of everything."

Anlé's soon became pregnant and had a little boy. She made it

very clear to her clients that her son would be coming along to

all appointments. But Anlé's son did something that all of our

kids do, he got older. Anlé says, "But as my son grew I found

that it was not fair on him to spend so much time in the

classroom, where he had to keep himself busy while I was

teaching, and so it was back to square one."

Anlé had to find a new way to make money. Again, she turned to

the Internet to get some ideas on what type of business she

should start. She explains, "All these years I had been

following Bizymoms' progress and as I needed a new idea I came

across stories of Bizymoms who started daycare for little

children. My daycare, 'The Zwergenstübchen,' was born. It was a

wonderful time, five little children came from Monday to Friday

and my son loved it too." Anlé truly enjoyed her new business.

She explains, "I learned so much from them. I learned to just

leave all the 'adult work' and just play. Then my son and all

the other children eventually went to Kindergarten, we were

finally building our dream house, life was wonderful."

Life is great when it's wonderful, but when it turns ugly, it

can be devastating. During the building of Anlé's home her

husband had an accident. He slipped and fell from a two-story

building. The doctors gave him a 20% chance of ever walking

again. Anlé found that out later. Her husband, being a very

Today's Popular Articles

• Your Best Tool - Your Business Card

• Don't Let Your Business Fly South for the Winter

positive soul, turned it around and told he had a 80% chance to

walk. He spent many weeks in the hospital, ten months in a

wheelchair, underwent lots of therapy, and because of all the

time he had to take off to recover, he lost his job. Anlé found

herself with no job, a half-built house in middle of winter, and

lots of debt!

The situation was bleak, but Anlé didn't give up. She again

turned to the Internet for help and motivation. She explains, "I

read everything on Bizymoms, again and again, trying to find

something that I could do. And then one day I found it. Liz

Folger advised someone who didn't know what kind of home

business to start to 'to do what you really love,' and as I have

always painted and loved it, I tried to draw a picture of my

son; combining the two things that I love most!"

When you look at Anlé's work you will be amazed. She is such a

gifted artist, and that is how she is currently making her

living. On the front page of her site you will see the picture

she drew of her son. Anlé's business is a dream come true. She

says, "I get up in the morning and can't wait to start!" And

really, that's how it should be. Anlé now works on a commission

basis, and she has the support of all her friends and family.

Anlé's son is a huge supporter of her business. He is so proud

of his mothers work. He tells everybody his mom is an artist and

all his little friends get a business card with the strict order

to give it to their parents. Anlé says, "When they come and

play, he always shows them what I am working on and tells them

if they want a picture of themselves, his mom can draw it. I

even got two commissions because of his networking."

Anlé's determination and power of positive thinking has clearly

helped in the success of her business. Two quotes that she loves

are, 'I always do the things that I can't do, that's how I get

to do them,' and 'it's always to soon to quit!'. She ends by

saying, "It is very true that if you do something that you love,

the rest is history as they say." You can view Anlé's website at

www.ass-atelier.de.

About the author:

Bizymoms.com is the leading online resource for work-from-home

ideas. Founded by Liz Folger in 1997, the site offers home-based

business start-up kits, online classes, e-books, chats and

enthusiastic support for moms who want to have it all - a family

and a career. Visit www.bizymoms.com for more information.