– China Okasi, TAP
Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, or a veteran business mogul, it’s easy to forget the virtues of patience and endurance that are required for business growth. Here are five business models that sprung from modest beginnings to national, and, in some cases, global success.
5) CAKELOVE
Founder: Warren Brown
How He Grew From Little-Known to “World-Famous:”
(Source: CakeLove) In 2000, Warren Brown left his career as a lawyer litigating health care fraud on behalf of the federal government to pursue a dream and start a business. Sensing that people wanted better cake, he founded CakeLove and opened for business in 2002. With a lot of hard work and positive word-of-mouth advertising, Brown has grown his business from a moonlighting project into seven thriving bakeries.
4) CAROL’S DAUGHTER
Founder: Lisa Price
How She Grew From Little-Known to “World-Famous:”
(Source: Carol’s Daughter) In the early 1990’s, Brooklyn native Lisa Price (a.k.a. Carol’s daughter) began experimenting with fragrance, essential oils and natural moisturizers to make gifts for her family and friends. Soon after she packaged her home-spun creations, word spread like wildfire and the demand for her unparalleled hair and body care products led to a highly successful mail-order and web-based business. Within a few years, Carol’s Daughter counted celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, Brad Pitt and Chaka Khan as loyal fans, or as she refers to them, “friends of the family.”
3) MISS JESSIE’S
Founders: Titi & Miko Branch
How They Grew From Little-Known to “World-Famous: “
(Source: MissJessies.com) In 1997, sisters Titi and Miko Branch, opened Miss Jessie’s Salon to respond to the demand for expertise in natural hair and naturally curly hair. Their experience with curls started over 20 years ago. Born to a Japanese mother and African-American father Titi and Miko had a head full of hair that was multi textured. “Back then our parents were attending school so this left little time to care for our hair” lamented Titi…
With the introduction of Curly Pudding, Curly Buttercreme™, Curly Meringue®, Baby Buttercreme™, Unscented Curly Pudding™and now Rapid Recovery Treatment®, Miss Jessie’s products soon garnered a cult following and continues to be a market innovator in the natural hair and naturally curly hair segment.
2) Sylvia’s Restaurant
Founder: Sylvia Woods
How She Grew From Little-Known to “World-Famous:”
(Source: Sylvia’s) In 1944, Sylvia married Herbert and started her journey towards a brighter future. Harlem called, and Sylvia answered, as she became a waitress at Johnson’s luncheonette. In 1962, after several years of dedicated service to her employer, Mr. Johnson recognized Sylvia’s entrepreneurial spirit and sold her the luncheonette. Julia Pressley, Sylvia’s mother, whom was a farmer and mid-wife, mortgaged her farm to loan her the money for the purchase.
The than small luncheonette consisted of a counter and a few booths, has now flourished into a family owned enterprise which consist of: Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem, Sylvia’s Also, a full-service catering hall, Sylvia’s Catering Corp., a nation-wide line of Sylvia’s Food Products, two deliciously amazing cookbooks, and ATOC, Inc., a real estate firm.
1) Ben’s Chili Bowl
Founders: Ben & Virginia Ali
How They Grew From Little-Known to “World-Famous:”
(Source: Restaurant.org) The story of Ben’s Chili Bowl’s began with Ben Ali and Virginia Rollins. Ali came from Trinidad at age 18 and attended five universities in nine years. A fall down an elevator shaft broke his back and ended his dream of being a dentist. He tried several jobs until he found his calling at Ann’s Hot Dogs.
His fiancée, Virginia Rollins, grew up on a 150-acre Virginia farm. She was a bank teller on what was then Washington’s “Black Broadway” when she met Ali. A week before the couple married, they opened Ben’s Chili Bowl in what had been a pool hall. Today, two of their three sons operate the restaurant and a bar, “Ben’s Next Door,” which opened last fall.
What began 50 years ago as an informal eatery in segregated Washington, D.C., today attracts visitors from around the world. It survived economic blight from race riots, drug wars and construction of a nearby subway station. Throughout good times and tough times, Ben’s Chili Bowl attracted customers from all walks of life: rich and poor, judge and junkie – and just days before his inauguration, President Barack Obama.
