NCET

It was graduation week, and like many matriculating seniors, Genevieve Thiers wondered what she would do with her life. She worried that her classical Opera training might not provide the immediate financial relief that she would need to pay the bills. That’s when she spotted inspiration: a pregnant woman. She watched the slow, belabored steps the woman’s swollen feet took up the staircase; she watched the woman grab the railing for support as she pulled herself up the stairs like a pot-bellied mountaineer hoisting himself up a steep rock wall. The woman was trekking across the Boston College campus, posting fliers soliciting a babysitter.

Pistons began firing in Thiers’ head. She recalled thousands of nights spent babysitting as the oldest of seven children. She saw how inconvenienced the pregnant woman was by drafting, printing, and distributing flyers, not to mention actually finding a worthy candidate. And Thiers knew there was a relatively simple answer to the problem that millions of mothers around the country must have been facing too: an online community that matches care-seekers with care-givers. The whole thing reminded her of Match.com, where she met the man that would eventually become her husband. “If people could use the Internet to find true love, why not use it to find a quality sitter?” Thiers asks. After a quick call to her father and a $120 loan to buy the domain name, www.SitterCity.com, No. 358 on the Inc. 500, was born. Read full story:

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The statistics surrounding the survival rate for small businesses have long been subject to fervid debate. Depending on who you’re talking to, the predicted life span for a startup can elicit grim to cautiously optimistic responses. One commonly cited figure is that half of all businesses go under in the first year while 95% fail within the first five years. According to a study done by the Small Business Administration, two-thirds of all new small business survive the first two years but only 44% will still be operating by year four.

Common culprits for failure include undercapitalization, cash-flow crises, and overexpansion. Then of course there are a host of external factors that nobody can predict—let alone adequately plan for—such as volatile credit markets and unstable economic cycles.

To gain insight into specific practices that enable small companies to keep going and growing even during difficult times, BusinessWeek profiled three entrepreneurs who have reached benchmarks in their companies’ life cycles: three years, five years, and 10 years. Their stories and strategies follow. Read more:

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CitySquares Online Inc. saw sales start to decline dramatically in late 2008 as some of the local-search-engine provider’s customers could no longer afford its advertising services.

So the small business turned to its board of six volunteer advisers-experts in areas such as sales, marketing, finance, entrepreneurship and venture capital-who suggested expanding the Web site beyond its northeast footprint.

CitySquares followed that advice and now has four national-advertising customers, up from zero a year ago. Last month, the search engine saw roughly two million unique visitors, compared with 500,000 in September 2008. “The advisory board helped us come up with a plan” and “ultimately arrive at safer shores,” says Ben Saren, co-founder of the Boston firm, which launched in 2005 and has 11 employees. Read more:

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move to Reno in 2002 provided Todd and Roberta Newman an opportunity to enjoy a different environment and to begin a new business venture.

For 23 years, Todd Newman was a stockbroker on the Options Floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange in San Francisco, and Roberta Newman sold medical malpractice insurance.

After looking into various business opportunities, the couple elected to start a carpet and upholstery cleaning business that relied on an environmentally-friendly product Todd Newman had learned about during his years on the stock exchange. After moving to Reno, friends encouraged him to pursue the opportunity.

Newman’s Natural Carpet & Upholstery Care was formed in 2004, and the process is unique in that there is very little water used during cleaning. The solution is 100 percent natural, soap- and detergent-free, odorless and contains no volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It is Indoor Air Quality approved. Read full story:

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When I moved to New York City from Calcutta, I wasn’t planning a catering career. I had come to earn a master’s degree in lighting design from Parsons the New School for Design. But as a foodie, I was dismayed by the city’s Indian eateries: The good ones were pricey, while the more affordable restaurants served two-day-old curries.

It didn’t take a genius to spot a market opportunity for good, low-priced Indian food. I focused on Indian-style sandwiches, which few restaurants were offering. After graduating, I took night classes in restaurant management. In late 2003 I partnered with a former classmate, Rupila Sethi, to open the Indian Bread Co., a cafe in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. We sold flat breads stuffed with fillings or rolled like wraps — an adaptation of traditional Indian street food.

Business was good from day one, and we soon began to provide catering services. In fact, we catered the Republican National Convention in 2004. But by the end of that year, Rupila wanted to move on to other projects, so I bought her out. Sales rose for the next several years, and I even started negotiations to franchise the cafe concept.

Then the recession hit. Business slowed, and the franchising deal fell through. In February 2009 cafe sales fell 25% to $9,689, from $12,873 a year before. But even though I was losing money, I refused to give up on a proven concept. Read full story:

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