Many of the most successful entrepreneurs in history started their business having nearly nothing, like Michael Dell, who started his computer company in his college dorm room or Lillian Vernon, who started her mail-order business when she was a housewife looking for extra income. These successful entrepreneurs did not start rich and successful. They ended rich and successful.
Belinda Guadarrame, for example, used to work at a small mail-order company in San Francisco. Once she came to the office and saw a note on the door that said that the company was officially closed. That was the turning point of her life, as she said: "I liked working in the computer field, so I could either start my own business doing that or look for a job in San Francisco. I decided to start my own company." The decision was made and in 1986 Belinda started a company by the name GC Micro and had only two employees. The primary area of activity of the company was value-added reselling of computer software. She was going to get a small bank loan of $5,000 but the bank officer almost laughed at her, she had to leave the bank without even filling in the loan application. It was completely financed by Belinda, who had to sell her house and money from the retirement plan and amounted to nearly $20,000. However, by the end of the first year, the business had revenue of $209,000.
Now, GC Micro stands as one of the leading software and hardware suppliers for defence and aerospace industries, she has 28 employees and a sales of $34 million last year.
The secret of her success lies in her dedication and passion to have own business: "Take all the money you have in the world and add to that whatever you can borrow from friends and family members work for 14 to 16 hour days, six to seven days a week, giving your customers the highest levels of service and attention. Treat everyone on your staff like business partners. And always keep a close eye on your accounts receivable, your accounts payable and your financial statements.
