An Inside Look at an Entrepreneur (70 E-Stories)

The Entrepreneur Story (E-Story) will help you cross the divide from being someone with a great idea, to being someone who started their own business.

Take a crash course in the realities of being an entrepreneur.

* Read stories from more than 70 current business owners.

* 7 brainstorming worksheets to get you started.

* Including a resource guide on biz plans, funding, and more.

* Biz info, advice, and tips.

In 1991, I had my only child, Yasmen, and wanted to supplement my income without taking on a second job.

I enrolled in college and began a typing service using a word-processor bought for me as a gift. 90% of my clients were fellow classmates. I generated approximately $200 in additional income monthly.

In 1995, I decided to become self-employed after an unhappy ex-perience which brought me to a realistic outlook of my future in-come potential in the job market.

With a college degree in hand (paralegal), but facing a starting sal-ary of $25,000 a year, I decided to continue with what I knew - processing information.

I began subcontracting myself out as a 1099 employee to compa-nies like Cigna and UPS while continuing the typing service which transformed into YS Auxiliary Service, after I signed a teaming agreement with a local data processing firm to handle overflow projects. Most of the projects were simple data entry assignments.

In 1997, I had gained enough knowledge to start competing for local gov-ernment bids and landed a contract with the Philadelphia School District worth $50,000.

I obtained a business license and added two other teaming agreements to the company's client list. Now that the company was official, we launched our first web site (ysdata.com), moved into our first office building, and hired employees.

I also took out a $10,000 dollar loan to bridge my finances. Once payment was received from the School District, I paid the loan off.

In 2002, the company landed another contract worth over $1 mil-lion, processing information for a Chicago-based company.

Now that the company was accepting national clients, our market-ing and advertising shifted to outsourcing solutions.

We expanded our service line to included scanning, database crea-tion, data entry, transcription, archiving, medical billing and In-ternet information processing solutions.

Currently in 2007 and entering our 10th year, we are expanding again. We are currently seeking to acquire another company that offers complimentary services. We have several options and are serious reviewing them all.

YS Auxiliary Service ysdata.com has been profitable since its in-ception. We continued to do business with the Philadelphia School District (10 years), the Chicago based firm (5 years), and some of our very first clients.

The one piece of advice I can give is DETERMINATION.

There have been many ups and downs, in which I could have given up, but my determination and pride would not allow me and I'm thankful for that. I would have not seen this day if I had.