As the new semester begins we have been asked to keep a blog post of the things we are learning in BUS 110 Introduction to Entrepreneurship. Owning a business has always interested me. I have done such things as multilevel marketing with scrapbooking companies, makeup companies and essential oils. 

Photography has always interested me and in 2004 I started Memories by Melissa Photography. I photographed everything from families to weddings to dance schools and even had several contracts for local school districts to do all of their photography. In 2017 I decided to end doing photography full time, there were several factors that came into play in my reasons to stop but the biggest one was the saturation of the market with amateur photographers. I wasn't willing to lower my prices and I couldn't compete with the cheap photographers. I had worked hard at my craft to give my very best work to my customers and had studied for years on the proper techniques to create artwork. I still take photograph a few family and friends and I have kept a couple of dance schools as well, but my life as a full time paid photographer are over. 

I currently work for a small business in my area and have been brainstorming ideas on businesses I could start. I hope, in this class, to narrow down my interests and find something that I can start with my husband. 

In 2020 we sold our home we raised our children in and then the market skyrocketed and we couldn't find a house in our price range. We searched for over a year while the 4 of us lived in a one bedroom apartment that my parents owned. Our dreams of a 3-4 bedroom ranch on a couple of acres of property were dashed quickly and we started looking at anything we could make an offer on. We ended up buying a duplex and love being landlords. We are looking at expanding our real estate portfolio to give us passive income when we retire.  

We recently explored the opportunity to purchase an established dry cleaner/coin operated laundromat, we were unsuccess in that process but learned a lot about what needed to be done to purchase a large business like that.

I also, recently started making cold process soap and have started selling them in some local shops. I don’t really that that it will be a full time business for me but it is a little extra cash and gives me a creative outlet.