Entrepreneur Aims For $1 Million

Orlando Sentinel:

Claire Evans is the kind of woman who will go skydiving or rappelling — or even move to a new country on a lark. Born in Zimbabwe and schooled in South Africa, Evans likes adventure and isn’t afraid of taking a risk.

The enthusiasm, energy and can-do attitude that propels the 40-year-old entrepreneur out of planes and down mountainsides — and landed her in Florida in 1999 — also has helped her grow her Winter Garden startup to $780,000 in annual revenue in just five years.

Now, thanks to a nationwide program that helps successful, woman-owned businesses ramp up their growth, Evans is poised to take her company, amaZulu Inc., past the hard-to-reach $1 million mark this year.

Evans — who supplies thatch, bamboo and other tropical architectural materials to theme parks, zoos and restaurants — was one of eight women entrepreneurs chosen at a recent competition in Boston to get help from the Make Mine a $Million Business Program.

When amaZulu was new, Evans said, she got invaluable advice from other entrepreneurs by joining the Orlando chapter of the eWomenNetwork.

Talking with other entrepreneurs helped her navigate the sometimes-rough waters of starting a business, she said. Now she will get advice from women in the big leagues.

“I’m with this group of women who have been there, done that at a higher level,” she said. “They’re reaching down and saying, ‘Come on. We’ll help you. What do you need to know?’ ”

Photo by Julie Fletcher.

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