The threat of job loss has a lot of people considering their options. One alternative is to start your own business, but are you cut out to be can entrepreneur?
Audra George has entrepreneur skills. She took her passion for cooking rum cakes and turned it into a business.
“I decided to give it (rum cakes) to some friends and co-workers, and then all of a sudden, everyone started to ask me to make it for them. And it just kind of grew from there,” George said.
About a year and a half ago, George took a rum cake to A Southern Season, a landmark gourmet market at 201 S. Estes Drive in Chapel Hill. They wanted to start selling her cakes and other creations as soon as possible.
“I was in shock, but I was amazed and surprised and elated all at the same time,” George said.
However, then she had to figure out labeling, packaging and how to get all those cakes made. George said she knew she needed guidance and asked Fred Gebarowski, director of entrepreneurship at Wake Technical Community College, for help.
Also, many successful small business owners say they have never worked as hard as they did to get their businesses going. So don’t start a business thinking it will be easier, Gebarowski said.
Photo by robchivers.