Business From a Closet

Marilyn, together with her husband, runs a 12-employee firm, Atlantic Infrared Inc., from her bedroom's walk-in closet.

Every morning I wake up at 4:30, brush my teeth, and head to the office wearing pajamas. I don't travel far - my desk is in my bedroom's walk-in closet.

My husband, Tom, and I started our 12-employee firm, Atlantic Infra-red (atlanticinfra-red.com), in 2002 out of our home in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. We own five trucks equipped with infrared technology, which we use to restore asphalt surfaces, mostly on heavily traveled roads. Our revenues hit $1.2 million in 2006.

The construction business starts early in the morning - by 6:30 I'm on the phone talking to clients and directing employees in the field. I hold most meetings at the kitchen table, but if we need access to paperwork, we move upstairs to the closet. No one really likes being there. There's no air conditioning, and only one visitor at a time can fit, sitting on a kitchen stool. To limit clutter, I do almost everything on my laptop.

When employees first see my closet, they laugh. Since our trucks cost $100,000 each, they expect my office to be top of the line. They walk in and say, "Oh, my God. You really work here? There's no window!" But I don't care - it's cheap! Why waste money on office rental? Plus, I get to be home with my two young kids.

California Closet Company Inc. designed her closet office. From Fortune.

Elements of Sustainable Companies

By Sequioa Capital

Start-ups with these characteristics often foretell the success of a business and the likelihood of it becoming a sustainable, enduring company.

Clarity of Purpose
Summarize the company's business on the back of a business card.

Large Markets
Address existing markets poised for rapid growth or change. A market on the path to a $1B potential allows for error and time for real margins to develop.

Rich Customers
Target customers who will move fast and pay a premium for a unique offering.

Focus
Customers will only buy a simple product with a singular value proposition.

Pain Killers
Pick the one thing that is of burning importance to the customer then delight them with a compelling solution.

Think Differently
Constantly challenge conventional wisdom. Take the contrarian route. Create novel solutions. Outwit the competition.

Team DNA
A company’s DNA is set in the first 90 days. All team members are the smartest or most clever in their domain. "A" level founders attract an "A" level team.

Agility
Stealth and speed will usually help beat-out large companies.

Frugality
Focus spending on what's critical. Spend only on the priorities and maximize profitability.

Inferno
Start with only a little money. It forces discipline and focus. A huge market with customers yearning for a product developed by great engineers requires very little firepower.

Martha Stewart's Rules

From her book The Martha Rules

1. Build your business success around something that you love -- something that is inherently and endlessly interesting to you.
2. Focus your attention and creativity on basic things, things that people need and want. Then look for ways to enlarge, improve, and enhance your big idea.
3. Create a business plan that allows you to stay true to your big idea but helps you focus on the details. Then remain flexible enough to zoom in or out on the vital aspects of your enterprise as your business grows.
4. By sharing your knowledge about your product or service with your customers, you create a deep connection that will help you learn how best to build and manage your business.
5. Use smart, cost-effective promotional techniques that will arrest the eye, tug at the heart, and convey what is unique and special about your business or service.
6. Quality should be placed at the top of your list of priorities, and it should remain there. Quality is something you should strive for in every decision, every day.
7. Seek out and hire employees who are brimming with talent, energy, integrity, optimism, and generosity. Search for advisors and partners who complement your skills and understand your ideals.
8. When faced with a business challenge, evaluate or assess the situation, gather the good things in sight, abandon the bad, clear your mind, and move on. Focus on the positive. Stay in control, and never panic.
9. In business, there's a difference between a risk and a chance. A well-calculated risk may very well end up as an investment in your business. A careless chance can cause it to crumble. And when an opportunity presents itself, never assume it will be your last.
10. Listen intently, learn new things every day, be willing to innovate, and become an authority your customers will trust. As an entrepreneur, you will find great joy and satisfaction in making your customers' lives easier, more meaningful, and more beautiful.

Martha Stewart is the founder and president of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. In this link, Charlie Rose interviews her at different stages in her rising business empire.

Warren Buffet's Rules here. Enjoy.

If you want to be rich

First, stop being so frightened. That's the advise of Felix Dennis. "All you need is thick skin, cunning, and a work ethic."

"Just how quickly can I become rich?

I have known it done inside five years, but there are very few “short cuts”. Knowledge learnt the hard way combined with the avoidance of error, whenever and wherever possible, is the soundest basis for success in any endeavour.

The bottom line is that if I did it, you can do it. I got rich without the benefit of a college education or a penny of capital but making many errors along the way. I went from being a pauper — a hippie dropout on the dole, living in a crummy room without the proverbial pot to piss in, without even the money to pay the rent, without a clue as to what to do next — to being rich. And I am certainly no business genius, as my rivals will happily and swiftly confirm.

Yet the odd thing is, I’ve ended up far richer than most of my rivals."

More from The Sunday Times.