Home Business Success

Sharon Abendschoen of York Marketing, Ltd.

[ Home business success came naturally to Sharon Abendschoen who was already doing $225K in sales working for someone else. She transformed a difficult work arrangement into a successful home business. ]

First of all, I'd like to say how "in awe" I am of the many young WAHM's I have met in the past few months who are able to juggle running and "growing" their home-based businesses while caring for and enjoying their young children. I have told my husband many times, I don't see how they do it!!

Now...on to my own "story". My main homebiz is called "York Marketing Ltd." and involves the sale of maintenance supplies to industry, fleet repair centers, hospitals, universities, hotels, etc.

York Marketing's genesis in May of '93 came about because the company I was working for at the time (which is now defunct) as a field sales representative (working from my home--surprise, surprise!!) was merging with a sister company and no longer wanted to handle the "special" item orders they had in the past.

I had been doing about $20K/year in such items and when I went to my sales manager complaining about having to turn away these sales, he instructed me to "sell the stuff yourself"!!!

Well...I took him at his word--and "voila" York Marketing Ltd. was born. I should explain that I continued to work for this company for another 6 years (through 2 ownership changes and MANY management changes) while also selling to the same clients through "York Marketing Ltd".

Since I was given the "go ahead" by my sales manager, I felt there was no problem in doing this and my clients certainly appreciated it.

When we moved to Palm Springs, CA in April of '99 (to ostensibly be close to my son and his wife and their future child--my 1st grandbaby!) I continued to sell for the company by flying back and forth between CA and PA for 3 months (very exhausting, but absolutely necessary, because the company had no territory for me in CA and I would have to start from "scratch" again--which, at 53, I could not face).

When the company discovered what I had done, they terminated me (after 16 years of employment). I was devastated at first, but the concern and support of about 20 of my 100 clients really "inspired" me to find a way to supply ALL of their supply needs and not just those few, "special" items.

I bought a credit card terminal and opened a merchant account (because 2 of my clients--the largest ones--only purchase using the commercial credit card system) and lined up some new vendors whose full-line product offering was essential to York Marketing's ability to meet our clients' requirements.

Thus....a "lemon" situation in life caused me to figure a way to make some "lemonade"!!!

I started calling my clients weekly on the phone and they FAX'ed or called in their orders to me. I purchased the material, had it "drop shipped" for the most part directly to the client's facility, and we all were fairly pleased with the "arrangement".

However, after doing this for almost a year, I began to feel my clients missed that "personal" touch of having me call on them on a regular basis (which I really could not afford to do with only 20 clients).

In addition, the relationship between my daughter-in-law and myself had deteriorated to the point where our presence in California, USA did not make much sense (even though I was torn about leaving my little granddaughter behind).

We sold our place in Palm Springs and bought a townhome in our old hometown of York, Pennsylvania (via the Internet--another "interesting" story).

Since moving back to York, PA my York Marketing business has been growing (ever so slowly, due to the stagnant economy). I am projecting a 10% growth over 2000, which is not acceptable to me, but is somewhat heartening given present business conditions.

I would like to address one of the key areas outlined by the HomeBizWomen creator--namely what personal qualities helped me to "stick with it".

Well...honestly...if I didn't want to go back to being an administrator, which at the age of 54 is what most employers would consider me appropriate for, I just HAD to make a success of my own business.

I'm of the opinion that "pleasing, prayerful, persistance "pays". That is my motto for my own business success--I've seen it work for me and am pretty certain it would work for anyone else too.

One more thing--I believe it is paramount you have your own "office", be it a loft, a remodeled bedroom or even part of the garage. You have to be able to "cordon off" your work area so that the children (and hubby too) know when you are in that "area"--you're "off limits" unless it's an emergency.

Clients really do not want to hear your children playing in the background when they call you on the phone--it adversely affects your credibility as a "serious" businessperson.

Hope this has been helpful to all of you wonderful homebizwomen--I salute you!