What an inspirational story, Melissa! I totally relate to the "square peg round hole" thing, not getting along with authority, and working at a bank and having it not be a good situation. I've been cleaning on my own for 7 years and am just at the baby stages of expanding and getting ready to hire. I feel like I just got an awesome pep talk! I'll be sure to "trudge the Road of Happy Destiny" ;)
Thank you for sharing your story! You are a total inspiration! I am working a 9-5 job and building my online business at night after my girls go to bed - I wish I would have started sooner!
Thank you for doing this video. I just wanted to let you know that you inspired me (after viewing this video about a year and a half ago) to quit a job I was terribly unhappy at. I went back to school to do cosmotology and am now self employed! I'm about to start advertising on our local radio station. So I just wanted to reach out and say thanks for being so inspiring!
Very Cool! Thankyou for sharing your story! Came across your video on how to clean a stainless steel refrigerator and stumbled upon this channel! Wanting to be better at cleaning my own home and now enjoyed your story very much! Blessings!
I'm glad I found this video. You've responded to my posts in the past - I just want to say thank you. I have my own cleaning business in Ottawa, and you're certainly an inspiration. I hope I can be like you some day. I've been doing this for less than a year now, and it's hard work - I'd really like to hear more about how you went about your business and what kinds of customers you had/how fast your company grew, if you're willing to share. Thanks again!
Hi Hakan, thank you so much. I know a few people that started while they were in school...even on a small scale, like preparing a business plan and making connections. The money is a challenge, so perhaps plan to save when school is finished. A mentor is exactly what you think it is, someone who is older and more experienced that can help you along the way, like a teacher.
this is one of your best vids. Your technical vids about cleaning are great but this one definitely makes one think about where one is in life and what they are doing.
Hi Melissa, I have recently come across your channel CMS. Found it, Loved it, Subscribed it. Now I am addicted to your cleaning videos which inspired me to decluter my home. You are truly an inspiration. God bless u
Melissa, I've watched your CMS channel for some time now &love them. Didn't realize/remember you had this other channel. Really enjoyed hearing how you got started. Would love to see more entrepreneur advice videos. I wonder, what made you decide to do a RUclips channel? Thanks again for the great material you share.
im in the midst of starting up my own online business and it's very inspiring to hear your story. Im in a very similar boat as you, wanting a career change in life at the age of 26..and I'm finally doing it now at the age of 28..hoping that it all works out! thank you for sharing your story!
Hey Melissa! Thanks for sharing your story, and for posting all of your videos. I've been using a LOT of your tips ... in fact, just finished cleaning my shower head. Fantastic! Thanks again!
This video has made me want to push myself to be an entrepreneur as well. I have been out of school for a while and the job market has not been promising. I have learned that I am a perfectionist and think too much for my field. So I believe instead of dumbing myself down I should start a business that meets my standards. I have been scared but since I too don't have kids or mortgage I believe now is as good a time as any. I'm scared of how to start and just hoping I can pay my bills and eat while I do this. I know you're busy and probably won't get to read this but I wanted to thank you. If I do get to make something of myself I will totally shout out that you were the inspiration!!
Me and my mom love your videos and advice. Coming from just North of Toronto as well, puts you very similar to myself so I feel as if I can relate to you( seeing you shopping at No Frills in your video for new grads just was awesome !) my dad is an entrepreneur so I grew up with it. Good luck with all your future videos and thanks from a 16 year old and her mom. PS I also loved you on slice on the tv show princess.
I love your story =) I just turned 21 and am an entrepreneur as well. It's hard when people don't believe in you, but if you know what you're doing is right for you & don't give up it's easier to deal with the negativity. PS- I enjoy cleaning think it's awesome you have a cleaning business!
Good stuff, don't give up that dream. Not every business requires a ton of capital, many start with bootstrapping and that actually helps manage spending down the line.
I didn't know you had another channel! Awesome!! I have a dream to open my own little old fashioned soda fountain so look forward to watching this vid!
Ahh awesome! I'm feeling pretty inspired now :) I'm scared of doing my own thing, and not a lot of people think my idea is good but I truly believe in what it is I want to do, it's just scary.....and I don't have the money. It feels like a lot to del with BUT nothing excites me as much as my vision, and when I think about it I come alive :)
Thank you! Business plans are important for sure. Not that they are perfect, but they are at least a starting point and give you some sense of where to go. However, it's a scary thing for many people, and employment is a better option if that's the case. I could never work in the medical field, I know it's not for me. So, it's good that you know yourself that way!
I just finished school and am trying to start my own nutrition consulting business and am not even really sure where to start and am feeling a little stuck right now. Thank you so much for this video! I'd love to know more about where/how you started!
mentors are also important because being an entrepreneur can be lonely - most people are employees and dont understand the roller coaster you ride. other entrepreneurs (peers with shared experience) are also super busy at the startup and growth phases - who has time? both the highs and the lows can be isolating. Of course, that all goes away with experience. But for the first rodeo, a mentor might be the only person who gets you, and thats golden.
you are very inspirational, I work as housekeeper and I always want to be the boss, but this job most ppl around me see it as a low kind type of work and they make me feel the same, I tried to go school and couldn't afford it , I got a job at edible arrangements and learned a lot and I loved it, but the payment was bad and I was doing a lot. I just started my own company doing the fruit covered in chocolate and is hard for me bc I don't know a lot ppl who I can get help to grow or advice me I do everything at home , the few orders I sold just covered the money I invested. I need help and advise. I love what I do . thank you for sharing this!
Well, you can only concern yourself with what YOU think. Family support is crucial, but starting a business requires a ton of self-reliance and inner strength. I say if you are passionate about it and focus on that, your actions can eventually influence theirs. You can't change their minds, only yours.
The thing that is keeping me from starting my own business - apart from money - is the negative self-talk and that I am not the tough/shark type of person most entrepreneurs seem to be, you know, the ones that always have a card up their sleeve and that care more about their money and business than people. Sorry for sounding stereotypical and prejudicial. How can you be a business person and social/caring at the same time? And I think you have solved one of my biggest problems with saying "my accountant", i.e. I always worried that I would have to do all the accounting myself unaidedly which is not my stronghold at all. So you actually can be an entrepreneur and get help with the accounting.
Thank you Melissa for making this video it open my mind up to the opportunity. That i always have a thought of .which never work out. Let me say that i am in your shoes.Afraid on how to start.hope this would be the beginning. I am 24 years old
I never was much of a child entrepreneurial, but I'm always thinking of ideas to make life easier and win wins. I shared with you in another comment that my idea was poo-pooed only to get stolen. I laugh at it now but at the time in the early 90's it was another tale. I was a young and naive art routing clerk that was sick of making tons of copies, running reports and wasting paper. I thought why not have the art routing system go on this new thing called an internetwork (aka internet)? I eagerly ran to my boss with this idea. The rest is history and huge life lesson learned. I'm a homeschooler and I struggle with organization and keeping my brain straight. I have an idea to keep my day to day straight because I can't find it anywhere. This sounds like an opportunity! Thanks for your encouragement and advice.
And I was just thinking that exact thing you said about knowing everything there is to know about the business from the ground up and telling my husband that I should research on my spare time everything there to know about hair.
I like your story very much. I'm 22 and I still go to university, but when I finish I would like to start my own business ant to be an enterpreneur. I think people's main problem is how to get basic capital to start something. And, an idea is a problem too. It is hard to start something that nobody has started. I have some ideas, but we will see what will happen. Great video, greetings from Europe :)
I love this video. Hearing that you didn't even like cleaning and weren't good at it when you saw the need for it is a huge inspiration. I have an idea that would fill a need but I'm not sure if it is something that I will like doing. What is stopping me? I do have a family and children. I am staying home with my two boys right now. My youngest is entering Kindergarten this fall so I am on the cusp of having more time. My little one does have special needs and the transition to full time school may be rocky and I do want to stay available to help him with the process (being in the class room or meetings with his teachers). So time is a big factor in what is holding me back. The thought of dedicating precious time to something that may not have a financial pay off for years is daunting. I do have a financial responsibility to my family. If it isn't earning money it is my time and all the things I can do to save money with that time. Child care in the summer would be a big burden if I wasn't earning. We have some big financial goals a head of us so I feel the need to proceed with caution. Thanks for sharing your story I know I'll keep it in mind and I figure out the steps ahead of me.
Hi Melissa! I'm SO glad u made this video, I was wondering how u got around to starting your business. Thanks! I laughed so loud when u said u used to play shop with your stuffed animals!!! because I used to do the same, except that I had a pretend restaurant. I also would hold art exhibitions for my parents when I was 8 and have them buy my stupid art. Lol! I KNOW I want to have my own business someday, I have so many ideas, but I am bad at implementing and I don't know how to actually start!!
Yes ROFL I used to play school and mall with my stuffed toys and dolls, yep I did. In 7-9 grade I sold mixed music tapes at school. I would love to work for myself, I honestly have no idea what I'm good at which is a crying shame. I'm way older than you Melissa Maker just realizing hey I need to make a switch here, this can't continue. I work for a paycheck, no fun, it's dull, doesn't move my soul its just a job and lousy one at that much stress and poor pay. I went to college got my degree and I worked in my field for many years then I stopped I actually never wanted to do it. I feel like I'm at square one starting all over in my very late 30's (yikes). I don't have a head for business I don't have a clue about it.You found your niche! One good thing I'm taking pride in my home and cleaning it. That is something I never did before your videos. You've really helped me♥ :)
Loved loved LOVED this video Melissa!!! Thank you for posting this!! I am definitely an entrepreneur at heart as well. I work a job right now also, but with hours that are flexible enough for me to run my business during the day. I'm just starting out and I'm so excited (and a little nervous) but ready to work!! You have inspired me all the more and hearing your story really helps me. This video had perfect timing!! Thanks again and congratulations!! (^_^)
I noticed you posted a video on simple things you need to clean your house. Such as alcohol, vinegar, baking soda, and dish soap. My cleaner uses some cleaning products from the supermarket which have harsh ingredients. I was just wondering when your cleaners provide cleaning products- which products do they bring?
This video really helped me. I just started an organic cleaning company but I am having a hard time finding contracts. Maybe I am expecting too much to soon but please let me know how that went for you it would help me out so much thanks.
Hi Melissa! I've always wanted to have my own business... What I lack is finding the perfect business for me and gaining the information and technical aspects to pursue it... I've had many ideas but not sure how to grab on and know where to go from there
Thanks for sharing! I'm 16 and started my own little boutique called Forever Young: Tutu Shoppe in 7th or 8th grade but had to stop it last year because I didn't have a job to get money from and stuff in order to keep it going. I walked door to door selling hairbows, jewelry, tutus, and many more little girls boutique things like baby onesies with iron-ons and frills that I made from home. I got about 102 likes on Facebook but was unable to sell online because my dad wouldn't make me an Etsy.
I do desire to be an Entrepreneur but what blocks me is "positive criticism" from those around me. I really don't see how positive can be in such a negative word. I have been talked out of so many things due to these chats that I have actually made myself so far out of shape I couldn't even begin to start to do anything physical. I am not flexible at all I am what people would call a couch potato, or just lazy. But everything I have set out to do or did has always reaped this positive criticism of the outcome or the consideration of doing whatever it is that I just vowed never to do it ever again and didn't... I am very influential and thrive on outside feedback or cower in most cases. My aunt pointed out that I ask people how to do things before I do things because I don't like to be the one to blame when these critics come to me and say I did things the wrong way I can just direct them to the person who told me to do it that way and disown the wrong way of doing whatever it is I am doing wrong. Which makes sense, and helps ease the throwing my hands up in the air and walking away never to try that again attitude. I have ADD (dropped the H in ADHD when I got older thankfully) So I have this OCD like behavior which Doctor told me its not OCD but rather Impulses...once I get started on something I have a hard time stopping until its perfect or a certain way I envision it to be...IE would be when I set out to clean my kids room back in the day when it was my responsibility and not theirs I found myself organizing things by color or size or type (legos) and just really took hours I didn't need to take on such a outrageous task that was so unnecessary. Which is why I am so thankful to have found your channel (the cleaning channel) Because it helps me to realize those extra steps I was doing were not necessary at all and this is all I need to actually do (what you show to do and how) and that is perfectly clean and a done deal and nothing more needs done than that. So thank you for that. I had a cleaning job via a neighbor of mine who has health issues (balance issue can't clean her house on her own, uses a walker)...I enjoyed cleaning for her because the lack of clutter in her home I just had to do deep cleaning and not wonder where to put things and do the clutter shuffle (as I call it) Which is what I do at my home because there is just too much stuff and no place to put it...(moving from a 2,500 sq ft home to a 1,000 sq ft home will do that) We have gotten rid of a lot but have also accumulated more over the last three years to replace the lost stash of clutter...(hoarding tendencies here too I have a blog on how to be an executive hoarder which shares in the oldest posts the mind set that leads to purchases and the inability to get rid of things) Anyway, I have several blogs matter fact...probably too many...but still trying to figure out what I want to do with those and which ones to get rid of and which ones to keep working at. I also do youtube videos. I am in the market for a new laptop and actually trying to find a video editing software that I can use to make my videos better, as well as quickly uploading them to youtube vs. just using my iphone which can take over an hour with some videos as I do tend to make them long (where the editing software would come in and clip away stuff I don't need in it) Anyway. back to the cleaning job, I ended up having some health problems that the doctor still don't know the cause (my legs hurt and cramp bad, so bad I was on heavy duty pain meds) Anyway these meds wouldn't allow me to drive and the pain wouldn't allow me to be able to clean, so I had to step down and hand off the torch to a friend of mines son and daughter who could do it quicker than I could because they don't have the health issues I have. PLUS I found out I was pregnant and had to get off the pain meds quickly and succeeded but the pain is full force and I have limited things I can take for it while pregnant...so I just deal. But anyway sorry I kind of went off here...I swear there is a point. I enjoyed cleaning, and actually recall doing a cleaning job for a family once, of course that didn't work out because back then I didn't know how to clean, I still kinda do but don't but your videos I am slowly getting through them and verifying the right ways to do things and get rid of the OCD like impulses that are not necessary...and yeah I am getting better at it...once I get back into shape and after the baby gets here in April...I hope to be able to either get my old job back, or find other people I can clean for. But make a business out of it? I really don't know the first thing about that much less how much to charge I usually just take what I can get...3 bed room one back house that I cleaned a lady's house no basement just a two car garage I swept sometimes and got rid of spiderwebs...she paid a hundred once a month and I cleaned once a month for her and always felt like I was over charging her...it really wasn't that hard of a job wood floors and kitchen peel and stick flooring and tiles in the bathroom...ya know just sweep and mop dust and change bedding, clean toilet, sinks, and shower/tub...yeah pretty easy basic clean...anyways...I really don't know how to price things, I crochet too don't have any idea how much to charge for my stuff I make but people always want me to make them things and they will pay me...and I am like IDK what to charge...I guess I don't know my worth... How do you know the worth of your services? I am also a landlord I have two rental properties with a total of three rental places (apartment above a garage at one of the houses) and I clearly don't know what I am doing far as how much finances to require from the renters to make any money at the end of the month. I am making the house payment and that is about it and things keep breaking and yeah I am actually losing money when repairs come up...I honestly make 10 buck a month off my properties. I wonder if there is any courses on how to be a landlord and be successful at it...I almost am ready to hand over my properties to a property management team and let them do the repairs, the back ground checks, the everything. and hopefully at the end of every month I make something more than ten bucks...but I just can't do that to my renters...I know the company would raise the rent...and they are friends and barely making it...of course renting to friends is no doubt the wrong thing to do...but we tried strangers too...and renters IMHO have no respect for your property and when they damage the property it feels like a personal attack on you...and your niceness you displayed to them...and how ungrateful they must be to do such damage to your property...and yeah this is not a business like mind set....trying to separate feelings and yeah its hard...anyway...sorry I kind of went off here...but I have a few things I have going...ya know landlord business, crochet potential, and desire to do cleaning work some day, but the worth I am unsure of...I wish I knew how to value worth. How do you go about valuing it? I feel I low ball it but so many people say you are charging too little and others are outraged that I would charge such high figures...so those people I usually say well you don't appreciate the many hours I put into it...whatever it is...anyways...sorry I will stop now...thanks for your video I look forward in more videos like this...Many Blessings to you.
Thanks! Who doesn't love those stuffed animals. I think mine are somewhere in storage in a plastic bag (not nice, I know). What do you do for a living?
I will cover that in future videos, promise. Remember, you don't need to be a full-blown business on day 1. Aim to start as self-employed and go from there!
Thanks for your comment, Hayley, I will certainly check out your page! It's great that you are starting young and learning your way around business. Just keep an open mind and learn learn learn! You are so young! Regarding friends, they have their own interests, so perhaps do the work yourself and eventually you can sub out the work to people who actually want it (however, they likely won't do it for free, only the entrepreneur does that). For RUclips, I just edit these with iMovie.
Hello I love your channel and yes I would so love to start my own company. I have from day one Loved caring for others, And I love Ederly. So I would love to start a home care service but I have no clue where to start. I just know I work for a company now and some day would love to have my own.
Good stuff - I have to get back to filming more videos on this topic! There is a lot to go through. The hardest part of our business is the staff...so focus on training :)
Wonderful video, love it. As well as the regular cleaning videos. If I may thouh, it might be just me, but the background music (in all the videos) is really distracting. Maybe.. lower the volume?
I thought you were a investigated reporter such person and doing these vlogs on the side....shows how good of judge of character I am! Interesting story =)
I love this video and your story. I'm about to begin my own Entrepreneurial Story, the only thing that stops me right now is that I'm studying and I can't spare the money.. Question: What do you mean by a "mentor"? Someone with experience being an entrepreneur? Thanks for your advices!
I remember when I was a little girl (6, 7 years old), I played pretend with myself as a shop assistant / a phone operator (yes, those ladies who connect incoming calls to the extension) / a factory operator. I started a typing company when our youngest was still young, I posted ad. on local newspaper and I handed out leaflets to local businesses - I only had 2 customers, whom eventually discontinued my services because they moved away. I didn't have mentor back then. Then I started something after I joined a healthy diet related organisation (actually I tried with 2 different organisations in different periods), I had very limited customers and finally they discontinued because of different reasons, so without customers, I couldn't afford the on going expenses and had to stop. I had separate mentors during those different periods, however, both stationed overseas, so it was very difficult to discuss matters with them. In the past year, I started to sell things in eBay, but it's been slowed down because I spent too long to prefect each of my eBay page that the "profit" didn't cover the time I had spent :-( You are correct, mentor is very important and I can truly tell you, I didn't have good mentors. So since the ceasing of my typing company, I returned to work in an 9-5 office work. Maybe I'm not the right material as entrepreneurial :-o
im so glad you made this video i been wondering how you became a entrepreneur (such a weird word to spell) but anyway i kinda have a business thru a company...like work for yourself but not by yourself..so i have the help i need.but since my family is very un-supportive i look for clients in a luke warm market...and i have a hard time only because im always worried of what ppl will think, like becoming the girl everyone runs from. any advice on not caring what they think?
i want to be an interior designer, but have 2 small children and about to gain a mortgage, i work full time in childcare and i'm terrified to make the leap incase my family and finances suffer for it :/
Hi Melissa, Yes, I want to be an entrepreneur. I want to open up an Internet Cafe & business center one day soon. The only thing that is holding me back from starting is because of financial reasons.
I'm just like you. I have a problem with authority.. I know that I need to be my own boss but I'm 18 and i have zero clue in what I could start in or how I would even start. I live in a small town so I feel like there are less opportunities as well. :\ you're really lucky you had a mentor as well ! I don't know anyone who is an entrepreneur
If you go on google plus and join a group with entrepreneurs then you can glean what they have to offer and build friendships with them that way. Entrepreneurship is about finding a gap and filling it. Look out for themes where you repeatedly hear people having a point of pain, such as an apartment that is always messy which they find embarrassing and see how you could fill that. Also try LinkedIn, they have articles and professionals in a variety of fields there too. Melissa didn't have any special skills in cleaning when she started, she learned what she needed to and took advice from someone who knew what they were talking about. Also, having a job for a while, if even for a short while can teach you about yourself and you may learn about the business there too. I hope all is well with you.
My husband and I have an idea to put aside some money for each of our children to have the experience of starting a business while in late high school. Doesn't matter if it fails or succeeds; we think they would each learn a lot.
Melissa I have been in the window cleaning business for about 35 years now doing power washing in Westchester county n.y it like you said good but there is high and lowes at times it's all good hope you read my review
Thank you so much, I am glad it helped you! That's great that you have flexibility, it will certainly help. Just keep at it, slowly but surely you'll get there!
Oh my god. I would set up a store in my bedroom and make my brother go shopping at around the same age you did. Hahaha! i would make "beep beep" scanning noises :)I also imagined having my own office :)))
Great video. I gave it a try once but I had such a non-existent business plan and weak business skills that I gave it up after a year with no profits. I guess I am more geared to employment than entrepeneurship.
I want to be my own boss and run a company as well but just don't know what kind to start. I plan on going to a program to learn ways of owning and operating a company in fall.
Oh my God I like this video a lot! I have actually though of starting a simple thing like selling homemade deep hair conditioning products for women with curly hair. One problem my hair isn't looking that great. I know of a homemade deep hair conditioning hair recipe that I want to try every week for a couple months or just long enough until I get compliments. Then I could toss them a very small sample with my contact info on it and I can sale them big jars of it.... Just a thought.
My question is, how did you make a living from waitressing? How can one afford life expenses with such jobs? I wonder that all the time, because although I have a job at a really good institution, I don't get paid that much and struggle a lot, so it makes me wonder how people who have less than me are doing it. Also, how were you able to trust that you would eventually be able to pull yourself out of other common jobs (waitressing) and start a business? It must have taken a lot to not take all those other jobs your friends were getting, drop from the bank, then go back around to waitressing. How did you have the knowledge or confidence that things would work out? I am currently trying to understand what to do with my life. I really don't know what to do, I just know that they likely won't keep me at my current job forever, and even if they do, it's not enough to make a comfortable living. But I feel hopeless and lost.
I would love to have my own professional organizing business, but with 2 kids, a mortgage and a debt load, it's impossible to walk away from a full-time desk job, even though the job in question leaves me feeling drained and empty at the end of each day.
i want to start a cleaning/organizing/couponing business lol! my mom started her own cleaning business and is not doing so good. she got bonded and everything. i only make under $500 a month and i have 3 kids. what is your advice for starting a business especially in a small town where there is more than 1 business?
![[Success Story] How Stephanie Became Her Own Boss!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VR72Ey6yJik/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Success Story] How Stephanie Became Her Own Boss!](/img/tr.png)
What an inspirational story, Melissa! I totally relate to the "square peg round hole" thing, not getting along with authority, and working at a bank and having it not be a good situation. I've been cleaning on my own for 7 years and am just at the baby stages of expanding and getting ready to hire. I feel like I just got an awesome pep talk! I'll be sure to "trudge the Road of Happy Destiny" ;)
Thank you for sharing your story! You are a total inspiration! I am working a 9-5 job and building my online business at night after my girls go to bed - I wish I would have started sooner!
You are most welcome - I am going to try uploading more about this topic soon. Keep up the great work!
"you have to know your business from the ground up. " favorite statement made.
Thank you for doing this video. I just wanted to let you know that you inspired me (after viewing this video about a year and a half ago) to quit a job I was terribly unhappy at. I went back to school to do cosmotology and am now self employed! I'm about to start advertising on our local radio station. So I just wanted to reach out and say thanks for being so inspiring!
Very Cool! Thankyou for sharing your story! Came across your video on how to clean a stainless steel refrigerator and stumbled upon this channel! Wanting to be better at cleaning my own home and now enjoyed your story very much! Blessings!
I'm glad I found this video. You've responded to my posts in the past - I just want to say thank you. I have my own cleaning business in Ottawa, and you're certainly an inspiration. I hope I can be like you some day. I've been doing this for less than a year now, and it's hard work - I'd really like to hear more about how you went about your business and what kinds of customers you had/how fast your company grew, if you're willing to share. Thanks again!
Hi Hakan, thank you so much. I know a few people that started while they were in school...even on a small scale, like preparing a business plan and making connections. The money is a challenge, so perhaps plan to save when school is finished. A mentor is exactly what you think it is, someone who is older and more experienced that can help you along the way, like a teacher.
Good for you, you keep up the great work. You are never too young or old to be an entrepreneur. Stay with it and believe in yourself!
this is one of your best vids. Your technical vids about cleaning are great but this one definitely makes one think about where one is in life and what they are doing.
Hi Melissa, I have recently come across your channel CMS. Found it, Loved it, Subscribed it. Now I am addicted to your cleaning videos which inspired me to decluter my home. You are truly an inspiration. God bless u
Melissa, I've watched your CMS channel for some time now &love them. Didn't realize/remember you had this other channel. Really enjoyed hearing how you got started. Would love to see more entrepreneur advice videos. I wonder, what made you decide to do a RUclips channel? Thanks again for the great material you share.
im in the midst of starting up my own online business and it's very inspiring to hear your story. Im in a very similar boat as you, wanting a career change in life at the age of 26..and I'm finally doing it now at the age of 28..hoping that it all works out! thank you for sharing your story!
Hey Melissa! Thanks for sharing your story, and for posting all of your videos. I've been using a LOT of your tips ... in fact, just finished cleaning my shower head. Fantastic! Thanks again!
Thanks, Ted! I am so thrilled that you love the videos and that they are helping you out around the house!
Loved this!!! Proof you can accomplish anything with hard work, perseverance, and faith.
Thank you so much for your video! That was very inspiring and encouraging! I'll look forward to more of your videos and learn more!
This video has made me want to push myself to be an entrepreneur as well. I have been out of school for a while and the job market has not been promising. I have learned that I am a perfectionist and think too much for my field. So I believe instead of dumbing myself down I should start a business that meets my standards. I have been scared but since I too don't have kids or mortgage I believe now is as good a time as any. I'm scared of how to start and just hoping I can pay my bills and eat while I do this. I know you're busy and probably won't get to read this but I wanted to thank you. If I do get to make something of myself I will totally shout out that you were the inspiration!!
Me and my mom love your videos and advice. Coming from just North of Toronto as well, puts you very similar to myself so I feel as if I can relate to you( seeing you shopping at No Frills in your video for new grads just was awesome !) my dad is an entrepreneur so I grew up with it. Good luck with all your future videos and thanks from a 16 year old and her mom. PS I also loved you on slice on the tv show princess.
I love your story =) I just turned 21 and am an entrepreneur as well. It's hard when people don't believe in you, but if you know what you're doing is right for you & don't give up it's easier to deal with the negativity. PS- I enjoy cleaning think it's awesome you have a cleaning business!
Good stuff, don't give up that dream. Not every business requires a ton of capital, many start with bootstrapping and that actually helps manage spending down the line.
I love this video I'm planing on doing my own business and I think what stops me is being scared , but thank you for your videos they help a lot ❤️
I didn't know you had another channel! Awesome!! I have a dream to open my own little old fashioned soda fountain so look forward to watching this vid!
Ahh awesome! I'm feeling pretty inspired now :) I'm scared of doing my own thing, and not a lot of people think my idea is good but I truly believe in what it is I want to do, it's just scary.....and I don't have the money. It feels like a lot to del with BUT nothing excites me as much as my vision, and when I think about it I come alive :)
Thank you for this. I keep coming to this video when I need inspiration to start up my own business. Love from Abu Dhabi :)
Thank you! Business plans are important for sure. Not that they are perfect, but they are at least a starting point and give you some sense of where to go. However, it's a scary thing for many people, and employment is a better option if that's the case. I could never work in the medical field, I know it's not for me. So, it's good that you know yourself that way!
I just finished school and am trying to start my own nutrition consulting business and am not even really sure where to start and am feeling a little stuck right now. Thank you so much for this video! I'd love to know more about where/how you started!
It's really great to hear this... even I am thinking of this for last 2 years... hope I will make it out
mentors are also important because being an entrepreneur can be lonely - most people are employees and dont understand the roller coaster you ride. other entrepreneurs (peers with shared experience) are also super busy at the startup and growth phases - who has time? both the highs and the lows can be isolating. Of course, that all goes away with experience. But for the first rodeo, a mentor might be the only person who gets you, and thats golden.
This video never gets old! I love it!
I am really looking forward to starting my own business. I am inspired by your videos. 😊
you are very inspirational, I work as housekeeper and I always want to be the boss, but this job most ppl around me see it as a low kind type of work and they make me feel the same, I tried to go school and couldn't afford it , I got a job at edible arrangements and learned a lot and I loved it, but the payment was bad and I was doing a lot. I just started my own company doing the fruit covered in chocolate and is hard for me bc I don't know a lot ppl who I can get help to grow or advice me I do everything at home , the few orders I sold just covered the money I invested. I need help and advise. I love what I do . thank you for sharing this!
Well, you can only concern yourself with what YOU think. Family support is crucial, but starting a business requires a ton of self-reliance and inner strength. I say if you are passionate about it and focus on that, your actions can eventually influence theirs. You can't change their minds, only yours.
I am confident that it will, and you are very inquisitive, Alex, so that will certainly help you. I ask questions every day.
The thing that is keeping me from starting my own business - apart from money - is the negative self-talk and that I am not the tough/shark type of person most entrepreneurs seem to be, you know, the ones that always have a card up their sleeve and that care more about their money and business than people. Sorry for sounding stereotypical and prejudicial. How can you be a business person and social/caring at the same time?
And I think you have solved one of my biggest problems with saying "my accountant", i.e. I always worried that I would have to do all the accounting myself unaidedly which is not my stronghold at all. So you actually can be an entrepreneur and get help with the accounting.
This, so many times this. Thanks for putting it into words.
You are inspirational. I'm so nervous about starting a business . I want to have one in the near future. I just don't know where to start
Thank you Melissa for making this video it open my mind up to the opportunity. That i always have a thought of .which never work out. Let me say that i am in your shoes.Afraid on how to start.hope this would be the beginning. I am 24 years old
I never was much of a child entrepreneurial, but I'm always thinking of ideas to make life easier and win wins. I shared with you in another comment that my idea was poo-pooed only to get stolen.
I laugh at it now but at the time in the early 90's it was another tale. I was a young and naive art routing clerk that was sick of making tons of copies, running reports and wasting paper. I thought why not have the art routing system go on this new thing called an internetwork (aka internet)? I eagerly ran to my boss with this idea. The rest is history and huge life lesson learned.
I'm a homeschooler and I struggle with organization and keeping my brain straight. I have an idea to keep my day to day straight because I can't find it anywhere. This sounds like an opportunity! Thanks for your encouragement and advice.
And I was just thinking that exact thing you said about knowing everything there is to know about the business from the ground up and telling my husband that I should research on my spare time everything there to know about hair.
I like your story very much. I'm 22 and I still go to university, but when I finish I would like to start my own business ant to be an enterpreneur. I think people's main problem is how to get basic capital to start something. And, an idea is a problem too. It is hard to start something that nobody has started. I have some ideas, but we will see what will happen. Great video, greetings from Europe :)
I'd be really interested to watch more business sided videos like this from you!
I love this video. Hearing that you didn't even like cleaning and weren't good at it when you saw the need for it is a huge inspiration. I have an idea that would fill a need but I'm not sure if it is something that I will like doing. What is stopping me? I do have a family and children. I am staying home with my two boys right now. My youngest is entering Kindergarten this fall so I am on the cusp of having more time. My little one does have special needs and the transition to full time school may be rocky and I do want to stay available to help him with the process (being in the class room or meetings with his teachers). So time is a big factor in what is holding me back. The thought of dedicating precious time to something that may not have a financial pay off for years is daunting. I do have a financial responsibility to my family. If it isn't earning money it is my time and all the things I can do to save money with that time. Child care in the summer would be a big burden if I wasn't earning. We have some big financial goals a head of us so I feel the need to proceed with caution. Thanks for sharing your story I know I'll keep it in mind and I figure out the steps ahead of me.
One more thing... for you to run a cleaning business, your MUSIC is ALWAYS soooooo FUNKY! 👍👍 STILL is, in 2018!! Well done...on all levels...
Hi Melissa! I'm SO glad u made this video, I was wondering how u got around to starting your business. Thanks! I laughed so loud when u said u used to play shop with your stuffed animals!!! because I used to do the same, except that I had a pretend restaurant. I also would hold art exhibitions for my parents when I was 8 and have them buy my stupid art. Lol! I KNOW I want to have my own business someday, I have so many ideas, but I am bad at implementing and I don't know how to actually start!!
:) thank you for sharing your story!
Yes ROFL I used to play school and mall with my stuffed toys and dolls, yep I did. In 7-9 grade I sold mixed music tapes at school. I would love to work for myself, I honestly have no idea what I'm good at which is a crying shame. I'm way older than you Melissa Maker just realizing hey I need to make a switch here, this can't continue. I work for a paycheck, no fun, it's dull, doesn't move my soul its just a job and lousy one at that much stress and poor pay. I went to college got my degree and I worked in my field for many years then I stopped I actually never wanted to do it. I feel like I'm at square one starting all over in my very late 30's (yikes). I don't have a head for business I don't have a clue about it.You found your niche! One good thing I'm taking pride in my home and cleaning it. That is something I never did before your videos. You've really helped me♥ :)
Loved loved LOVED this video Melissa!!! Thank you for posting this!! I am definitely an entrepreneur at heart as well. I work a job right now also, but with hours that are flexible enough for me to run my business during the day. I'm just starting out and I'm so excited (and a little nervous) but ready to work!! You have inspired me all the more and hearing your story really helps me. This video had perfect timing!! Thanks again and congratulations!! (^_^)
I noticed you posted a video on simple things you need to clean your house. Such as alcohol, vinegar, baking soda, and dish soap. My cleaner uses some cleaning products from the supermarket which have harsh ingredients. I was just wondering when your cleaners provide cleaning products- which products do they bring?
This video really helped me. I just started an organic cleaning company but I am having a hard time finding contracts. Maybe I am expecting too much to soon but please let me know how that went for you it would help me out so much thanks.
I love seeing this side of you.
I woul love to own my own bussiness but I have no clue doing why! So thanks for your story!
Inspiring.. ! Thank you for sharing Melissa :)
Hi Melissa! I've always wanted to have my own business... What I lack is finding the perfect business for me and gaining the information and technical aspects to pursue it... I've had many ideas but not sure how to grab on and know where to go from there
Thanks for sharing! I'm 16 and started my own little boutique called Forever Young: Tutu Shoppe in 7th or 8th grade but had to stop it last year because I didn't have a job to get money from and stuff in order to keep it going. I walked door to door selling hairbows, jewelry, tutus, and many more little girls boutique things like baby onesies with iron-ons and frills that I made from home. I got about 102 likes on Facebook but was unable to sell online because my dad wouldn't make me an Etsy.
I do desire to be an Entrepreneur but what blocks me is "positive criticism" from those around me. I really don't see how positive can be in such a negative word. I have been talked out of so many things due to these chats that I have actually made myself so far out of shape I couldn't even begin to start to do anything physical. I am not flexible at all I am what people would call a couch potato, or just lazy. But everything I have set out to do or did has always reaped this positive criticism of the outcome or the consideration of doing whatever it is that I just vowed never to do it ever again and didn't...
I am very influential and thrive on outside feedback or cower in most cases. My aunt pointed out that I ask people how to do things before I do things because I don't like to be the one to blame when these critics come to me and say I did things the wrong way I can just direct them to the person who told me to do it that way and disown the wrong way of doing whatever it is I am doing wrong. Which makes sense, and helps ease the throwing my hands up in the air and walking away never to try that again attitude.
I have ADD (dropped the H in ADHD when I got older thankfully) So I have this OCD like behavior which Doctor told me its not OCD but rather Impulses...once I get started on something I have a hard time stopping until its perfect or a certain way I envision it to be...IE would be when I set out to clean my kids room back in the day when it was my responsibility and not theirs I found myself organizing things by color or size or type (legos) and just really took hours I didn't need to take on such a outrageous task that was so unnecessary. Which is why I am so thankful to have found your channel (the cleaning channel) Because it helps me to realize those extra steps I was doing were not necessary at all and this is all I need to actually do (what you show to do and how) and that is perfectly clean and a done deal and nothing more needs done than that. So thank you for that.
I had a cleaning job via a neighbor of mine who has health issues (balance issue can't clean her house on her own, uses a walker)...I enjoyed cleaning for her because the lack of clutter in her home I just had to do deep cleaning and not wonder where to put things and do the clutter shuffle (as I call it) Which is what I do at my home because there is just too much stuff and no place to put it...(moving from a 2,500 sq ft home to a 1,000 sq ft home will do that) We have gotten rid of a lot but have also accumulated more over the last three years to replace the lost stash of clutter...(hoarding tendencies here too I have a blog on how to be an executive hoarder which shares in the oldest posts the mind set that leads to purchases and the inability to get rid of things) Anyway, I have several blogs matter fact...probably too many...but still trying to figure out what I want to do with those and which ones to get rid of and which ones to keep working at. I also do youtube videos. I am in the market for a new laptop and actually trying to find a video editing software that I can use to make my videos better, as well as quickly uploading them to youtube vs. just using my iphone which can take over an hour with some videos as I do tend to make them long (where the editing software would come in and clip away stuff I don't need in it) Anyway. back to the cleaning job, I ended up having some health problems that the doctor still don't know the cause (my legs hurt and cramp bad, so bad I was on heavy duty pain meds) Anyway these meds wouldn't allow me to drive and the pain wouldn't allow me to be able to clean, so I had to step down and hand off the torch to a friend of mines son and daughter who could do it quicker than I could because they don't have the health issues I have. PLUS I found out I was pregnant and had to get off the pain meds quickly and succeeded but the pain is full force and I have limited things I can take for it while pregnant...so I just deal. But anyway sorry I kind of went off here...I swear there is a point. I enjoyed cleaning, and actually recall doing a cleaning job for a family once, of course that didn't work out because back then I didn't know how to clean, I still kinda do but don't but your videos I am slowly getting through them and verifying the right ways to do things and get rid of the OCD like impulses that are not necessary...and yeah I am getting better at it...once I get back into shape and after the baby gets here in April...I hope to be able to either get my old job back, or find other people I can clean for. But make a business out of it? I really don't know the first thing about that much less how much to charge I usually just take what I can get...3 bed room one back house that I cleaned a lady's house no basement just a two car garage I swept sometimes and got rid of spiderwebs...she paid a hundred once a month and I cleaned once a month for her and always felt like I was over charging her...it really wasn't that hard of a job wood floors and kitchen peel and stick flooring and tiles in the bathroom...ya know just sweep and mop dust and change bedding, clean toilet, sinks, and shower/tub...yeah pretty easy basic clean...anyways...I really don't know how to price things, I crochet too don't have any idea how much to charge for my stuff I make but people always want me to make them things and they will pay me...and I am like IDK what to charge...I guess I don't know my worth...
How do you know the worth of your services?
I am also a landlord I have two rental properties with a total of three rental places (apartment above a garage at one of the houses) and I clearly don't know what I am doing far as how much finances to require from the renters to make any money at the end of the month. I am making the house payment and that is about it and things keep breaking and yeah I am actually losing money when repairs come up...I honestly make 10 buck a month off my properties. I wonder if there is any courses on how to be a landlord and be successful at it...I almost am ready to hand over my properties to a property management team and let them do the repairs, the back ground checks, the everything. and hopefully at the end of every month I make something more than ten bucks...but I just can't do that to my renters...I know the company would raise the rent...and they are friends and barely making it...of course renting to friends is no doubt the wrong thing to do...but we tried strangers too...and renters IMHO have no respect for your property and when they damage the property it feels like a personal attack on you...and your niceness you displayed to them...and how ungrateful they must be to do such damage to your property...and yeah this is not a business like mind set....trying to separate feelings and yeah its hard...anyway...sorry I kind of went off here...but I have a few things I have going...ya know landlord business, crochet potential, and desire to do cleaning work some day, but the worth I am unsure of...I wish I knew how to value worth. How do you go about valuing it? I feel I low ball it but so many people say you are charging too little and others are outraged that I would charge such high figures...so those people I usually say well you don't appreciate the many hours I put into it...whatever it is...anyways...sorry I will stop now...thanks for your video I look forward in more videos like this...Many Blessings to you.
Thanks! Who doesn't love those stuffed animals. I think mine are somewhere in storage in a plastic bag (not nice, I know). What do you do for a living?
I will cover that in future videos, promise. Remember, you don't need to be a full-blown business on day 1. Aim to start as self-employed and go from there!
Well I hope the education I get next fall prepares me for the challenges ahead when I start my business
Thanks for your comment, Hayley, I will certainly check out your page! It's great that you are starting young and learning your way around business. Just keep an open mind and learn learn learn! You are so young! Regarding friends, they have their own interests, so perhaps do the work yourself and eventually you can sub out the work to people who actually want it (however, they likely won't do it for free, only the entrepreneur does that). For RUclips, I just edit these with iMovie.
Yes, good vid and Am way is an awesome opportunity.
Hello I love your channel and yes I would so love to start my own company. I have from day one Loved caring for others, And I love Ederly. So I would love to start a home care service but I have no clue where to start. I just know I work for a company now and some day would love to have my own.
Good stuff - I have to get back to filming more videos on this topic! There is a lot to go through. The hardest part of our business is the staff...so focus on training :)
Wonderful video, love it. As well as the regular cleaning videos. If I may thouh, it might be just me, but the background music (in all the videos) is really distracting. Maybe.. lower the volume?
Respect Melissa
Thank you for this video.. Very inspiring
watching this 3 years after at 1:05. am thank you for the inspiration.
Martha Mora woah! im also watching this 4 yrs after at 1:05am!
I thought you were a investigated reporter such person and doing these vlogs on the side....shows how good of judge of character I am! Interesting story =)
I love this video and your story. I'm about to begin my own Entrepreneurial Story, the only thing that stops me right now is that I'm studying and I can't spare the money..
Question: What do you mean by a "mentor"? Someone with experience being an entrepreneur?
Thanks for your advices!
Cool - I promise I'll work on them!
I remember when I was a little girl (6, 7 years old), I played pretend with myself as a shop assistant / a phone operator (yes, those ladies who connect incoming calls to the extension) / a factory operator.
I started a typing company when our youngest was still young, I posted ad. on local newspaper and I handed out leaflets to local businesses - I only had 2 customers, whom eventually discontinued my services because they moved away. I didn't have mentor back then.
Then I started something after I joined a healthy diet related organisation (actually I tried with 2 different organisations in different periods), I had very limited customers and finally they discontinued because of different reasons, so without customers, I couldn't afford the on going expenses and had to stop. I had separate mentors during those different periods, however, both stationed overseas, so it was very difficult to discuss matters with them.
In the past year, I started to sell things in eBay, but it's been slowed down because I spent too long to prefect each of my eBay page that the "profit" didn't cover the time I had spent :-(
You are correct, mentor is very important and I can truly tell you, I didn't have good mentors. So since the ceasing of my typing company, I returned to work in an 9-5 office work. Maybe I'm not the right material as entrepreneurial :-o
im so glad you made this video i been wondering how you became a entrepreneur (such a weird word to spell) but anyway i kinda have a business thru a company...like work for yourself but not by yourself..so i have the help i need.but since my family is very un-supportive i look for clients in a luke warm market...and i have a hard time only because im always worried of what ppl will think, like becoming the girl everyone runs from. any advice on not caring what they think?
"kinda had a problem with authority..." lol,love it :)
i want to be an interior designer, but have 2 small children and about to gain a mortgage, i work full time in childcare and i'm terrified to make the leap incase my family and finances suffer for it :/
You're Awesome mellisa! I love you.
Hi Melissa,
Yes, I want to be an entrepreneur. I want to open up an Internet Cafe & business center one day soon. The only thing that is holding me back from starting is because of financial reasons.
You are very welcome, I am glad you found it inspiring :)
Awesome, Alex! Go for it :) there are a ton of government programs to help young entrepreneurs.
I'm just like you. I have a problem with authority.. I know that I need to be my own boss but I'm 18 and i have zero clue in what I could start in or how I would even start. I live in a small town so I feel like there are less opportunities as well. :\ you're really lucky you had a mentor as well ! I don't know anyone who is an entrepreneur
If you go on google plus and join a group with entrepreneurs then you can glean what they have to offer and build friendships with them that way. Entrepreneurship is about finding a gap and filling it. Look out for themes where you repeatedly hear people having a point of pain, such as an apartment that is always messy which they find embarrassing and see how you could fill that. Also try LinkedIn, they have articles and professionals in a variety of fields there too. Melissa didn't have any special skills in cleaning when she started, she learned what she needed to and took advice from someone who knew what they were talking about. Also, having a job for a while, if even for a short while can teach you about yourself and you may learn about the business there too. I hope all is well with you.
My husband and I have an idea to put aside some money for each of our children to have the experience of starting a business while in late high school. Doesn't matter if it fails or succeeds; we think they would each learn a lot.
what an amazing idea!!
Melissa I have been in the window cleaning business for about 35 years now doing power washing in Westchester county n.y it like you said good but there is high and lowes at times it's all good hope you read my review
I so love your videos. I wonder if the music at the background is needed? I found it quite distracting.xx
Thank you so much, I am glad it helped you! That's great that you have flexibility, it will certainly help. Just keep at it, slowly but surely you'll get there!
really great initial to start from... congratulations n tnx..
What happened when you first started cleaning? Did it take like 5 hours for your first house?
It's worth a shot...nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Oh my god. I would set up a store in my bedroom and make my brother go shopping at around the same age you did. Hahaha! i would make "beep beep" scanning noises :)I also imagined having my own office :)))
Great video. I gave it a try once but I had such a non-existent business plan and weak business skills that I gave it up after a year with no profits. I guess I am more geared to employment than entrepeneurship.
I want to be my own boss and run a company as well but just don't know what kind to start. I plan on going to a program to learn ways of owning and operating a company in fall.
Usually looking at CMS, stumbled upon this video and thought OH! THAT'S where the lips on 87th street in Chicago went! 😂😂😂
Thank you!
Hahaha, that's quite funny! No news reporter here :)
Thanks! I do have another channel, it is called CleanMySpace!
Oh my God I like this video a lot! I have actually though of starting a simple thing like selling homemade deep hair conditioning products for women with curly hair. One problem my hair isn't looking that great. I know of a homemade deep hair conditioning hair recipe that I want to try every week for a couple months or just long enough until I get compliments. Then I could toss them a very small sample with my contact info on it and I can sale them big jars of it.... Just a thought.
My question is, how did you make a living from waitressing? How can one afford life expenses with such jobs? I wonder that all the time, because although I have a job at a really good institution, I don't get paid that much and struggle a lot, so it makes me wonder how people who have less than me are doing it.
Also, how were you able to trust that you would eventually be able to pull yourself out of other common jobs (waitressing) and start a business? It must have taken a lot to not take all those other jobs your friends were getting, drop from the bank, then go back around to waitressing. How did you have the knowledge or confidence that things would work out? I am currently trying to understand what to do with my life. I really don't know what to do, I just know that they likely won't keep me at my current job forever, and even if they do, it's not enough to make a comfortable living. But I feel hopeless and lost.
Thanks, yes, seems that is a popular request so I'll do it on a future video for sure. Are you thinking of starting a business?
thank you melissa
Thank you - are you planning on being an entrepreneur?
I would love to have my own professional organizing business, but with 2 kids, a mortgage and a debt load, it's impossible to walk away from a full-time desk job, even though the job in question leaves me feeling drained and empty at the end of each day.
Great story ....:)
100% agreed!
i want to start a cleaning/organizing/couponing business lol! my mom started her own cleaning business and is not doing so good. she got bonded and everything. i only make under $500 a month and i have 3 kids. what is your advice for starting a business especially in a small town where there is more than 1 business?
:D thanks! Little old me from the suburbs of north Toronto...??