I am now 27 years old...
and completely free to do whatever I want.

I always knew that I wanted to own my own business. The bigger question was what kind of business and how to get there.

I'll start my story when I was 17 years old. I had just graduated high school and all of my friends were going off to college. I should have been packing my bags too, but truth be told I was so afraid of getting into debt with college loans that I decided to skip college.

I really had no idea what I wanted to do and I was not so sure that a college education would give me what I wanted - my own business. So I made a promise to myself - go to college or start my own business.

I spent a few years working odd jobs. I ended up managing a fitness center and getting my personal trainer certification. After a year or two I held over 9 certifications, taught yoga and workout classes, had a stable list of personal training clients and still held my management position.

Crunching the Numbers

The opportunity came up for me to buy the fitness center. I jumped at it. I was already familiar with the ins and outs of the business. I knew the clientele and I already had ideas on making the gym a success.

So I worked with my local SBDC (Small Business Development Center) and crunched the numbers. The end result was months of time spent writing business plans, making income projections and ultimately figuring out that to make this business a success I would have to work 14 hour days and not take a salary for the first year or two.

I politely declined the offer to buy the fitness center. It was a very difficult decision because I felt like this was "perfect" for me. Not many people can buy the company that they currently work in and love. So declining this meant that I was at ground zero. No business opportunity.

Time to Take Charge

During the next few months, the current owner tried finding a new buyer and I maintained my classes and management schedule. But I was getting worried. Really worried.

I knew that I would either lose my job when the new owner came on board or I would be forced to toss my ideas to the curb and listen to the new owner. Neither of those scenarios were appealing to me.

I started researching low cost business start ups and eventually found SBI!. Up to this point, I was a basic Internet user. I knew nothing about HTML or programming languages. I knew nothing about designing banner ads or writing copy. I surfed the web and used email. That was about it.

I read the SBI! website over 50 times. I was leery to spend any money on something so "radical" as an online business. After all, I was pretty sure money was going to be hard to come by in a few months when I lost my job.

But I took the plunge. I had to. I had to chase my dreams of becoming a business owner and I had a promise to keep - go to college or start your own business. So I read the Action Guide. And I re-read it.

It was on the third read that I started putting the tasks into actions. I tried to follow the Action Guide to a "T". I took my time and did every exercise the guide mentioned. I read every off-shoot article. I did not listen or seek out non-SBI! opinions about my ideas. I kept my blinders on and trusted the process.

What I ended up with was a website niche on strength training for women. I was passionate about fitness, particularly strength training, and I felt as though there was enough demand for it.

It was scary picking a niche and officially moving forward with an idea. I suffer from "Ready - Aim - Ready - Aim - Ready - Aim..." I never really get to the "shoot" part. So I knew I had to pick my niche and keep going.

Effort Pays Off

For about 4 months, I worked at my job and built my website. After 4 months, I ended up leaving my job as a new owner took over. The website was not making me enough income to leave my job, but dedicating all of my hours to this website was my new focus.

Over the next year, I did nothing but add content pages, get incoming links, learn about selling on the web and building my list of leads. It was a lot to take in and at times it felt like I was being a silly 20-something chasing ridiculous dreams. But for the most part, it was an exhilarating experience. I was finally in control of my life and nothing could beat that.

Fast forward a few years... My SBI! website is over 200 pages, pulls in traffic (30,153 different visitors in March 2009) and earns enough money for me to work from home.

My site continues to grow its traffic numbers and income levels. It's a completely passive income website. Good stuff, huh?

A Business Lesson Worth Learning

The biggest lesson I learned is that creating a website is building a business - it takes thoughtful planning on how to succeed and it takes tenacity to overcome the hurdles.

This has been an interesting journey to say the least. I had never imagined this is what I'd be doing. I absolutely love it. I have tons of great business ideas and I know that SBI! will help me achieve all of them.

It's funny to think about that initial business investment of $300 for my first SBI! site. It's peanuts compared to the education and tools provided. I can unequivocally say that SBI! has been the biggest gift I ever gave myself.

I am now 27 years old and completely free to do whatever I want. That's a great feeling!

Lynn VanDyke
http://www.strength-training-woman.com