Natalia Allen, Entrepreneur of the Week
Natalia Allen never set out to be an entrepreneur. Trouble was, her sustainable fashion designs were so innovative no company was doing the kind of work in which she specialized. So she founded Design Futurist, which consults for major fashion houses and other companies, and is soon to launch her own line of sustainable apparel.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Ann Arbor, Michigan: Edgar Powell, Entrepreneur of the Week
Edgar Powell never intended to start an apparel line — he went to school to study exercise science, after all. But a vacation epiphany taught him one thing: "I love my life!" So he decided to pour his passion into a fashion company to spread that message to the masses.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Raleigh, North Carolina: LaShanda Henry, Entrepreneur of the Week
LaShanda Henry has been involved in Web design and marketing since 2000 — an eternity in Internet years. Now, through her vast network of sites, she helps female entrepreneurs of color take advantage of social media to build their own Web-commerce empires.
Entrepreneurs of the Week: Lauren Porat and Cari Sommer
Porat and Sommer are the cofounders of Urban Interns, an online service that connects employers with people looking to fill a wide range of employment needs. Technology and the recession are changing the U.S. workforce significantly; Urban Interns is well-placed to help smooth the transition.
Business Leaders of Tomorrow: The Jackie Robinson Scholars
TheCASHFLOW speaks to some of the brightest and most ambitious business leaders of tomorrow at the Jackie Robinson Foundation's 2010 Networking Weekend in New York.
Quiz: Here's $10,000! Now What?
Opportunity knocks but once. No time to get ready. You've got to stay ready. Let's just say we had $10,000 to invest and we're looking for great ideas. What's your vision? What's your plan? Handle your business.
Think you can do better? Then head over to http://www.thecashflow.com/getbusy/funding and show us what you've got! Big shout to TUV Media.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Los Angeles: Charlie Fyffe, Entrepreneur of the Week
Charlie Fyffe launched his first business at age 15 — and in the years since, he's built it into Charlie's Brownies, a retail and catering operation that serves the Bay Area of California. Now he's moving back to his L.A. hometown to root the business in SoCal's fertile soil.
HOT IDEA: Micro-Micro-Targeting Your Company's Product
SmallFarmCentral has found a market niche by creating Web sites for, as the name implies, small farms around the country.
HOT IDEA: Location-Specific Messaging to Drum Up Business
BlockChalk.com is an app that enables secure messaging within a particular neighborhood — giving local residents and businesses the chance to connect more easily.
QUIZ: Your Financial Fortune Told
The three core components of financial success are business, investing and personal finance. How are your skills in all three? And if you keep going the way you're going, will you end up a wheel-and-deal mogul like 50 Cent — or a couch-surfing slacker like Smokey from "Friday"?
James Smith Moore, Entrepreneur of the Week
James Smith Moore is Detroit-bred and Detroit-proud, so he eagerly embraced a spot at Bizdom U, an entrepreneurial boot camp that's helping to restore the Motor City's economy. Now Moore's company, crowdsourced shoe retailer Jimmy Kicks, is about to go fully live — jumping in, you might say, with both feet.
Entrepreneur of the Week: Cameka Smith, The BOSS Network
Cameka Smith has poured her passion for event planning and business outreach into The BOSS Network, an online organization where female entrepreneurs of color can connect, share ideas and begin to globalize their personal brands. "It's the nature of a woman," she says. "Women like to be in charge."
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Montgomery, Alabama: LaKesha Womack, Entrepreneur of the Week
LaKesha Womack has built a successful business consultancy out of tiny Evergreen, Alabama — a 3,000-resident town 75 miles southwest of Montgomery. How has she managed to do big business from such a small place? Hard work — and tireless social networking.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Washington, D.C. : Marcus H. Mitchell, Entrepreneur of the Week
More than most entrepreneurs, Marcus H. Mitchell merits the description "one-man band." An urban-jazz saxophonist, producer and music executive, he got his start as a high-school student through sheer diligence — and now runs his own growing entertainment conglomerate.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Atlanta: Bowie Darden, Entrepreneur of the Week
TheCASHFLOW 50 member Bowie Darden has run Best Technical Staffing, a broadcast-wiring company, since 2003. But his business is also a mentoring program for young people in need of a leg up. "A lot of kids just need a second chance," he says. "I look past what they've done if they're trying to better themselves."
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Milwaukee: Lydia Hamilton, Entrepreneur of the Week
Lydia Hamilton is her business. "I'm the owner, accountant, janitor," she says. "No employees, just me." Her plus-size high-fashion retailer, Boutique Larrieux, is helping Milwaukee's women look their best — and here's how Hamilton's making it happen.
TheCASHFLOW50: HipHopSince1978
Hip Hop Since 1978 have their mind on their money and their money on their mind. Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua and Al Branch take time out from handling your favorite rapper's business to school you on how to win in the real rap game. Hint: The best business opportunities happen far away from the flashing lights.
HOT IDEA: Breathing New Life Into a Bare-Bones Old Product
EmeraBags.com takes a tired old product — the camera bag — and transforms it, via great design, into a beautiful, high-style fashion accessory.
HOT IDEA: Selling Not Just Your Product, but Altruism as Well
CellarThief is a wine retailer that's getting into an ever-more-popular game: making money while doing good via "social entrepreneurialism."
QUIZ: Which Entrepreneur Are You?
Take this short quiz (don't worry, we won't keep your results on file) that'll help determine your passion for the hustle: How good are your ideas, and how badly do you want to pursue them? TheCASHFLOW has something for you, whatever your game. A few quick multiple-choice replies is all you need to get started.
Derick Halliman, Entrepreneur of the Week
Derick Halliman had worked only at Pizza Hut and UPS when, at just 22 years of age, he used $10,000 of his own money to found Lucid Enterprises, a water-filtration company. He has since expanded into Mist, a high-end water with a twist: It comes in an elegant glass bottle for a sleek look and better taste.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Brooklyn, New York: Trina Morris, Entrepreneur of the Week
Trina Morris runs a public-relations firm with a twist: She helps entrepreneurs promote their businesses and helps them lead a more balanced life as well. Running a successful company, it seems, is more enjoyable when you're healthy and happy as well. Who knew?
Entrepreneurs of the Week: Jason Smikle and Ebele Mora, TUV Mediaworks
Jason Smikle and Ebele Mora founded TUV Mediaworks out of a dorm room at Temple University. Now it's one of the leading media companies helping major brands connect with the college market — and helping the college market establish its own successful brands.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Chicago: Shay Atkins, Entrepreneur of the Week
Shay Atkins took home a $10,000 grant from TheCASHFLOW by winning the Elevator Pitch competition at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo this week. She'll use the money to help fund her sports bar and grill, a spin-off of a Chicago restaurant in which she's a partner. How did she pull it off? By talking turkey — literally.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — St. Louis: Mike Boyd, Entrepreneur of the Week
Last July, St. Louis native Mike Boyd launched Hip Hop at Lunch, a music, news and artist-profile site, in partnership with brand consultant and investment company VaynerMedia. He's building the site in New York but has never lost his love for his Midwestern hometown.
TheCASHFLOW 50: Swizz Beatz
Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean has been hustling since day one. Born and raised in the South Bronx, he was making hits by age 16 for his family-owned Ruff Ryders label. Since then he's parlayed his production into a multimillion-dollar empire. How's he accomplished all this by age 32? Listen up.
TheCASHFLOW Map in Focus — Detroit: Bunia Parker, Entrepreneur of the Week
Deciding to make your nut in Detroit real estate is a bold move — but bold moves are the hallmark of Bunia Parker. After college, he moved to Ghana before returning to his native Motor City. He soon cofounded Summit Commercial to help revitalize his hometown.
HOT IDEA: Subscription-Based Product Delivery
BreadAndButterSkinCare.com is just one of many companies across numerous industries taking a page out of the magazine-and-newspaper playbook and delivering their products regularly, via subscription.
HOT IDEA: Using Crowdsourcing to Tap Undiscovered Talent
TenPages.com is a crowdsourcing site for writers, editors and other literary types that aims to help publishers find books by unknown authors who are worth taking a chance on.
GLOSSARY: Types of Entrepreneurs
Sure, you know the difference between a true go-getter and someone who's content to make bank for someone else. But how to tell apart those go-getters — the weekend entrepreneur versus the guy whose hand has been forced thanks to a lost job? Check this handy field guide to the hustle-mad entrepreneur.
