Page 203 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

BECOME AS BIG AS YOU WANT TO BE
(AND NO BIGGER).

“Nothing will work unless you do.”

—MAYA ANGELOU

Among the people we’ve met in our story thus far, a few are active risk takers,

charging ahead to storm the castle, career or finances be damned if they fail. But
far more common are those who carefully take the time to build a business step
by step. It’s a myth that all those who choose to go it alone are Type A
motorcycle riders, betting it all on the success or failure of one project.
Entrepreneurs are not necessarily risk takers; it’s just that they define risk and
security differently from the way other people do.

Tsilli Pines, an Israeli-American designer who now lives in my hometown of
Portland, Oregon, exemplifies the group of cautious entrepreneurs. Over the
course of eight years, she crafted a business making ketubot, custom-designed
Jewish wedding contracts. During most of that time, the business was a night-
and-weekend project she worked on after coming home from the design studio
where she was employed. With a regular paycheck from the day job, Tsilli felt
safe experimenting with the business and learning as she went along. She also
noticed an important side benefit to working this way: With limited hours to
spend on the business, she had to make them count.

Thanks to referrals from happy couples, the business grew slowly but steadily,
with more orders each year. Each ketubah was a labor of love, priced at $495. As
2009 drew to a close, Tsilli felt prepared to make the leap. She gave notice to her