My business idea is called Business Heroines. It is an online platform that develops female changemakers personally and professionally. After working in the nonprofit field, I’ve noticed gaps in the employee’s business skills education and the lack of onboarding processes. I believe that these two major components are keeping nonprofits ineffective and from making real change. The business is on an annual membership basis, and there are two levels: standard and premimum. The premium level will get you access to a network of female changemakers who are making change now to be your mentor.
If women were prepared for the nonprofit field in this capacity, we could be solving social issues instead of managing and creating the problem.

WIN! Consignors (sellers) make money on the gently used merchandise their families have outgrown.
WIN!! Buyers save money by getting steep discounts on name-brand merchandise.
WIN!!! The sale organizer receives a portion of the selling price of every item sold.

When I started my children’s consignment sale (Once Around the Block Kids ™), the economy wasn’t in a recession. Over several years, my sale grew at a steady pace, and I was thrilled to have the extra income – especially considering my minimal financial investment ($2000) and the maximum flexibility it allowed (my part time job only required a few weeks work per event). When the economy took a downturn, however, my sale grew substantially as families began tightening their belts in an attempt to save money on clothing, toys, and other items for their children.

I started my sale because I experienced the thrill of shopping at seasonal consignment sales… and then I took the next step, I volunteered at a few of them… and then I took the next logical step, I wanted to start one of my own. One that was better organized, easier to participate in, and had a charitable purpose. The only way I could do it, was the hard way… by jumping in!

That’s essentially where the Consignamania ™ sale manual began – the eight years of lessons-learned, hard work, and trial-and-error that followed were used to write Consignamania ™. It’s the best resource and most comprehensive ‘start your own seasonal consignment business’ manual on the market!

The product I’ve put together is innovative, entrepreneurial, recession-busting, and family-friendly. In addition, it pays-forward a positive effect to the largest possible audience of any business start-up – sale organizer, consignors, buyers, community, and charity!

Seasonal consignment sales are the next big business idea!

Twitter username: Consignamania
http://twitter.com/#!/consignamania