Day One

There are certain things I expected from myself as I grew older. Starting a small business was never one of them. Neither was working in what could technically be termed the sanitation industry. But here I am, with my nifty little home-based business called Unpaper Route.

The Route is, so far, me taking my paper to a recycling dumpster every Friday because the community I live in doesn't offer recycling. But I'm offering to pick up my neighbors' paper on Fridays as well for the low, low rate of $5 a month. Why? Because it's driving me crazy that I have to throw away so many recyclables and I figured maybe there were other people in the area who felt the same way.

I've never started a business before. I've barely even worked in business. I'm a stay-at-home mom who teaches ballet and, in my pre-mom life, worked for government. I'm a little nervous, and completely unsure of where to go next. For example: I'd like to advertise this little gem of a service I'm offering but how should I go about it? One obvious option is to put little flyers on everyone's door within walking distance but do you catch the irony of a paper recycling service using flyers? So I'm calling on you, savvy reader. What start-your-own-business advice do you have? (No horror stories please.)