In talking with fellow spa owners, Westphal learned that many were seeing business decline by 40 to 50%. She slashed her forecasts and, in order to meet working-capital needs, drew on more of the family's savings than originally budgeted. The business survived the first year — a perilous proposition for any company and a particular challenge in the current climate — and Westphal, showing the characteristic optimism of the entrepreneur, says things are looking up. "We're seeing good growth entering the holiday season. We're a year old and people know we're here. I'm feeling really good about 2010." — K.O'S.
Failure to Launch?
(continued)
LinkedIn Company Connections:
- Harvard Business School |
- Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation |
- Babson College |
- Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network |
- Business Catapult |
- Oracle
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Inside the October 2009 Issue
Cover Story
- Back on Track
Features
- Down but Not Out
- The New Calculus of Offshoring
Also Inside
- Think Semi-Positive
- Giving It Away
- Waiting and Wondering
- As Easy as A-S-C
- The Public Option
- Buying Cash
- A Stirring in the Loan Market
- Space Case
- Looking Up
- X Marks the Spot, for Errors
- Boxed In
- Failure to Launch?
- "It's about Having the Best Products"
- Credit Check
- Say What?
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Reader CommentsDisplaying 1 of 1
John Aberle
Jan 11, 2010 12:43 AM ET
The Fear Factor
I love this article's statistics and resources, like the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's studies and lists of … more
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