career titles

Most entrepreneurs base their companies on individual interests, ideas, and skills. Here are a few options to explore:

  • Consultant
  • Contractor
  • eCommerce Professional
  • Franchise Operator
  • Internet Sales
  • Subcontractor
  • Virtual Assistant

featuring:

PAUL ORFALEA

Founder, Kinkos

Paul Orfalea founded his first Kinko’s in 1970 near the University of California, Santa Barbara while he was still in college. He had a simple but brilliant idea: give college students copying services at a competitive price. Today, there are over 1500 Kinko’s stores worldwide and it is a multi-billion dollar business (and is now a division of FedEx). Much of Kinko’s success is traced directly to Orfalea’s unique business philosophy based on his own free thinking, creative style – a style that evolved out of dealing with severe earning disabilities as a child. Orfalea encouraged active participation from all 21,000 co-workers and implemented generous incentives to stimulate creativity. This pro-worker approach caused Fortune to select Kinko’s several times as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.”

Read Interview with Paul Orfalea For more information go to: www.paulorfalea.com

PLEASANT ROWLAND

Founder, Pleasant Company

Rowland founded the Pleasant Company, which manufactures the American Girl dolls and accessories, in 1986. Rowland was inspired to create the American Girl doll when she tried to buy a doll for her nieces and could only find Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls. Prior to that, she had no retail or manufacturing background. Each American Girl doll is designed with a specific story, placing them in a specific historical time period. Based in Middleton, Wisconsin, the company reached $350 million in sales in 2001, and is second only to Barbie in U.S. doll sales. She sold the Pleasant Company (now American Girl) to Mattel in 1998 for $700 million making her one of America’s richest women.

For more information go to: www.americangirl.com

online resources