Seven Simple Steps to Create a Successful Business by Meeting an Untapped Need

In celebration of Women’s History month, here are seven amazing female entrepreneurs whose practical solutions to everyday “problems” have enabled them to create successful ventures.

Hopefully their stories might inspire you to pursue your own path, fill some untapped need, and one day make “history” yourself.

Jessica Billingsley - MJ Freeway

Jessica Billingsley saw free trade of cannabis as good for the economy and the right thing for people needing medical access. After investing in one of Boulder, CO’s first dispensaries and joining forces with local web developer Amy Poinsett, she decided to fill that niche herself, creating MJ Freeway. The first cannabis-specific software company to enter the market, MJ Freeway includes tracking and reporting systems that help businesses account for products at every stage of production and sales.

Ina Garten - Barefoot Contessa

Chef Ina Garten was a “military wife” who first began cooking to pass the time and as an outlet to elevate stress. Soon, she became famous for hosting dinner parties for family and friends. She used the money she had saved from flipping houses to purchase the Barefoot Contessa Specialty Foods Store in the Hamptons. This led to her Barefoot Contessa cook books and eventually a show on Food Network.

Alexa Hirschfeld - Paperless Post

When Alexa agreed to help her brother (frustrated by the current limited options) create a way to send formal invitations online – Paperless Post was born. They wanted to, “bring back the beauty of receiving and sending mail by combining it with the modern-day efficiency of the web.” They succeeded and created a beautiful alternative to Evite.

Payal Kadakia - Class Pass

Payal Kadakia tried unsuccessfully to find a ballet class in New York City that she could attend. In that moment, she realized that others must be having similar challenges staying connected to their hobbies and passions. She soon created ClassPass, a startup that gives customers access to thousands of boutique fitness classes in their area for a monthly fee. Her company has booked more than 7 million fitness class reservations at gyms and studios across the U.S., Canada, and the UK over the past two years.

Sheila Liorio Marcelo - Care.com

Immigrant Sheila Liorio Marcelo needed to find childcare options while attending school, raising two children, and caring for her ill father. Today Care.com connects 17.8 members (and growing) in 16 countries with the qualified care givers.

Michelle Phan - Ipsy

Michelle Phan’s You Tube makeup demonstrations and tutorials made her a popular star and Vlogger. After expanding her popularity and “brand” to different social media platforms, she established deals with large corporations like L’Oreal where she featured their products in her tutorials. Her most recent spin off project, Ipsy, is a monthly box service (similar to Birchbox) that provides customers with samples of different beauty products. Ipsy, however, offers heavy discounts “full size” product purchases.

Anne Wojcicki - 23andMe

Biologist and Co-Founder/CEO of 23andMe, graduated from Yale and worked on the business side of healthcare as a consultant and investment analyst. Anne had a passion to help others change the way they approached health care, while also knowing the value of genetic data to treat and prevent disease. She’s built 23andMe, a genomics company that produces personal genetic testing kits. Her company has one of the world’s largest DNA databases, with over 1million consumers worldwide.

Today think of one thing that you could offer to each of these seven companies. Consider everything from applying for a applying for a position, pitching them as a potential client, referring a friend and sharing their info with others, or simply or volunteering your time and talent in some way.

Professional Acts of Kindness

One of the many lessons I learned about life and careers is, “If you see things before others, be strategic and look for what else they may be missing.” In 1993, I had just left Burson-Marsteller where I did media relations for IBM. I became a junior PR manager, slowly moving up the proverbial corporate ladder at AT&T. Two years later, I was bold and crazy enough to pitch senior PR management to hold its first (and only)

Internet conference for many of its 800 global PR managers. In fact, it seems silly to say this now, but the initial memo may have called it the “Information Superhighway.”

A key part of my pitch was connected to Josh Quittner – this “masters of deception” guy, who according to tech folklore, had “hijacked” the McDonalds.com domain and then made them “an offer they could not refuse” for its release. Or perhaps like the kids game, that was the message that was passed along to me over the “telephone” wire. I loved the principle and story (and Quittner!) and instantly ran with it. I found the WIRED article and threw his hat in the ring as the unique and unconventional keynote speaker we needed.

The best part of the story is the other lesson Josh Quittner taught me about recognizing those who are normally kept behind the scenes. When he agreed to participate, it was Josh who insisted that I be the one to introduce him because it had been my idea to hold the conference and secure Quittner. That act of professional kindness was a defining moment of my career, bringing me out of virtual obscurity into a visibility that helped me secure amazing assignments, including almost a year in Amsterdam.

I emailed Josh in December 2014 after more than 15 years to tell him this story that he may not or even should have remembered. I simply wanted him to know that I have never forgotten him, nor those two lessons!

Truth is, we all have people who’ve taught us volumes through their personal and sometimes quiet wisdom. Often, they have no idea that they ever said or did something that left a lasting impact. Josh Quittner is one many, many people I have encountered who have been that for me.

The Living on Purpose Project is a collective personal thank you to people who are exploring what they love. My conversations with everyday folks, celebrities and accomplished individuals – are not about talking to people who “have it all figured out,” or only for those who want to do some major career 180. It’s just real people sharing what we’ve learned (often the hard way) about life and career.

We can all learn from someone else’s lessons learned, “hard but necessary” advice once heard, or even failures. When we all share not just what we do, but rather why we do what we do, and how we came to do it, it is then that everyone can make better choices as we navigate similar paths and travel universal experiences. These choices are what will enable us to seek and maybe even find our purpose.

The Living on Purpose Project is part of my path to purpose.

What’s yours?