My name is Steve and I run a small business blog called “My Wife Quit Her Job”, manage an online store selling wedding hankies and wedding linens with my wife and teach a course on how to create a profitable online store.
Even though I have several web properties today, 5 years ago I knew absolutely nothing about the web. I knew nothing about how to create a website. I knew nothing about html or php.
In fact, 5 years ago my wife and I were extremely lazy and did nothing meaningful with our lives. We would go to work, come home, eat dinner together and then watch television until it was time to go to bed. Rinse and repeat.
What sucked even more was that my wife didn’t like her job. Every morning, I would painfully watch her go through the motions of dragging herself out of bed and forcing herself out the door. And everyday before she left, she would mutter to me with her eyes half closed, “Okay honey, I’m off to the hell hole I call my job”. Even though she switched companies several times during her career, she never felt comfortable working anywhere 9 to 5. She just wasn’t cut out for corporate life.
Getting Unstuck
So we decided to start a business together with the hopes of supplanting her income so she could quit her job. But for a couple who had never started a business before, it was a daunting task and my wife and I ran into the same hurdles as all newbie entrepreneurs. We were scared of failing. We didn’t want to take too large of a gamble. We were terrified that we had no idea what we were doing. And as a result of all of these fears, we dragged our feet and had major problems getting started.
Until it happened…
My wife became pregnant with our first child! It’s hard to express in words what went through my mind when I saw “the stick”, but it was like an atomic bomb went off in my head.
For one thing, I got a sudden injection of motivation and enthusiasm. All of a sudden I felt like I needed to get off my ass and become a better person. I felt like I needed to be more responsible and to take charge of my life. I felt like I needed to get my act together and provide for my family.
As millions of thoughts swirled through my head, my primary concern became financial security. We needed a bigger house. We needed to live in a better school district. We needed to start a college education fund. We needed an emergency fund so large that we could survive even if I lost my job or got laid off.
As for my wife, she wanted to quit her job so she could take care of our child full time. She didn’t want to miss a single minute of our baby’s childhood.
The Dilemma
Wait what? Quit her job? While I was 100% supportive of my wife’s decision to quit her job and take care of our child, the main problem was that we still needed the income from her day job. At the time she made over $100,000 a year and since we live in a very expensive part of the United States, we needed her salary to maintain our current lifestyle. Realistically, we could have made drastic cutbacks to get by but with the additional costs of having a child, we felt like cutting our household income in half probably wasn’t a good idea.
So with new found motivation, we decided to follow through with our online business idea and started an ecommerce store selling wedding linens online. Even though business was slow in the beginning, things gradually started picking up and we managed to make over $100,000 in our first year of operation! As result, my wife was able to quit her job once our child was born and we didn’t have to make any major cutbacks.
Today my wife stays at home with our 2 kids, spends a few hours each day running our online store and makes much more than she did with her day job. And since she no longer has to drag herself out the door to a cubicle from 9 to 5, she’s much happier as a result!
Why Not Take A Chance?
Today, I document all of our experiences over at MyWifeQuitHerJob.com where I write about entrepreneurship and how to start a small business. In a nutshell, I talk about everything that my wife and I had to go through to get our business off the ground. For people who are interested in receiving a more in depth tutorial on how to start an online store, I also offer a full blown course where I teach a small class how to create a profitable e-commerce business.
Seriously, starting our own business had such a tremendous impact on our lives that I try my best to encourage others to take the plunge as well. The truth is that we are brainwashed at an early age to get good grades in school and then look for a high paying job. But in reality, it’s much more fulfilling to be your own boss and call all of the shots yourself. So why not take a chance?
Anyways, hope I didn’t come across as too preachy. I’m really looking forward to meeting all of you and being an active member of the group. If you ever need advice about ecommerce, I’m your man.
Steve. I have heard of your site and have actually been very interested in your online store! I have been toying around with the idea of starting a store online, and have nearly signed up for your instructional material, but for some reason, I haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I suspect that it’s a huge time commitment, and fear definitely plays a role, but I bet that in a couple of years, I’ll be having a similar story! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hey Derek, I’ve been to your blog on many occasions as well. With the Yakezie network, I’m sure we’ll all be doing quite well in the coming years. Let me know if you change your mind about signing up. Yakezie members get a discount!
I will definitely be talking it over with my wife. I already have a great product in mind! Oh, and thanks for visiting my blog. I hope to see you in the near future as well!
Steve good to hear about your story in more depth and congratulations on being able to establish a profitable online business. I am looking forward to hearing more about how your store is doing, as well as the recently launched training program.
Hi Sunil,
Thanks! Ever since our first year, business has been increasing in the double and even triple digits. It’s really quite amazing how many people can be reached via the internet. Heading over to your site now to check it out.
Steve, thanks for sharing your very inspiring story. I found it touching that your primary motivation was working hard to create income so your wife could stay home and care for your child. Here’s to your continued success!
Hi Eliza, Actually a lot of things have changed since the kids. For one thing, we now own a minivan:) That and everything now is about being able to spend more time with family and work less. Thank goodness for the internet.
Steve, It is very good to have you with the group. The added experience you have with ecommerce and small business will come in very handy, here, I think. Thanks for sharing your story. And, Welcome!
Thanks. I’m here to help if you ever have any ecommerce questions or want to open an online store
Such an inspiring story. I’m curious how you chose to sell wedding linens. I’m headed to your blog, where I’m sure you share more. Congrats on your success!
Hi Julie, It was my wife’s idea actually. She loves weddings. Click on “Our Story”, scroll all the way down and you’ll find more info about our story then you’ll want to know:)
Julie–That was my first question too. :)
Steve–Congratulations! What an inspiring story! I know what it is like to go to work at a job you dislike when you would rather be home taking care of your children. At least she made the leap before the baby was born.
We had to make the leap before the baby was born. In retrospect, since it was our first baby, there’s no way we could have pulled it off after the baby was born for at least 6 months. Let me just say that taking care of an infant is way harder than starting a business:)
Very inspirational Steve! Your kids are very, very cute! Kids change everything! Going to $100,000 in the very first year is very impressive and I can only imagine how hard it must’ve been during the early months, not to mention how scary since you wife quit her job!
Thanks for sharing Steve!
Thanks! Definitely very scary, especially in the beginning when you have no clue what you are doing. In any case, I’m very happy to be in the same Yakezie class as you.
Wow, such a cool story! It really takes some courage to take that leap and try to do it on your own!
Steve, Your baby is tooooo cute!!! This article is literally amazing. In fact if it was not on the Yakezie site I wouldn’t believe you could make $100K in the first year. Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
Thanks Barb. I love my kids and they say the funniest things. So does being a member of Yakezie give me more credibility?
Steve –
Glad to have you as part of the yakezie and I must say that I enjoy your site and your story. It’s always nice to read about starting your own business and hearing first hand from people who have done the same.
Good luck!
Hi Jeff,
Good to be here too. I’ve definitely visited your blog on a number of occasions as well. Good stuff
Wow, Steve… I am impressed! I am going to head over to your site now to read more about your journey.
Thanks! I’ll check yours out too
Hey Steve, success stories are so inspirational. Will enjoy reading more at you website. Would love to know more about how you set up your educational course as well.
Hi Dr Dean, Setting up the course took a lot of work. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have about the process.
Congratulations on your success! I find it interesting how your need drove you to an online business. Things have certainly changed!
Hey Steve, I’ve been to your sites a million times. Yours was one of the first blogs that I discovered a few years ago when I was thinking about blogging. I think that I had also seen your blog when I was learning how to install OSC for one of my web businesses. Your family has been an inspiration and I have enjoyed watching you raise your profile and grow your business. Continued success.
Hi Sandy,
I’ve been your site a bunch of times too. Seriously, how could I forget a blog with the name yesiamcheap. Love your blog title. And yes, I am cheap too:)
Steve, I love your family’s story and your site!
I’ve got many ideas on new ventures floating around in my head and potential products to have built and import from China…so at some point you’ll probably get questions from me! And as you know, I’m sure I’ll be pinging you with questions about PPC soon :).
Anytime my friend. Ask away!
Steve – I’m going over to check out your site now. Very interesting, inspirational member post. Glad you’re among us here!
Off to check out your site as well. I must admit your blog title has me intrigued
Inspiring story and adorable pic with the kiddies. Need to stop by and learn a thing or two. The wedding industry is super competitive. How did you overcome that? Continued success and maybe you can help my wife quit her job, too. :)
Great story Steve. Very inspirational. I am sure it was hard in the beginning but I am sure that your family is doing great by taking the plunge. I haven’t been on your site but I think I’ll go visit now.
Great story! I read your story a while back on your blog. Definitely very inspiring. Your wife is brilliant- who would have thought, online linens ;)
For my future wedding I might place an order through you guys!
Awesome story and congratulations to your wife for breaking out of the rat race. We scaled down so that my wife could quit her job, but we miss the income. You got the best (if not more) of both worlds! Great job!!!
Pure inspiration, nice work! Who knew online linens were profitable?! Stories like yours are what keep me going with my blog. Slow and steady wins the race. You are an example of taking action and not waiting for things to happen, good stuff!
Thanks for sharing your story Steve. I actually took advantage of the free course that you offer and I have to say that I am very confident that I can get my online store going. I’m hoping to launch fall of this year. Thanks for helping me get there!
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It’s very inspirational to hear your story! I love how you all focused on what really mattered to you in life and made it a reality! Keep up the good work.
Totally agree with all comments. I love your story and can identify with many aspects…specifically parenting small children! It’s great that you can juggle parenting with a full time job and a business – very inspirational. Also love that you sound like a genuine person. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for sharing your story Steve. That’s so great your wife is able to work from home with your kids and the business has been such a success. Glad to have you on Yakezie!
Your post is so inspiring I want to start an online business and I have no idea what I would sell! I’m looking forward to learning and continuing to be inspired by you in the future.
Steve “no risk, no gain” we have heard that.. But you both have proved it. Hats off to you.. :)
Hi Steve, super cute kids and great story. I’m checking out your store and blog now as I have been toying with the idea of a product site to tie to my blog. Like you said, it is scary to take the plunge and scary to fail. Lot’s of questions but I’ll poke around your site first :)
Hey Steve, I really respect your family’s decision to let your wife be a stay-at-home mom. Although we don’t have any children yet, my wife and I also decided that her working a 9-5 just wasn’t right for her. I really admire how you and your wife have been able to figure out a way for you two to work together. Most men can’t wait to get away from the family for ‘guy time’ so it’s refreshing to hear about someone who shares my same views. Truly inspiring story.
Thanks,
Timothy
$100,000 in your first year of operation??? That is just incredible! Congratulations. How long ago was this? Has your business grown since then?
What an inspiring story. There are so many opportunities for us to achieve our dreams once we take fear or failure out of the picture. My husband and I became self employed 7 years ago and haven’t looked back since.
Steve. I’m so glad your wife was able to quit her job and be with your baby. I know so many women that regret having to work during those precious times, although for most people I know it’s necessary. Anyways, Bravo on your success!
That is incredible. Congrats on your success, and good to share your story with others so that they can be inspired and learn from it.
This is a very inspiring story to all readers. Kudos to you and your wife for everything you have achieved today. :) Congratulations!
What an inspirational story! I just loved your post. I love stories with a happy ending. I look forward to your future posts. Great job.