Entrepreneurs across America - Cover Story

Entrepreneur, April, 1996 by Janean Chuna, Debra Phillips, Cynthia E. Grifin, Heather Page, Lynn Beresford, Holly Celeste Fisk, Charlotte Mulhern

NEW YORK

Company: Cynthia Steffe Location: New York City Business Began: 1989 Start-Up Cost: $500,000 1995 Sales: $20 million 1996 Projections: 23 million

Was destined to be a fashion designer before I even knew there was such a thing," says Cynthia Steffe, who as a child "was always drawing women in beautiful clothes. It was instinctual." As a teen in small-town Iowa, Steffe designed her own clothes while her peers donned blue jeans. "I did stand out," she admits.

She still does, whether by winning awards in design school, working for Donna Karan, or having her women's sportswear designs grace the pages of the very magazines she faithfully combed. Yet fashion, "like any business, comes down to hard work," says Steffe, 37, who raised start-up funds through family and personal savings and from an investment group. "The glamour part of it is maybe 5 percent."

Beyond the runway, Steffe and her husband and partner, Richard Roberts, are concocting new product lines and planning to do more business overseas. "Our business is one in which the product constantly changes, and I have to keep my eye on the ball," Steffe says. "There will be a next generation of Donnas and Calvins and Ralphs in this business. I hope to be one of them."

MINNESOTA

Company: Caribou Coffee Co. Inc. Location: Minneapolis Business Began: 1992 Start-Up Cost: $250,000 1995 Sales: $15 million 1996 Projections: $30 million

Six years ago, a vacationing John and Kim Puckett stood atop a mountain in Alaska and vowed to each other that they'd start a business together. Two years later, they fulfilled those vows with Caribou Coffee Co., a chain of coffeehouses that operates in five states.

"We were both earning a lot of money but were really miserable," says John of the corporate careers that he and wife Kim, 31, left behind. "Now we're not earning a lot of money, but we're really satisfied."

What keeps the satisfaction percolating? Maybe it's the close ties Caribou Coffee keeps not only with its customers but its coffee growers as well. Maybe it's the fact that the Pucketts are unafraid to blend entrepreneurship with social activism. Maybe it's because these self- confessed "coffee fanatics" are as in love with their products as their customers are. Says John, 32, "We're crazy about [coffee]."

SOUTH CAROLINA

Company: LifeQuest Location: Charleston Business Began: 1991 Start-Up Cost: $450,000 1995 Sales: $2 million 1996 Projections: $2.9 million

Although Hurricane Hugo put many companies out of business in the Southeast, the 1989 disaster actually helped Rally (right) and Wayne Caparas get their business going. "I was studying for my MBA and preparing to be an entrepreneur, but Hurricane Hugo sort of sped up my timetable," admits Wayne, 33.

After the storm cleared, several health clubs in the area closed, and brothers Wayne and Rally, 34, saw the perfect chance to enter the market. They raised money from private investors and through pre-sales of health- club memberships. Three health clubs later, however, they realized the concept wasn't quite right. So they sold their shares and began developing LifeQuest, a health club for baby boomers--not bodybuilders--who want big results at a small price.