Turning a Hobby Into a Small Business

Elaine Hodgson started out as a biochemist, working for NASA and private companies for about four years. In her spare time, she played video games and found herself increasingly drawn to the idea of creating them. So she took some courses in programming that enabled her to start working for small companies that manufactured games.

In 1985, Hodgson and her then-husband Larry started their own video game business, Incredible Technologies; it now has $60 million in sales. Based in Arlington Heights, Ill., the company is best known for an arcade game called Golden Tee Golf.

But as the company became increasingly successful, Hodgson found herself doing less and less of the programming of games that she loved. She now has a staff of programmers.

"My career changed to be in sales," Hodgson said. "We grew, and I became more of a manager."

That doesn't mean she's unhappy. As CEO, she has a bigger impact than she would by programming: "You get more done."

Julia Shanks, whose love was cooking, found that she had to learn how to be a businesswoman in order to succeed in her hobby-turned-business.

After studying aviation psychology in college, she went to work for the Federal Aviation Administration. She was in the process of applying for a job at Pan American Airways when she realized the night before the interview that she was heading in the wrong direction. A week later, she made the decision, "I'm going to cooking school."

In 1997, she started Interactive Cuisine, preparing restaurant-style meals for clients in their homes while also teaching them cooking skills. But building the company was harder than Shanks first expected.

"I put a figurative 'open' sign out and I figured people would call, and nobody called," she said. "You realize, I need to do something."