Debbie Yuhas and John McNutt are "transferred Yankees" who live in Richmond, Virginia. They have been married for 28 years and have two children. John and Debbie have always been interested in working for themselves and, due to a changing work environment, decided to purchase a retail business in 1985. As with many businesses in their startup period, the retail business did not produce sufficient profits to be their only source of income, so they decided that Debbie would run the business full-time while John would work as an employee for an insurance and investment company. Ten years later, in 1995, their retail business had grown so that John could finally join Debbie on a full-time basis.

By 2002 the couple realized that to survive in a changing retail environment, they had to make some changes. In December of that year they received an invitation to an Internet marketing workshop and thought it sounded like a good "investigatory experience." They really didn't expect to learn that much, but just wanted to see if the Internet had potential for their business. At that point in their professional lives, their family was dependent on the retail business as their only source of income, and that source was not destined to grow other than by inflation. On top of that, the couple was hoping to retire in the next 10 to 15 years, and the children were approaching college age. With the flattening-out of their income and the looming educational expenses of their children in mind, John and Debbie were looking for ways to generate additional income and had been actively looking at other businesses. With that in mind, the couple went to the Internet marketing preview and, with an open mind, attended the full-day workshop ten days later.

John and Debbie walked into that workshop ready to buy and came away with six storefronts. They were impressed with the low-risk nature of the Internet opportunity.

"To start a new business today, an initial investment of $5,000 is nothing," John explains. "The money didn't scare us at all. And once you can get rid of the fear, there is nothing to stop you."

John and Debbie were also interested because they could operate their Internet businesses from home.

John and Debbie's existing retail business sells children's shoes and related accessories. They were initially concerned about trying to sell shoes on the Internet. They thought customers might not want to buy online because they couldn't try the shoes on the kids. But then they started doing an analysis of how much time it takes a parent to get their kids ready, get them to the store, buy the shoes, and then take them out for a treat because they behaved at the store. Suddenly they realized that buying those shoes in a traditional storefront just cost the parents an extra $15, a bunch of their time, and a whole lot of hassle! How much easier would it be for them to buy online!

So John and Debbie decided to try selling their shoes, a collection of children's dancewear, and a line of child raingear (which they already carried in their retail store) online. John and Debbie had their first three website products decided before they even left the workshop. The couple also bought three additional sites for future growth, and they have some great ideas for products they want to offer in those storefronts.

After purchasing their storefronts, John and Debbie set to work to launch their new web businesses. They hired a third-part coaching company (PMI) to give them extra help and guidance, but even though they had very little experience with the web, they chose to build the storefronts themselves. They decided that even with the learning curve, the investment of time would be well worth it. It took them three months to program three storefronts.

"It was well worth the investment in time," John says emphatically.

John and Debbie published the stores and had their first sale within a day after doing so.

"We just about fell out of our chairs," says John with a laugh. "That proves it works."

They also used resources such as Links4Trade (which he describes as "excellent") to promote their storefronts.

At the time of this interview, John and Debbie's storefronts had been published for less than a year. Yet in that time, the monthly revenue from those stores had tenfold. Now the couple is faced with some new financial possibilities. They moved ahead on some previously delayed home improvements and are also examining the real possibility of retiring in 5 to 7 years instead of the planned 15 years.

"This accelerates the process," John explains happily.

About a third of their business comes from call-in business from people looking through the site and calling their toll-free number to make sure there really is someone on the other end of the phone. Projecting about a 20 percent profit margin, that means in one year they paid off everything owed to StoresOnline and to PMI and made 100 percent more back in profit.

"When you can get a 200+ percent return on an investment, that is pretty exciting." John says. "And from here on out, it is just even more."

"It [building an online business] was quicker compared to other businesses. It was far easier than I thought it would be. And it's been far more exciting! When you wake up in the morning and find five orders have been placed on your sites while you were sleeping, it's pretty great. I think the Internet is the way business will be conducted in the future."

And John and Debbie love the look and feel of their StoresOnline websites.

"We get at least a comment a day about the professionalism of the site. Our customers tell us this looks like one of the 'big boys.' They don't realize we're working on this from our bedroom while in our pajamas. The stores are so professional."

Visit John and Debbie's Store Online at www.storesonline.com/site/547047

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