For Michael Mascagni, starting his own small business was a new and exciting venture, an outlet for his love of meeting the public.

For Jim Pippen, it was a natural outgrowth of his love of antiques.

For Darby Short, it started with an arts-and-crafts sideline she took on after her husband lost his job.

But with several new businesses opening recently or planned for Natchez &8212; from coffee houses to restaurants &8212; the question remains for others: How does one successfully start a small business?

Those who have started their own businesses in Natchez have the same advice for those looking to follow in their footsteps: do your homework and be willing to sacrifice.

Sacrifices to be made include putting in long hours and saving as much money as possible.

&8220;Be prepared for a lot of hard work,&8221; said Michael Mascagni, who in recent weeks started Italian eatery Lil&8217; Dago&8217;s with his brother, Bodie.

&8220;My wife has been a trooper through the long hours,&8221; he added.

Darby Short, who opened her shop Darby&8217;s Gifts 24 years ago, now laughs as she remembers not being able to buy a tube of mascara for herself during her first two years in business.

&8220;My friends sent me a care package &8230; of makeup and clothes because they felt sorry for me,&8221; said Short, who started out selling her paintings at outdoor festivals.

So her first piece of advice for new business owners is this: &8220;You can&8217;t expect instant gratification. If you do, you&8217;ll have a tough time.&8221;

Do your homework

Louise Peabody, who recently moved her Intimate Home fine linens store from New Orleans to Natchez, said prospective business owners should also do plenty of homework ahead of time.

&8220;Think: who do you want to sell to? Are there enough people who can afford what you&8217;re going to sell? Find the best thing you can (sell) that will meet their income,&8221; Peabody said.

Peabody&8217;s other tips include:

4Knowing your customer, &8220;or otherwise you&8217;ll buy the wrong things.&8221;

4Knowing your product inside and out so you can tell your customers what they need to know.

4Buy what the larger chain stores don&8217;t buy. &8220;You can&8217;t compete against the big boxes,&8221; Peabody said.

4Study how other stores attract customers, by visiting the stores&8217; Web sites and by visiting in person similar stores in other towns.

4Build your inventory before you sink big money into advertising, &8220;because if you get into business and don&8217;t have anything, customers won&8217;t come back.&8221;

Money risks

One thing Pippen, owner of Pippen&8217;s Antiques, and the other business owners noted was that undercapitalizing &8212; starting a business with too little money &8212; is a big mistake.

&8220;It took me 25 years to get where I am, and you&8217;ve got to be able to survive the lean times,&8221; Pippen said. &8220;Too many businesses start out on a wing and a prayer.&8221;

Jeff Waller, director of the Small Business Development Center at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, said he sees that mistake quite often.

&8220;They try to start out with too little money. Then, after they lose money for a while, they&8217;re in a different loan category,&8221; Waller said. &8220;Then the bank can&8217;t loan them money because they aren&8217;t a profitable business.&8221;

A related problem is that those starting businesses &8220;max out&8221; credit cards to finance their businesses.

Such pitfalls are why, when a person comes to the SBDC to put together a business plan, Waller first gives them homework.

&8220;They have to research the financial requirements and where they&8217;re going to apply for a loan,&8221; Waller said. &8220;I also talk to them about loan and investment options.&8221;

In addition to financing, other top reasons new businesses fail, Waller said, are poor management &8212; &8220;you may be a wonderful welder but a terrible business person, he said &8212; and poor planning.

The latter factor is where Waller and his staff come in, helping entrepreneurs plan their businesses before the pitfalls begin.

In addition, the SBDC helps existing businesses navigate their problems and help them grow. For more information, contact the SBDC at (601) 445-5254.

Staying in business

Starting a business is easy, John Kammerdeiner and Megan Edwards will tell you; the trick is keeping the thing running.

&8220;I had the idea to do it and just jumped in feet first,&8221; Kammerdeiner said. &8220;If you look at everything on paper, you won&8217;t ever start one.&8221;

The thought of crafting a business plan, studying market trends and all of the accompanying headaches was equally unappealing to Edwards, who said she and her sister followed the Kammerdeiner method in opening Polka Dots children&8217;s boutique.

&8220;We were fed up with our jobs and said, &8216;Let&8217;s go for it,&8217;&8221;

Kammerdeiner said he has learned a few things about running a small business in the year Kammerdeiner Custom Guns has been open, and not all of it is pretty.

&8220;You struggle to keep prices competitive,&8221; he said. &8220;Joe Blow could buy a product on the Internet as cheap as you buy it from the wholesaler. And Joe Blow would just as soon pay the shipping and have it arrive at his house, without tax.&8221;

Joe and Josie Blow have lost their sense of community shopping, which has not embittered Kammerdeiner.

&8220;Hey, I buy stuff on the Internet that I could buy locally,&8221; he said.

No matter where you stand on evolution, small business owners are Darwinists, at least economically.

&8220;If you&8217;re going to survive, you have to have a real special niche that&8217;s not being sold on the Internet or at Wal-Mart,&8221; he said.

Crafting and servicing custom guns certainly fits the bill, and it has kept the business afloat.

&8220;Our custom gun business is a different world,&8221; he said. &8220;It takes a while to get established in the area, but once you do&8230;&8221;

Houston, we have a niche.

Edwards has found her niche as well, and she&8217;s learned a thing or two about flexibility.

&8220;It&8217;s a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, especially now that I&8217;m by myself,&8221; Edwards said.

Her sister, citing the stress of running a business, left for a job in the medical field.

What started out as strictly a boutique for children has slowly turned into a store &8220;with a little something for everyone &8212; except for men,&8221; and the open paints on the counter and apron around Edwards&8217; waist attest to her claim to &8220;paint anything.&8221;

Edwards and Kammerdeiner agree that the rigors of keeping a new business operating take their toll, but are worth it in the long run.

&8220;I don&8217;t think I could go back to working for someone else,&8221; Edwards said.