NATCHEZ &8212; The desire to own her own small business lay deep inside Susan Smith. One day the urge surprised her.

&8220;I came in one day and asked the owner if she wanted to sell her business,&8221; Smith said.

She bought the business, Just 4 You Monograms and Gifts, soon after that, in May 2005.

A schoolteacher for 17 years, she thought she would teach one more year, but she didn&8217;t.

&8220;I taught accounting and entrepreneurship. I&8217;d always wanted to do something like this,&8221; she said.

&8220;I&8217;ve always liked to sew; I sewed a lot when my girls were young. I like the creativity of the business. It&8217;s something new every day. You don&8217;t know what the day will bring.&8221;

Smith refurnished and refurbished the business right away, painting all the walls a cheerful green and adding new display cases.

She began to concentrate on the gifts side of the business, first on the baby section, where soft, pastel-colored chenille animals and pillows sit beside picture frames and baby toys.

&8220;I&8217;ve steadily been bumping up the gifts. The baby section is my focus this year, and I try to include plenty of gifts that can be monogrammed,&8221; she said.

&8220;I&8217;ve added soft books, puzzles and jewelry boxes. And I&8217;m adding some men&8217;s gifts and revamping the purse lines.&8221;

In the center of the store are new products from Niven-Morgan, including soaps, lotions and bath salts. &8220;I&8217;ve added two candle lines and a lot of home decorating items.&8221;

Wedding gifts and a bridal registry are new, as is the baby registry.

&8220;We&8217;ve tried to make it a place where someone can run in and get a gift for any occasion,&8221; Smith said. &8220;We&8217;ve been very pleased.&8221;

Her sister, Kim Gammill, who owned Santa&8217;s Station, and her mother, Martha Gammill, who worked at Santa&8217;s Station, have joined her at the business, Smith said. &8220;That has been wonderful.&8221;

Her sister and mother understood the ropes of &8220;going to market&8221; to buy items for the store. &8220;I had never been to market, and I would never have known what to do,&8221; she said.

&8220;We have a saying, &8216;Kim buys it; Mom decorates it; and I pay for it.&8217; We work together well and a lot of families can&8217;t do that.&8221;

The location could not be better, Smith said. The shop is part of the Sports Center complex on Seargent S. Prentiss Drive but with its separate entrance.

&8220;Wade actually built this for them,&8221; Smith said, referring to Wade Craig, Sports Center owner, and Elaine Goss, former owner of the monogram store.

&8220;I did not know the work they did that was hand in hand with Sports Center,&8221; Smith said. &8220;I didn&8217;t know Wade had salesmen all over Mississippi and Louisiana and didn&8217;t know that would be so big a part of the business.&8221;

The monogram side of the business is up to 60 percent of the sales for now, Smith said. Clara Anders, who had been with the business for nine years, and Stephanie Martin, who had four years of experience there, remained at Just 4 You.

&8220;That was a wonderful thing, to have their experience in the business,&8221; Smith said.

The shop gladly monograms items not bought there. In fact, several other businesses in Natchez send their customers to Just 4 You when they purchase items and want monograms.

Less than a year into the venture, she could not be more pleased, Smith said.

A Web site is under construction, and she plans to open a small shop in Woodville soon.

&8220;It was a leap of faith to quit a job and jump out and do something brand new, but I knew the time was right. I was comfortable walking away from it,&8221; she said.