Readers often email us asking us for advice about new businesses they are thinking about starting and we often find that many of them don’t have a framework for thinking about a more fundamental question: why should or shouldn’t you start a business?

Below, you’ll find how successful entrepreneurs from across the city thought about this very question when they were considering whether to start their businesses.

Aaqib Mohammed | CEO, Precision Corporate Services

Given commercial corporate construction was my expertise from my previous full time job and my own sister company (residential construction), I decided to start my own business Precision Corporate Services to lead the commercial real estate industry in Houston, TX and surrounding areas. From an engineering background and over 13 years in construction experience, I have mastered the processes with various complex projects successfully completed for different clients, investors and Property Management firms. I definitely rely and trust my team, suppliers and trades who have invested so much in establishing the business throughout these years. Read more>>

Reema Soman | Concierge Travel Agent

I have always loved traveling, and I love being organized and planning every aspect of a vacation. It was a perfect fit for me to be a travel agent and help others with planning his or her own vacations! Read more>>

Tony McKinney | CEO & Founder of Black Rockstar Apparel and Goldmine Dumpsters LLC.

I’ve always had a dream to become an entrepreneur. I was raised by entrepreneurs so it’s always been instilled in me. I have spent most of my working years pouring into and building other people’s businesses that I wanted to finally pour into mine. My mother taught me young that you either spend time building someone else’s dream or you build your own. So, I wanted to establish a brand based on longevity that created jobs and avenues for growth in marginalized communities. Read more>>

MUSTAFA KHALID | CEO

As first generation immigrant, the idea behind starting our own business was to make something out of what they call the “American Dream”. Our passion for cars along with the ambition to make a name for ourselves within the entrepreneur industry coaligned to get started and it has grown leaps and bounds ever since we started. that along with the fact that we are young and around the age of 25-26 makes it even more exciting that we can inspire young entrepreneurs to pursue business instead of working for someone else. Read more>>

Courtney Rodriguez | Personal Fitness Trainer & Online Transformation Coach

I have always had a deep passion for fitness and helping others achieve their health goals. This passion made the idea of turning my hobby into a career incredibly appealing. Second, I saw a gap in the market for personalized and holistic fitness coaching. Many fitness programs are one-size-fits-all, and I wanted to offer tailored plans that consider each client’s unique needs, goals, and lifestyles. I was inspired by the potential to make a real impact on people’s lives. Seeing clients transform their health and well-being is incredibly rewarding and drives me to continuously improve my offerings. Read more>>

Mandy Giles | Founder, Parents of Trans Youth

As the parent of two transgender children, I’m constantly being connected with other parents of trans kids all over the country who need my support. When this started happening several years ago, I learned that parents of trans kids are hungry for connection, support, and learning but have trouble finding it easily. I started to think about how I could use my skills to support more parents in a broader way. Read more>>

Cecilia Graves | Hermosa_LLC: Hermosa makes custom aprons from heritage designs and handmade one of a kind pottery.

Hermosa began as a family project of me documenting traditions shared by the women in my family. We were four generations together my grandmothers, mother, my daughter and myself sharing life to the fullest in Houston Texas. My mother was Spanish and Italian….My father, Mexican and Native American. We were a Houston family. I believe life is beautiful and each season shapes us.
I was then lead to the word and our brand name “Hermosa” which means ” beautiful” in Spanish. Read more>>

Christine Adaeze Nwoha, MD | Doctor

I wanted to charge the way people approached their health. I wanted to empower my patients to make meaningful changes. As a physician working in the hospital I started to realize that many patients didn’t know how sick they were until it was too late. Many times they didn’t take their health seriously because they weren’t aware of the implications that their lifestyle was having on their body. What I assumed was common knowledge, was not. When I started to educate my patients and clients they would see so much improvement and would thank me for taking the time to break things down in a digestible way, giving them the opportunity to optimize their lives. Read more>>

Chane’ Joseph | Content Creator & Consultant

Health and wellness has always been at the heart of my journey, starting with my career as a licensed massage therapist and evolving into guiding individuals on their fitness journeys. Despite my deep commitment to health and wellness, I found myself really drawn to content creation and helping small businesses here in Houston navigate social media without feeling overwhelmed. We all know how tricky social media can be—it’s a mix of good and bad. I believe creating content should be fun, not stressful, and shouldn’t take a toll on your mental health. The Social Jo Club is all about empowering business owners to find their unique voice and build strong, supportive communities. Read more>>

Rebecca Rivera | MyRealtorBecca

I’ve always felt like an entrepreneur this is an interesting question because the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind is that we went into this looking for a way to make more money and do less work and in reality we do so much more work and a lot of times the money has ups and downs, but the biggest thing for me about being an entrepreneur is just having that control of what my own time looks like. I am willing to work 18 hours a day sometimes for what’s building me as a business and as a brand versus putting in your traditional eight hours building someone else’s, and feeling unfulfilled. Read more>>

Keon K.O.K | Artist & Entrepreneur

It wasn’t much to think about honestly. I grew around entrepreneurship both legally and illegally, so my mindset was always to work for self; even if that meant having side hustles & work for hire to fund it. Efficient entrepreneurship was always the goal. See the vision , strategically map out the road to get there , understand that things will not go exactly as planned so make adjustments along the way , & put systems in place that help maintain and grow the business. Read more>>

Bobbi Mason | Founder/CEO, Certified Trauma Support Specialist (CTSS)

I saw a need in that there is not enough support for young widows Read more>>

Karen Nelson | Owner/Interior Designer

I started my first design business over 17 years ago when I found a gap in the design market that I felt needed filled. I had that design business up until the end of 2023. This year I have just rebranded and relaunched my design business to fit who I am today. Starting any business in my opinion, is all about finding a need in the world that you feel strongly about and creating a solution for others who may have the same need. Read more>>

Curtis Love | C.Love

I think first and foremost was the need for more income. We all want to have more financial security and freedom and this felt like a good way to make it happen. I kind of accidentally became a creator for YouTube in October of 2019 with the floating bed frames and have expanded since then. Family and friends know that I can create awesome things with wood as I’ve always loved to build and make, but that was pretty much the limit of my reach. I wanted to get to a larger audience and I figured I could give YouTube a shot. Read more>>