Rochelle Rizzi knows what it's like to run a small business. Now a second generation entrepreneur, she got her feet wet working for her father's company in Ohio. While just a 16-year-old looking to make a few extra dollars for spending money, she found herself with a pretty important job--convincing those in her community to want to buy from the family business.  "I guess that's where my interest in marketing began. I realized how important it was for a business to brand its product," she said. "The first person you meet at the door or the quality of your first project … that's what leads to a first impression, and ultimately, a reputation."

Despite that knowledge early on, Rizzi's career in marketing happened in a roundabout way.  She graduated from college with a degree in psychology and biology.  It wasn't until she followed her future husband to Michigan that she took a job with a consulting firm in Milford. Even that was short-lived. "Shortly after 9/11, the company went under. I found myself unemployed again," explained Rizzi. It was then that she realized that following in her father's footsteps and running her own business was her future. She went back to school, getting a degree in business from Michigan State University, and launched Rizzi Designs.

Rizzi Designs is considered a microenterprise: fewer than five employees with a start-up cost of $35,000 or less. Rizzi Designs was able to get off the ground without borrowing any money. "I did marketing contract work and was able to save money and build up a great contact/client list." Soon Rizzi was hired outright for jobs or offered a partnership on projects. "We started the company slowly and steadily," she noted. Rizzi did most of the work herself initially, then brought on part-time help. She boasts being able to do it without once going into debt.  "We developed from a one-man band to a solid team of five. She stated all have spouses who are gainfully employed with company supplied healthcare benefits. “Not having those costs really helped get us off the ground and making money," she said.

Rizzi Designs offers a host of services: public relations, event planning, graphic design, advertising, and logos for corporate identity and branding.  Branding, Rizzi said, is perhaps the most important. "It's how a company is identified and remembered. We make our clients sparkle brighter than the competition and people take notice!"

A group, or team as Rizzi calls it, is put together to meet the specific needs and expectations of the client. She said her company draws on some 20 years of experience in developing a marketing strategy to best highlight a business, but the input of clients is always welcome. "Unlike bigger shops, we work with our clients. We listen to them and work together to get the best outcome. We want them to feel marketing ownership from the ground up."

Rizzi said her company is still growing. Once a home business, Rizzi Designs now has an official office. The company is also planning to increase the number of contractors, or team members, as Rizzi calls them. "I wanted to make sure I could pay people before I brought them onboard. I'm pretty confident now that the company will continue to grow, and this is just the beginning," she said. She declines to talk exact numbers, but says the company's business growth has doubled in just the last year. Rizzi Designs’ newest venture launched just in 2007 is called "Designing from the Inside Out."  It has two aspects: interior design and internal marketing.

While nearly doubling its size in personnel, the company's mantra has remained the same: finding a balance among family, work and community. Rizzi stated that requires being like a close-knit family. "We're in constant communication with each other. We know what has to be done, and we do it.  We're always watching out for each other." Rizzi said that means if a sick child keeps a team member from the job, then other team members pitch in to cover the workload. "The client deserves the best; and if someone's out for some reason, then the rest of us step up and get the job done."

Rizzi admitted being a small business owner in today's economy is not an easy thing, but said surrounding herself with honest, hardworking people who are dedicated to the common goal of quality is the reason Rizzi Designs has been so successful. "Businesses will always need businesses like ours; so if you try hard, you'll succeed no matter where you are." Rizzi also credits her husband, Brian, for her success. "Owning my own business takes more time than I ever imagined and I couldn't do it without Brian's support. He not only gives me ideas, but holds down the fort at home!" The couple has a 15- -month-old son named Garrett.

As for advice to potential entrepreneurs, Rizzi offerd these words of wisdom: never stop learning, keep family first, be patient, and build it strong and true.  "If you're true to yourself, your clients and your employees, then you'll feel good about what you're doing and have fun!"