Flourishing at home

Mike Sciacca

With the pace of the world speeding up with each passing year and

new technology constantly changing the face of communications, Stacy

and Richard Henderson were looking for ways to slow down their way of

life.

Both were engulfed in the rat race of the corporate world, with

work taking precious time away from what was most important to them

-- their family.

Stacy Henderson, a systems analyst whose demanding schedule

included being on-call, and Richard Henderson, who worked at Flour

Daniel, an engineering firm in San Bernardino County, were looking to

start a home-based business. The idea was for Stacy to be able to

stay home with their five daughters, who range in age from 3 to 13.

They found that business as the owners and publishers of Home

Business Magazine.

Now, the Hendersons have been named the California Home-Based

Business Advocates of the Year 2002 by the Santa Ana District Office

of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“The Hendersons provide a valuable service for the thousands of

home-based business owners around the country,” Santa Ana District

Director Sandy Sutton said. “Many large enterprises once originated

in an extra bedroom or the garage.”

Since it is the very goal of their business to help, the

Hendersons are thrilled.

“We’re very honored,” Stacy Henderson said. “Our hope is that

Home Business Magazine provides interesting and helpful information

to both new and experienced home-based entrepreneurs on how to start,

manage and succeed in home business.”

Stacy left her job in 1994 to work full-time from the confines of

their home. Richard followed a year later.

Ironically, it was advances in technology and the changing face of

the business world that allowed them the chance to work from home.

That, and putting in countless hours of hard work, they said.

“Owning a home business isn’t for everyone,” Richard Henderson

said. “To work independently takes self-discipline and strength of

character. You should not get into a home business to skirt the issue

of working or cutting corners. In fact, having your own home business

actually makes you more competitive.”

The Hendersons say they began researching on the Internet to find

ideas on beginning a business from home. What they found was a lack

of information, but also that there were quite a few at-home business

opportunities out there. That information, they say, was untapped.

So, they began compiling information on ways to begin an at-home

business and tapped into a market that few others had exploited.

Their initial information on starting a home business was sent out

via mail order.

When she began, Stacy Henderson said she was hoping to generate

$500 a month to put toward the family’s finances. They’ve easily

surpassed that with the success of the Home Business Magazine.

Initial newsstand circulation in 1994 was 1,595. Today, it has

grown to more than 80,000 copies sold per issue.

In 1996 the couple started the Web site, Home Business Magazine

Online.

“Hopefully, the articles and work-from-home success stories in

each issue can encourage other people to act on their entrepreneurial

spirit and pursue a home-based business that gives them more

independence and unlimited potential for financial success, enables

them to truly take back and manage their time and helps them improve

their quality of life by balancing work with their personal and

family life,” Stacy Henderson said.

It has done just that for the Hendersons, and made times that

might have been tough, easier. Richard Henderson, a reservist in the

U.S. Navy, spent 30 days last November on active duty in Alexandria,

Egypt. For him, finding the balance between work and family time has

been key.

“It certainly takes a certain type of work ethic,” he explained.

“You also need organizational and technical skills to succeed, and

we have those.”

The only trouble, he said, is managing to separate the two.

“If there is a negative or downside, it’s keeping work and

personal life separated,” he said.

An additional advantage the Hendersons have had working from home

is that they have saved money.

Their staff of employees is a “virtual team,” Richard Henderson

says, but the size of that staff is one that you would find at any

mid-sized magazine -- they are just not all in the same building.

“There are no more corporate suits and no more dry cleaning of

those corporate suits,” Stacy Henderson said. “There are fewer gas

purchases -- neither of us misses the 45 minute or the 1 1/2 half

hour one-way commutes. There are less costly lunches and no more

child-care costs. We love being able to take care of our children

between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. -- around the clock, for that matter.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.