Many workers, perhaps disillusioned by cubicle walls and fluorescent lighting, may have indulged in a fantasy at some point in their careers. They’d finally take that side gig and make it their sole source of income. They’d open that boutique in the empty storefront they pass every day. They’d turn that idea for an app into reality.

The US is home to over 33 million small businesses — organizations with fewer than 500 employees — and businesses of this size account for nearly all of the country’s employers. Nearly 46 percent of Americans are employed by a small business.

But the path to getting these businesses off the ground — and ensuring they’re sustainable — can be daunting. There’s money to raise, leases to sign, staff to build, inventory to acquire. And in today’s turbulent economy, with uncertainty around tariffs and predictions about a coming recession, these hurdles can seem insurmountable. But as these six entrepreneurs who all recently launched their businesses prove, there will never be the “perfect” time to start your own company. From the bouncer who opened his own comic book shop to the new mom who launched a beauty brand, small business owners share what it took to get their ideas off the ground.

Responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Don’t be afraid to change course

From Joyce Medeiros, CEO and co-founder of Investrio, a bookkeeping and tax prep software for solopreneurs:

I’d been in finance my whole career before building Investrio, and I saw a need for entrepreneurs to get their finances just right. My co-founder also came from finance. Initially, when we set out to build a tool, we were helping with credit card debt, and we didn’t really understand who our ideal customer was. At the time, we were helping Latinos, we were helping minorities. Upon looking at the data holistically, after a couple of months, we realized our customer is a solopreneur, and it’s not a credit card issue; it’s an accounting problem. That led us to pivot the strategy, the marketing, the way that we approach the business and the product itself.

“I’ve made no money some months.”

I was a financial coach before Investrio really took off.........

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