0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

76 ● 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business
Onion Saloon. The Saloon is a major tourist attraction in this funky, isolated
Gold Rush–era mining town. (We visited Skagway during a fantastic
Alaskan cruise my family embarked on to celebrate my father, Marty’s
80th birthday.)
I was wandering around town, when I stopped in to check out
Wandering Wardrobe, a tiny shop on a side street. There, I met Giacomazzi,
a skilled seamstress and fashion designer. To supplement her income, she
restores and repairs the antique corsets and gaudy dresses worn by prostitutes
who worked at the saloon in the 1800s. The original dresses are on
display, but she creates replicas of the colorful “saloon girl” dresses for the
women who give tours of the museum. She also makes costumes for
the funny live show depicting the colorful history of Skagway.
“I love what I do at the museum, but here in my shop I can create what I
want,” said Giacomazzi, who has a degree in textile design from the University
of Alberta. She opened the vintage and designer clothing shop about five years
ago, squeezing racks of clothing and mannequins into the 180-square-foot
space. (It’s so small it doesn’t have a bathroom, so she uses a neighbor’s.)
Giacomazzi is one of many small business owners who work another
job to keep the lights on.
Across the country in Enfield, New Hampshire, Steve Fulton works
as a freelance mechanical engineer to supplement income from his Blue
Ox organic farm. “I’m still doing engineering projects and enjoying it, but
I prefer being outside,” said Fulton, who holds six patents on a variety of
machines. “There is a lot more immediate gratification and feedback from
farming compared with engineering projects.”
He grows about 30 different vegetables on 10 acres, including lettuce,
squash, tomatoes, and eggplant. Fulton sells everything he grows to local
grocery stores. In 2002, he started cultivating soybeans, which became his
first cash crop.
Although he is a successful farmer, he still can’t support himself by
farming alone.
“Last year, I made some money farming, but it’s definitely not paying
all the bills,” said Fulton. “I wish I had known how slim the (profit) margins
would be. Still, selling vegetables does cover the farm expenses.”
Unlike engineering, which is detailed and precise, farming is totally
unpredictable. “The weather is a huge factor,” said Fulton. “Most of my land
is pretty wet, so rain is a bad thing.”