Small Talk Feeling overwhelmed by the idea of starting your own business? Then starting with a microenterprise could be the answer for you.

Jim and Georgia Thompson didn't go into business to getrich. They went into business because it looked better than workingfor someone else. "It's not exactly that we didn'tlike the people we were working for," explains Jim, 45."But we were doing all the work and weren't getting any ofthe rewards."

So in June 2001, the father-daughter team started JJ&GElectric, a two-person electrical contracting company in Austin,Texas. Both were veteran electricians, and Georgia, 21, hadexperience running the office at the electrical contractor wherethey'd both formerly worked. But they quickly found thatrunning a small business was different from wiring a building."We had the electrical skills. We had the office skills. Wealso had the people skills," says Jim. "But we had littleknowledge of the financial skills and skills of running abusiness."

In that sense, the Thompsons are typical microenterprise owners.These popular but little-recognized businesses, numbering anestimated 2 million, are generally categorized as those requiringless than $35,000 in start-up or early-stage financing. Theyusually have fewer than five employees, especially in the earlyyears, and are often sole proprietorships. Microentrepreneurs facea special challenge, because few lenders will consider making suchsmall loans, especially to start-ups that lack adequate collateral.Microenterprises are likewise challenged by the fact thatthey're often run by people who, while boasting excellenttechnical ability, don't know much about marketing,bookkeeping, cash management and other key business skills.