The Big Idea

Women start businesses for all sorts of reasons.

Sometimes it stems from a passion or the need for a product or service that can’t be found elsewhere.

For Ines de Pablo, the idea came from her unwavering love of animals.

Pets orphaned by Hurricane Katrina inspired the former criminal justice scholar to launch pet safety company Wag’N Enterprises.

At the time, there were no mandated pet evacuation procedures during natural disasters. So de Pablo came up with the idea of a pet evacuation kit.

“It took some convincing to get family members to understand my plan,” she says. “But I created a business and marketing plan and took entrepreneurship

classes. Within a couple of months, I had a shop, a website and employees.”

Mine For Nine owner Marisa Moss got her business idea after talking to friends about the lack of professional, affordable maternity clothes.

“Women don’t want to spend money on a wardrobe they’re going to wear less than six months,” says Moss. “I asked my friends what they thought about renting the clothing, and their enthusiasm got me excited.”

After researching annual birth rates and potential competition, she created the first U.S. online service offering professional and special-occasion maternity clothes for rent in 2011.

How to come up with your own brilliant concept? Experts recommend brainstorming about common yet unsolved problems and thinking about problems of the future so you can research and be ahead of the curve.

Bonus PINK Link: Looking to team up? Here’s how to pick the perfect partner.

By Caroline Cox

“The most effective way to do it is to do it.” Amelia Earhart