Name of company: Strategic Staffing Solutions
Name of woman leader: Debra Maynard
Based in: Indianapolis
Description: Provides supplemental staffing for client organizations
Began: 2002
2003 sales: $1.3 million
2007 sales: $3.9 million

What was the inspiration for your business?
After 19 years in the staffing industry, Debra Maynard felt circumscribed in her efforts to provide the kind of customer care she believes in. "I came to the point where I thought, 'Why can't I do this?' That was my inspiration. Just being able to provide something I thought would be better."

How much did it cost to start the business?
It took six months and $60,000 in cash to launch the business. To finance the operation, Maynard cashed in a 401(k), took out a second mortgage on her home and lived on her savings for the first year of business. "That first year I had like $4,000 in salary," she says. There wasn't any furniture in the lobby the day she opened, but Maynard had 60 associates ready for hire. The furniture arrived in boxes later that afternoon, Maynard recalls.

How did you grow your business so rapidly?
Several things contributed to her growth, Maynard says, beginning with her knowledge of the industry. "I knew to how sell what I was selling," she says. She also credits internal staff, which was excited about being part of a startup. "As we started bringing on client partners, we did such a great job and built a reputation of being a real good partner." That begins with integrity, she adds: "Doing what you say you're going to do and providing a great product as well as service."

"Would I do it again? In a heartbeat."

How do you balance your family and business responsibilities?
"Initially, I didn't [do that] very well," she admits, noting that building and growing a business required 70-hour work weeks. "I've always been very close to my children [who were 10 and 12 at the time], so nothing really suffered there. We just had a little less time to spend together. They understood what I was doing and were behind me 100 percent." And in the past couple of years, Maynard says, "I've learned to leave at closing time and go home and enjoy my family."

What's on your iPod?
"I listen to music all the time." She loves the blues and classic rock. Her son's in a hard-core heavy-metal band that rehearses in her basement, so she's been getting a good dose of that music, as well.

What books are you reading?
Maynard likes to read several books at once. She's working on a James Patterson novel while reading Alan Greenspan's Age of Turbulence and It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy.

What's your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to grow their business?
"It's really about the passion you have for what you're doing. You can't start your own business just for the monetary end of it. You really have to love what you're doing.

"Certainly, a sales and marketing plan is a must," she says. "And the team you hire to surround you and help you build your business: Make sure they'll represent your company with integrity and professionalism. But really, it's about your passion for it. If you don't love it, you're not going to have much fun."

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