Issue date:
Aug. 21-23, 1998

Six steps to success

What the rest of us can learn from today's smart new success stories.

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"Lessons from America's new entrepreneurs"

Learn on the job say Malia Mills swimwear co-owners Julia Stern, 31, and Malia Mills, 32. With little business experience, these college friends used their design smarts to figure out a way to make shopping for -- and buying -- swimsuits less depressing and more satisfying. They've sold more than 12,000 swimsuits.	Trust your gut instincts says Dave Kapell, creator of Magnetic Poetry. Sales last year: $6 million. Kapell, 36, was a heavy-metal guitarist with a quirky penchant for writing lyrics with words cut out from magazines. The idea stuck when he put words on magnets and stuck them on the fridge.	Be passionate about it say Nantucket Nectars creators Tom First, 32, and Tom Scott, 32. Sales last year: $50 million. The two Toms believe youth has been one of their best assets in building a juice company. Their stamina fed their drive, which led to success.
Believe you can succeed says Todd Alexander, founder of Vendemmia wine distributorship. Sold 12,000 cases last year. For several years, Alexander, 30, earned little while toiling in the retail, wholesale and production side of the wine business. But with the knowledge he picked up, he became a distributor himself.	Keep it simple says handbag designer Kate Spade. Sales last year: $30 million. As a fashion editor, Kate Spade, 35, saw too many ugly, clunky handbags. So she teamed up with husband Andy to create functional carryalls with clean lines and sharp colors.	Mess up? Start over say Jason and Matthew Olim, 29, co-founders of the No. 1 online music retailer, CDNow. Sales last year: $17 million. These twins knew it wouldn't be easy to reinvent retail by selling CDs online, so they weren't afraid to abandon bad ideas and change direction.