Persistence and creativity key for startup businesses.

• Author: Christensen, Lisa
• Position: WYLDER

Salt Lake City--Everyone is online. The hyperconnectivity of the internet and ubiquity of access has brought an unprecedented opportunity for Ideas to turn into businesses--by virtually anyone.

As any entrepreneur can attest, the path from Idea to business is full of obstacles. At the Utah Women's Summit, three startup experts tried to tackle some of the most common challenges entrepreneurs-particularly those who are women--face.

Alison Faulkner, creator of THE ALISON SHOW, said her business started through her desire to make a living dealing with crafty things, and she devised several paths that would take her to that goal. In her case, she said, she created her brand through blogging for various people and built her business from there. When one avenue didn't work, she tried another.

"It's staying true to the core of what you're doing and being able to mold what's working for you, and stemming from there," she said.

Vanessa Quigley, co-founder of CHATBOOKS, was a part-time opera singer and mother before she and her husband got the idea to create a business that let people make physical photo albums out of the pictures they had posted online. Being an entrepreneur was far outside of her life plan--as was, for the Florida-based family, moving to Utah. But both things presented a new, unplanned path.

"Opportunities present themselves, and you just go with It," Quigley said.

Angela Brown, executive editor of SLUG MAGAZINE and executive director of CRAFT LAKE CITY, said entrepreneurs should be aware that slumps in ambition or progress will happen (and frequently!) and they need to be pushed through. Brown said to...