HNIK Presents Women In Entrepreneurship Series Feature – Arsha Jones

I am beyond excited to introduce you to the 2nd woman in my Women In Entrepreneurship Series. I consider her somewhat of a mentor. She is always extremely helpful in offering her vast knowledge of business, blogging and web development. She has blessed me tremendously and I am so excited she accepted this feature. Everyone meet Arsha!

1. Introduction: Tell us a little about yourself!
My name is Arsha Jones and I’m a 35 year old web designer, entrepreneur, easy-going, married mother of 4 boys! I try to balance my time between them, extra-curricular activities, mommy and daddy time and just time to be me! I was born and raised in Washington, DC and I still work there during the week, but spend the rest of my time in the suburbs of MD with my family. I graduated from VCU (GO RAMS!) with a BFA in Illustration and Graphic Design.

2. What is the name of your business?
Capital City LLC. But we (my husband and I) manage websites under several online businesses.

Capital City Mumbo Sauce http://www.capitalcitymumbosauce.com
We sell a popular local DC condiment called mumbo sauce. It was originally sold in the late 50’s-60’s by African American chicken wing restaurants in DC and in the 80’s the recipes were adopted by various Asian Food carry-outs around the city. Since then mumbo sauce has been a staple of the DC Metropolitan area and is not only sold by hole-in-the-wall eatery’s,  but also many large name establishments.

In May 2011, I decided to try my hand at bottling and selling my own version – Original and Sweet Hot. Within two months of opening our online store we were featured on the front page of the nationally recognized Washington Post newspaper as well as featured on Fox 5 news, the BBC and various other media outlets. Our mumbo sauce is sold in online and several DC area locations. We are gearing up to market to local supermarkets in January 2013.

CapCityApps http://www.capitcityapps.com
My new venture CapCityApps is a mobile apps company which focuses on building iPhone and Android Apps for a niche group of mobile users. Essentially, we will be creating apps from the African American perspective – whether its’ fun, educational, historical, games, beauty, entertainment and of course a little ghetto (nothing disrespectful though)!

Our first project is an iPhone app called The Big Chop App. It’s a hair makeover app for women who are either [1] considering the big chop and want to get a preview on how they will look or, [2] just want to see how they look with a natural hairstyle (twists, twist outs, braids, head wraps, dreads, etc.). We have tons of additional features planned for our second release, however the first version will be out sometime in November.

CapitalCityLove http://www.capitalcitylove.com
This is just a fun project for me. I love DC. But as much as I love DC, many people who are not from the area don’t know much about the local culture aside from the President and politics. This merchandising company will offer high quality apparel for the people of DC (including metro areas).

brand. build. sell. http://www.brandbuildsell.com
The blog is a resource guide for people who want to learn how to make a website without all the fluff. It was helpful for me to create this website especially when I did a significant amount of freelancing. I would often get asked the same questions from my clients about domains, hosting, marketing, SEO and making money online. I pulled together all of my resources in one place for them to get acquainted with building their first website.

I am hoping to incorporate some webinars and online courses in 2013.

4. How long have you been in business?
A little over a year for Capital City LLC and it’s been an amazing ride thus far. After being brought into spotlight for our mumbo sauce, we instantly had thousands of sales, followers and customers. So what started out as a fun project for my family and I, turned into a full fledged business venture!

5. When did you decide and what made you decide to go into business for yourself?
Years ago. I have always been a freelance designer even before I graduated college. I liked being in the background and actually still tend to shy away from the spotlight. However, it became too much too balance, especially when I wasn’t calling the shots. Many times, it was hard for me to follow other’s direction, when I knew something wasn’t being done correctly. So instead of trying to work for someone else decided I would try to create my own vision of what my ideal workplace/company would be like.

6. Are you in business full-time or part-time?
Both part-time. I work as a web designer part-time while working on my other projects. I have worked for 13 years as a full-time designer and recently decided to reduce my hours to part-time in order to have the freedom to pursue other opportunities.

7. What are the challenges in owning your own business?
Finding time to manage a growing business and a family of overactive boys!

8. What are the amazing factors in owning your own business?
I can do things my way. Of course I get my husbands opinion. We think completely different and it helps to have his ideas included. He often comes up with ideas or processes that I haven’t thought of. As the saying goes two heads are definitely better than one.

9. What advice would you give you women who are thinking about going into business for themselves?
Take your time. Coming up with an idea for a new business doesn’t come easy. Don’t rush it. Then when you are ready to start, do it right from the beginning. Don’t cut corners and if you need it, ask for help. Also don’t be afraid to reach out to people who have  created similar businesses for themselves. I would have loved to have a mentor starting out!

10.Where can we find you? Please share your website URL, FB Fan Page, Twitter etc.

Capital City Mumbo Sauce
http://www.capitalcitymumbosauce.com

CapCityApps
http://www.capitcityapps.com
https://www.facebook.com/CapCityApps
http://twitter.com/CapCityApps
http://thebigchopapp.com/

CapitalCityLove 
http://www.capitalcitylove.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Capital-City-Love/198574473580577
https://twitter.com//CapitalCityLove

brand. build. sell.
http://www.brandbuildsell.com
https://www.facebook.com/brandbuildsell
https://twitter.com/brandbuildsell

[note color=”#4fccc7″] HNIK Presents: Women In Entrepreneurship Series takes the time out to recognize fabulous women within their respected communities, who have started a business and are exploring the rewarding career of entrepreneurship.[/note]