Dreams of a feminist business

I’ve been getting really into entrepreneurship lately. It’s strange, to be honest, to be wishing I could have taken business classes in college. I went to a liberal arts school, majored in Anthropology and Spanish, and stayed away from anything practical. But in the years since leaving school, and particularly these last few, I’ve started to get super excited about the idea of business and entrepreneurship.
What turned me off from business for so long was the idea that the goal had to be making money. That I could only be involved in business if I wanted to get rich off my project.
I’ve come to learn that’s totally not true, and there are business out there that aren’t non-profits (at least legally or tax-wise) but are more like not-really-for-profits. Where the owners and employees cover costs and receive salaries, but aren’t in it to become millionaires.
I’ve also come to value the skills that are required for business ownership. Taxes, financial management, legal statuses, all of these are really valuable things to understand–even just as individuals.
I’ve been tagged as “the Business” by my co-editors at Feministing (check out the best birthday rap ever if you didn’t see it in May) and the title is pretty accurate.
There is something about the seeming simplicity of business–meeting a need and covering costs–that is really appealing to me.
I firmly believe that one huge factor holding back entrepreneurship in this country is employer-based health care. Speaking as a self-employed person, it’s a scary proposition that I could lose my coverage at any time. How many folks would choose non-traditional routes of employment if they didn’t have to worry about being denied health care coverage? How many more amazing companies and inventions would we have if everyone (regardless of employment) had access to health care?
I’ve got plenty of dreams and ideas about what my feminist businesses could look like (not surprisingly, a feminist sex shop for example). Any of you budding entrepreneurs? If you could run your own feminist business, what would it be?