Three Start-Ups, a Year Later

NVDL: RentingYourHome.com, which aims at small landlords with one to five properties, is a nifty idea.

clipped from www.nytimes.com One has failed. Tina Ericson recently shut down her online T-shirt store, Mamaisms Gear, in Wilmington, N.C., overwhelmed by the strains it was putting on her corporate job. “It seems like it was only yesterday that we were discussing our plans to make $100,000 in revenue the first year,” Ms. Ericson said. “We made some very expensive mistakes.” The only one bursting with confidence was Jeff Takle, whose property management software company in Somerville, Mass., was on the verge of collapse six months ago. As he was trying to figure out how to keep it afloat, he was hospitalized for a viral infection he contracted on a business trip to India, and used the time to rethink his strategy. “I came out a supercharged new man,” said Mr. Takle, the founder of RentingYourHome.com, which aims at small landlords with one to five properties.