Sometimes you learn the best lessons when you fail. Take Julie Lech Boura. She owned her own health-care business, a prevention program for older adults, but eventually she had to shut down shop. She had no need to worry, though. Boura's second company, TeamQuickSilver, is a success thanks to a lesson that she learned while running her first venture: Connecting people to information is the best way to follow up on sales leads.

"It was sad to close [my first business], but I learned the importance of resourcefulness and networking and how to apply them," she says. And with her new company Boura has taken those skills to the next level, using them to build relationships with current and potential customers. TeamQuickSilver is an independent distributor for Nikken, a company that makes alternative health-care products. The independent-distributor relationship allows her to have her own company and a team of people to mentor and with whom to work. It also lets Boura avoid doing her own manufacturing, accounting, or lawyering ? the parent company takes care of those burdensome tasks so Boura can focus on what she does best.