With the help of Make Mine a Million $ Business, some women business owners triumphed over the turbulent economy and grew their companies into million-dollar firms in 2008.

Make Mine a Million $ Business is a program of Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence and American Express OPEN.

WomenEntrepreneur.com asked some of these women, "What was the major obstacle you had to overcome to reach the $1 million level, and how did you do it?" We published responses from seven women yesterday. Here are responses from six more.

Woman leader: Bonnie Marcus
Company name: Bonnie Marcus & Co. 
Based in: Westport, Conn.
Description: Invitation and greeting card company specializing in chic, stylish greeting cards and invitations

The major obstacle I had to overcome to reach the million-dollar mark was to stop thinking like a designer and start thinking like a business owner. Prior to winning the Make Mine a Million $ Business contest in 2006, my concentration was on designing and manufacturing beautiful stationery, not on sales goals.

Company background: Having worked in the fashion industry with Diane Von Furstenberg and in special events at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, I noticed that most of the invitations available at retail were very traditional and that there was a void in the stationery market. In 2002, I launched a fashion-forward stationery company, the Bonnie Marcus Collection "where fashion meets paper" from my kitchen table in Westport, Conn., with no funding.

By 2006, the company had reached the $600,000 mark, but we found it difficult to surpass that point. Then I won the "Make Mine a Million" contest, and the million-dollar goal was put in front of me for the first time. I then realized that I had always been focused on the creative, but I rarely looked at my sales numbers or had annual goals for my company. I had been thinking like a designer, not a business owner.

I brought the idea of hitting the million-dollar mark back to my office and shared the challenge with my staff. We had numerous meetings, not only about design, but also about sales strategies. We had individual and company goals to meet, and we worked together to exceed those goals. In 2007, by focusing on the numbers and giving incentives to staff to reach their goals, the Bonnie Marcus Collection exceeded the million-dollar mark.

Today we are constantly thinking outside the box for new ways to grow and exceed our goals. We have developed many successful licensing relationships with companies such as Kodak, and our award-winning designs now appear on many products beyond the world of paper, such as fashionable tote bags and even flip flops.

If I had not changed my focus three years ago, I am sure Bonnie Marcus & Co. would not be as successful as we are today. Woman leader: Cynthia Rubio
Company name: Radiant RFID
Based in: Austin, Texas
Description: Provider of RFID solutions for tracking assets and people in emergencies

I don't think there was any one major obstacle to reaching the $1million revenue level. It felt then, like it does today, to be a series of hurdles that needed to be cleared on the way to our goal. That's true whatever that goal may be: a new client, product or revenue target. Some hurdles are the same from goal to goal, others are different. But there are many, ranging from identifying your differentiators to cutting costs, perfecting the sale, and identifying customer expectations and delivering beyond them.

How did we reach our $1 million level and beyond? We take our business plan and make sure that we focus on it. It's easy to get distracted with all the opportunity. We have to know who we are and check to make sure that we are growing in the right direction with every new deal.

Woman leader: Susan Wilson
Company name: The Judgment Group 
Based in: Stevensville, Md.
Description: Professional judgment enforcement firm

Sadly, the biggest obstacle was me--a realization that hit me hard at the December 2007 Make Mine a Million $ Business Conference. A presenter told the inspiring story of Intel's two founders:

Despite years of hard work and amazing successes, Intel was failing. Keenly aware the board intended to fire them Monday, the founders did something desperate and unremarkable. They fired themselves, hit a local bar and started fresh. If the board hired them Monday as outside CEOs to replace themselves, how would they turn Intel around? Because they were free to create an unbiased plan, the board readily allowed them to execute on it. And the rest is history.

Inspired, exhausted and out of options, I knew what I had to do. After six years of struggling in vain to build The Judgment Group into a powerhouse, I headed straight to my hotel room, immediately fired myself and hit the mini-bar. Two glasses of wine later, I recalled Nelson Mandella's compelling words, "Your playing small does not serve the world. Who are you not to be great?"

I closed my eyes and decided in that moment to be great . . . and the earth kept spinning.

Twenty-four hours later, I emerged from my hotel room with an unbiased plan that quickly got The Judgment Group over the million-dollar hurdle. It was simple (and free). Without the shackles of past successes and failures, I simply changed my mind and decided to be great. This year, we'll hit $5 million. And the rest is history.

Woman leader: Garnett Newcombe
Company name: Human Potential Consultants LLC 
Based in: Carson, Calif.
Description: Employment solutions company

After eight years in business, I had the hardest time letting go of handling daily tasks. I felt that no one else could do the work as well as I could, and I was still answering phone calls.

Tired of working 14-hour days, I found an executive coach through Make Mine a Million $ Business. I learned how to develop job descriptions and match my employee responsibilities with their skill sets. I ultimately transitioned myself to rely on the team's abilities, which allowed me to step back and manage the business as a CEO of Human Potential Consultants.

I also learned the understanding of financials. Before I just wanted to know the bottom line, not what impacted the numbers--operating costs, insurance--I didn't want to take the time. To grow the business, I needed to restructure, get a line of credit and understand where the money is coming from. It was all in my head, and I was afraid to see how it would be spent. Studying the cash flow, sources of funds and having the ability to make cost adjustments made the business bankable.

Since 2005, the company has grown from 10 employees to 125, and my annual revenue has increased from $400,000 to $7 million. I now pay myself a salary and offer 401(k) benefits. Learning how to delegate and changing my mind-set allowed me to focus on the business growth. Now I am loving life.

Woman leader: Theresa Daytner
Company name: Daytner Construction Group 
Based in: Mount Airy, Md.
Description: Commercial construction consulting group

When I persuaded my husband to quit his job and join me in starting our own construction company, I had to sell him on my idea and get him to "drink the Kool-Aid." I started by laying out our plan for worst-case scenario: "Come on, honey, we're both employable. I know we have six kids to care for and the youngest two are 1½ -year-old twins, and the family and neighbors will think we're irresponsible . . . but we can always get jobs if things get too scary." Sounds reasonable, right? And neither of us worries too much about what others think. Obstacle No. 1, tackled.

OK, so we didn't start with a nest egg, a pile of cash in savings or even clients banging down the door. In fact, a woman with more courage than she deserves cast the entrepreneurial spell on her talented husband and they went straight to work, side by side, in the home office where she once had her CPA practice. Next obstacles were getting access to other people's money (well, bank loans, really) and getting service providers such as bankers, IT consultants, accountants, insurance agents and lawyers to share my vision and see more than they were looking at . . . Ma and Pa in the converted dining room cum home office. They drank the Kool-Aid, too.

The final obstacle was getting other stakeholders to take me seriously, see and buy into my vision of scaling up, and bring their resources. We overcame that one, too. Well, we went through a couple of "computer guys" before the right IT provider understood my vision of a virtual network with remote project managers.

Moral of the story: I never doubted and began with the end in mind. The biggest challenges have been in getting others on board, but I won't let that hold me back, especially with the supportive community I have in Make Mine A Million and other networks.

Michelle Thompson-Dolberry is director of advocacy marketing at American Express OPEN, founding sponsor of Make Mine a Million $ Business.