What started as a way to make extra money while her son was a baby has become a multimillion-dollar enterprise for Jennifer DeNyse. She and her husband, Allen, launched what became DeNyse Signs Inc. in 1983, with Allen overseeing sales and marketing and Jennifer in charge of operations. By 2001, with Jennifer as majority owner, DeNyse Signs had grown into a $5 million, 40-employee business creating residential signs. That year, she decided to purchase a small commercial sign company in Powder Springs, with one client, an Atlanta-based global shipping company, that proved especially lucrative.

"That year was quite a large year for us," DeNyse recalls, adding that they doubled both their staff and revenue with the acquisition.

To prepare for the explosive growth, DeNyse said she went to leadership training seminars offered by the National Association of Women Business Owners and other organizations. There, she came to understand what it means to manage a small business.

"I realized I'd been doing it all along, but I didn't understand a lot of the techniques," the Cincinnati native said.

"When there are 10 people working for you, you're like a mother to these people," she said. She added: "As you grow, though, you have to delegate."

Today, DeNyse oversees the operation, which includes field offices in Florida and Alabama, and a new 103,000-square-foot headquarters in Douglasville. Now that the couple's college-age son and daughter are gone, she said she wants to streamline the business.

"I want this to be a fine-oiled machine," DeNyse said.

Even though her son is grown, he still might enjoy her ultimate goal for DeNyse Signs. "My dream is to have a Disney World-looking place," she said, "where you come in and we have these great-looking signs and you can feel the creativity."