1992		Phil Holland, founder of Yum Yum Donut Shops - the largest independently held donut chain in the United States, starts the non-profit 501(c)(3) organization My Own Business, Inc., (MOBI). The organization is launched in response to the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. Mr. Holland begins sharing his experience in creating successful entrepreneurial businesses with the people whose neighborhoods most required rebuilding. Flyers announcing the free course are distributed around South Central Los Angeles, and the first free classes are held in Compton, California at the Compton Job Training Center.
1992-97		Classrooms fill to capacity for the eight-session curriculum. Local Hispanic entrepreneurs and the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Compton support the course by teaching classes in Spanish. The Mexican Council General awards completion certificates to Hispanic course graduates.
1996		A Board of Directors comprised of successful entrepreneurs and business people is recruited to further develop, expand and improve each aspect of the curriculum. The course is expanded to ten sessions.
1997		The Weingarten Foundation provides grants for website development and for professional design, production and reformatting of the course.
1998		Rotary International chapters begin teaching the course in their communities.
2000		The course is offered worldwide via the Internet and expanded to include the eleven essential elements of business an aspiring entrepreneur must know: 1) Deciding on a Business; 2) The Business Plan; 3) Basic Computer and Communication Tools; 4) Organization and Insurance; 5) Location and Leasing; 6) Accounting and Cash Flow; 7) How to Borrow Money; 8) E-Commerce; 9) Buying a Business or Franchise; 10) Opening and Marketing; and, 11) Expanding and Handling Problems.
2001		BusinessWeekOnline features an interview with Phil Holland in its October article "A Course Worth Following." The U.S./Mexico Chamber of Commerce selects MOBI as a partner to provide the coursework for training and education component in the "Wiring the Border" project, which promotes sustainable cross-border economic development. The L.A. County Office of Small Business highlights MOBI's coursework on its homepage and provides MOBI as an educational resource for entrepreneurs.
2002		The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) provides MOBI as a resource for professional development and lifelong learning. The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) collaborates with MOBI to provide the eleven-session interactive course from the SBA's online classroom at http://www.sba.gov/training/courses.html The World Bank launched the English version of the SME Toolkit which was funded by the government of Japan and IFC's Small and Medium Enterprise Department. My Own Business became a key content partner with the SME Toolkit providing valuable content which has already been translated into several languages including Spanish, French, Mongolian with more to come. Entrepreneur Magazine features insights from Phil Holland in its March cover story "Think Big! You Can Be The Next Starbucks, Here's How" The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) features links to the MOBI course on its website. The National Association of Female Executives (NAFE) provides website links to MOBI's course. High profile executives from the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce and Civic Association and the Beverly Hills Rotary Club join to provide MOBI's classroom course to students, residents and community members.
2003		The course grows to twelve sessions through the expansion of Session Four, Organization and Insurance, into two separate sessions. The New York Times features My Own Business, Inc. in a special section on small businesses in article "Big Mistakes! And Some Tips on How to Avoid Them." The My Own Business web site reaches a historical 2,839,059 page views for the year with 386,168 separate people taking the course. Through the interpretation furnish by the World Bank, the MOBI becomes multilingual, with versions in English and Spanish.
2004		The MOBI Hall of Wisdom, an advisory board of distinguished business experts, is created. See Hall of Wisdom Entrepreneur Magazine features founder Phil Holland's Comments in their feedback section. The My Own Business Handbook, containing all 12 chapters of the course, is created and offered to members. The My Own Business "Entrepreneur's Companion" booklet is created and offered to members. New enhancements are made to the website including new navigation, new material, and updated material throughout the entire web site. The My Own Business Online Certificate Course is launched. My Own Business partners with the IRS to create the Small Business Tax Center Top Ten Do's and Don'ts are added to each business course session to further enhance the My Own Business curriculum. Session 9 of the course material is revised with new information and a section on eBay.
2005		The Small Business Internet Resource Guide is added to our certificate course. Phil Holland speaks at the Small Business Administration Expo in Washington D.C. New video clips from business professionals are added to our certificate course. My Own Business hits an all-time high of traffic and visitors to the site with 210,000 visitors, viewing over 770,000 times a month. A new session on International Trade is added to the course material. The My Own Business Newsletter reaches an audience of 16,000 opt in subscribers.
2006		Phil Holland contributes an article to the U.S. Department of State e-journal discussing entrepreneurship and small business. A new session on Business Licenses and Permits is added to the course material. All video clips from business professionals are made available in both the free course and the certificate course. My Own Business reaches a milestone of serving more than 5 million visitors to the My Own Business Website!
2007		The U.S. State Department invites Phil Holland to conduct a two week tour of South Africa to share MOBI's basic do's and don'ts of starting a business. New session on International Trade is added to the course. The My Own Business course is made available for classrooms conducted by Community Colleges. MOBI is invited to participate in the World Bank's first Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) Forum. The GDLN Forum highlighted the network's tremendous growth that now includes 70 countries worldwide. My Own Business celebrates its 15th (crystal) anniversary. In 1992 the Los Angeles Rodney King riots prompted successful entrepreneur Phil Holland to begin teaching start-your-own-business classes in Compton, California. MOBI is chosen as MSNBC's "Business Website of The Week" and featured as a resource in the BARRON'S article titled "Raising a Precocious Young Business."
2008		MOBI Chairman Phil Holland is invited by the U.S. Department of State to share MOBI business training with Indian entrepreneurs. The World Bank provides three additional translations of the MOBI course to the MOBI website: Hindi, Arabic and Indonesian. My Own Business reaches a milestone of serving more than 10 million visitors to the My Own Business Website. MOBI content is selected to provide course material content to the world-wide Cisco Entrepreneur Institute. MOBI is presented as world-wide Rotarian vocational service at the Rotary International convention in Los Angeles, California. MOBI is invited to the celebration of World Trade Week at the White House in Washington, D.C.

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