MEMPHIS, Tenn. - If anyone knows about turning lemons into lemonade, it's an expert on logistics - and it seems the people who award the Best Small Business awards agree. Surviving tough times is just one of the reasons Total Control Logistics won New Business of the Year by the Memphis Black Business Association.

If necessity is the mother of invention, Memphian Terica Lamb was already ahead of the curve. Three months before the 38-year old mother was laid off from her 11-year position as an engineer at FedEx, she had been prepared to convert the "silver lining" inside the cloud.

"I had already had the business plan written and was just looking for the opportunity to implement. So, what ordinarily would have been a sad and tumultuous day for the ordinary was actually a good beginning for me," said Lamb. "I have a customer who is in the United Kingdom who uses me to consolidate his U.S. suppliers with car parts."

In less than a year's time, Lamb has formed her own retail outsourcing business as President and CEO of Total Control Logistics. Lamb, who was recently awarded the New Business of the Year by the Memphis Black Business Association, offers a variety of services especially aimed at online retailers who might not be capable of meeting the total demands of moving their products to customers.

"Let's bring all these small businesses in-house to a third party logistics person to be able to manage their warehouse operations, manage their inventory control, their order fulfillment," explained Lamb. "Their customers would order on their websites. Their orders would come to me and I will fill them out at the warehouse just as that particular business would."

With office space and subleasing part of a 110-thousand square foot warehouse from esteemed Memphis businessman Charles Ewing, Lamb says she's got plenty of room for growth in the merchandise she can handle, from the biggest to the smallest items.

Even armed with her 11-years at FedEx and Industrial Engineering and MBA degrees from Georgia Tech and the University of Memphis respectively, Lamb admits it's always a bear to start your own business. But, she says it can still be done if you're committed to bring an idea to life.

"There are so many business ideas that come up that we don't act on. We kind of talk ourselves out of really good opportunities. But, if there are opportunities that come before you, I would say do your research. Be the expert in that particular business," advised Lamb. "When life throws you a curve ball you can either get ready and you know make that hit. Or you can sit on the sidelines."