Marilyn Goumas has no regrets about opening her handmade-chocolate shop on Sanibel Island, even though she's encountered some bumps along the way. Hurricane Charley took a heavy toll on island businesses, and Goumas Chocolates Inc., 2250 Periwinkle Way, was no exception.

"The first year was going great-until the hurricane," she says. "We couldn't open up for five weeks, so there was nobody here. It was like a desert island."

When they did re-open, customers trickled in. "Business was slow, but people started coming back," says Goumas. "They were curious to see what the damage was like. But Sanibel did a great job of cleaning this up."

Business also took a hit when the causeway toll doubled to $6, prompting a lot of day-trippers to stay away from the island. "I think a lot of those people are just a little bit angry," she says. "They used to come over here and shop and eat."

In retrospect, Goumas is not sure what she might have done differently before opening. The toll increase and hurricane were beyond her control. And besides, she's living exactly where she wants.

She and her husband, George, had been vacationing on Sanibel Island since 1978, and they always hoped to open a shop here. "We would come here almost every year, and my husband and I both loved the ocean. We loved the sunshine," she says.

Today they live about five miles off the island. "We just picked up and left [Ohio]," she says. "It was kind of gutsy."

Goumas and her husband also own handmade-chocolate stores in Ohio. Her husband's grandfather started the business in 1911. She advises people who are contemplating going into business to stick with something they know. "We knew what we were doing," she says. "I think it would be very difficult to open up a business if you were not in retail before."

In the end, it comes down to taste: As more customers sample the chocolates, sales increase.

"Chocolate is sort of like an aphrodisiac for people," she says. "Once people get a taste, they always come back. There are lots of chocoholics out there."

-John Francis