Crushing ice for a frozen cocktail? Reach for a full-sized blender. Need a quick smoothie for your morning commute? Break out your personal-sized blender, then hit the road with its on-the-go jar. But ...

These are the projects I recommend building instead of just buying something off the shelf.

Katherine Haan, MBA, is a Senior Staff Writer for Forbes Advisor and a former financial advisor turned international bestselling author and business coach. For more than a decade, she’s helped small ...