Twenty years ago, Susan Collantono was an up-and-coming manager for a major insurance company, but she realized she simply wasn’t happy. That was in 1979 and Collantono left her promising corporate career to open her own consulting firm in her Wakefield home.
She was maybe a pioneer among Rhode Island women business owners, some of whom, like Collantono gave up promising corporate careers to set out on their own.
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”I was one of those women who was on the cutting edge of moving up in the corporations,” she said. “But I was leaving it to pursue other interests. As I talked to other professional women in my field, it became apparent to me that success in the corporation was insufficient.”
Today, Collantono’s consulting firm is doing well, she has just started her own publishing house, and is the process of writing a series of books on finding the “magical moments in everyday life.”
Collantono is not alone in her decision to leave the corporate arena. A recent study by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO) shows the number of women business owners in Rhode Island is growing, and the sales of those businesses is growing even faster.
NFWBO found that since 1987 the number of Rhode Island women-owned firms grew by 47 percent, the number of employees is those firms increase by 104 percent, and the sales generated have increased by 122 percent. The study showed that women-owned firms in Rhode Island employ more than 133,000 people and generate nearly $16 billion a year in sales.
”Not only is there a significant growth in the number of businesses, but even more of growth in terms of the number of employees these businesses have and the sales they generate,” said Bruce G. Rosenthal, communications and public relations manager for the NFWBO. “The companies are getting larger and making a more substantial impact. It’s not just an increase in numbers, but these businesses are significantly adding to the state’s economy.”
The study also indicated that in Rhode Island, similar to the nation as a whole, most women-owned firms are in the services and retail trade. More than half, 51 percent of Rhode Island’s women-owned firms are in services and 19 percent are in retail trade.
But since 1992, the greatest increase in the number of women-owned firms has been in the wholesale trade at 74 percent, followed by construction at 64 percent and manufacturing at 61 percent. Growth has been below average among firms in finance, insurance and real estate at only 35 percent.
”It’s interesting to note that there has been such a rapid rate in growth among non-traditional businesses compared to traditional things like retail,” Rosenthal said. “With such a strong economy we are seeing a lot more women business owners heading construction companies and manufacturing companies.”
The increase isn’t surprising to many women business owners, who say the change has been coming for more than a decade.
”I have been excited about this for the past 10 years,” said Armeny Apkarian, owner of Armeny Property Management Inc., of Warwick. “Ten years ago it wasn’t so easy for women to earn creditability, you really had to prove yourself. Today, everybody has learned a lot and success is something they respect in a women.”
Two years ago, April Williams McCroy left her job in finance to begin her own company, North Star Marketing in Wickford.
”I was in corporate America,” she said. “Then I read a book that said ‘do something you love and the money will follow.’ So I did.”
McCroy said one of the benefits to owning your own business is the elimination of the so-called “glass ceiling,” a term used to describe barriers that women often face in reaching top levels in traditionally male oriented corporations.
”The independence, the ability to control my own hours, the unlimited possibilities, and no glass ceiling are the best parts,” she said. “The corporate environment has not caught on and helped women who are struggling to do it all. By owning their own businesses women are able to balance work and families.”
Still, Rhode Island ranks 45th out of the 50 states in the number of women-owned business, which Rosenthal attributes to the state’s size.
”Because it’s a small state it’s going to rank lower,” he said. “California ranked the highest.”
Other New England states fared a little better. Massachusetts ranked 18, Connecticut 25, New Hampshire 38, Maine 41, and Vermont 48. The data was compiled using the most current census bureau information.
Based in Silver Spring, Maryland, the NFWBO has spent the last 10 years researching the characteristics, trends, and the growth of women business owners across the state.
Debra Hickerson, executive director of the National Association of Women Business Owners said she believes there are two major reasons why women-owned business has thrived over the past 10 years.
”First of all, I think corporate downsizing plays a role,” she said. “Many women who lose their jobs because of corporate downsizing end up starting their own firms in the same field, or in another field that interests them.”
Collantono agreed. “I think that women are less seducible by the trappings of corporate success,” she said. “They are beginning to feel that there is more than the next promotion or waiting out the next merger.”
Secondly, Hickerson said, society is telling more and more women that they can start their own business.
”Students are coming out of school to start their own businesses,” she said. “In the past they have gone on to graduate school; today they are becoming entrepreneurs. I think that our culture is shifting and will continue to shift so it will be much more natural for younger women to aspire to be a business owner. I think that we are already starting to see it ingrained in society.”
The Internet has played a pivotal part, Hickerson said by broadening the customer base. “Eighty percent of the women in our organization are embracing the technology and succeeding with it.”
Many women business-owners say the Internet plays a huge role in their ability to network, a key factor in the success of any business.
”I do a lot of research using the Internet and it really helps me to keep in touch with clients,” McCroy said.
Still there are some hurdles to overcome. Collantono said one of the hardest things is getting used to not having people in the office.
”I missed having a network of colleagues,” she said. “And I really had to be self motivated, and focused.”
Still, all the women said deciding to open their own business was one of their best decisions.
”The benefits are uncountable and they outweigh any drawbacks,” Collantono said.
