Evette McCray, a financial consultant with Smith Barney Inc. in Providence, recently attended a panel discussion on entrepreneurship in Washington, D.C. Much to her dismay the entire panel was composed of men. Even the moderator was a man.
Nothing against the men, she said, but the panel’s composition left her feeling the organizers gave no consideration or credit to women’s ever-increasing contributions to the business world. In fact officials at the U.S. Small Business Administration consistently cite statistics indicating that women are starting their own businesses at a rate twice as fast as men, and are more likely to succeed.
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McCray said she had the opposite reaction, however, when attending the Foundations for Success seminar sponsored by the Service Corps of Retired Executives’ Women in Business Committee on Oct. 7. SCORE is a
volunteer branch of the SBA, which offers free business advice and counseling to budding entrepreneurs.
“For me anyway, there are so many times when you go to a workshop or conference and women are not thought of. They even use examples saying ‘he ‘,” McCray said.
“The networking opportunities (at such conferences) end up being more than just superficial,” she said. “Coming to things like this I’ve developed a real support network.”
This year after one seminar, she said, she developed a friendship with Carol Ann Hurley, president of Econotel Business Systems Inc., a telecommunications company in East Providence. Hurley, who also attended the October seminar, frequently sends her cards and even games to help inspire her in business, McCray said.
Annette C. Thibodeau, president of Bay Business Machines, Inc., in Lincoln, said she finds it’s helpful to attend business seminars, because it gives her time to think about strategies for growing her 11-year-old company and occasionally inspires “changes that you never thought of in the past.”
But Thibodeau said she doesn’t limit herself to attending seminars targeted at women business owners, although she finds women are more willing to offer constructive business advice.
“You have a lot more networking, and they’ll be honest with you,” she said.
The Foundations for Success seminar, which was held at the Providence Marriott, was the third in what is planned to be a continuing series to help encourage working women and women who’ve started businesses. It is also part of an effort to help SCORE increase its number of women members, explained Dianne Langer, one of the conference organizers.
Langer and fellow seminar organizer Mima Sousa aren’t exactly typical SCORE associates, however, in that neither is anywhere near retirement. Sousa owns Small Business Management Specialists, a bookkeeping company in West Warwick. Langer is a systems consultant at Safeguard Business Systems in Warwick, and also volunteers to teach accounting programs for SCORE.
One of the seminar series’ goals is to inform more people about SCORE’s free business consulting services.
“What we’re saying to them is, ‘Here we are, completely free, constructive criticism,'” Sousa said.
Among the free services available to female entrepreneurs through SCORE are: counseling, detailed workshops, and assistance with loan programs targeted at women, such as the Women’s Pre-Qualification Loan Program. The SBA will guarantee loans for a bank, when female entrepreneurs go through the qualification program and meet the agency’s requirements.
“We’re making a commitment that if a bank will approve this loan, we will guarantee it,” explained Marilyn Bogue, a team leader with the SBA in Providence.
Since the program started in April 1997, SCORE has counseled about 70 women for the Pre-Qualification program and 20 have gone on to apply for bank loans, according to Bogue. All 20 women have received bank financing, which amounts to $1.8 million, she added.
It is estimated that women now own about 40 percent of U.S. small businesses and that they will own 50 percent by the early part of next century, Bogue said.
“Overall women file fewer bankruptcies. We find that when women start businesses they usually tend to start them a little more conservatively than men do,” she added. “Because they’re a little more cautious in the beginning they tend to have more success.”
The first Foundations for Success conference was held in June 1997 and it attracted 85 participants, while the second seminar this past spring drew about 70 participants, according to Sousa. About 40 people attended this month’s seminar, with the organizers attributing the low turnout to a very limited advertising budget and an extensive traffic jam on the morning of the seminar. The next seminar is tentatively planned for next May, Sousa said.
For more information or to offer planning assistance call the SCORE office at (401) 528-4571.
