Women starting and staying in business

FARMINGTON – Entrepreneurship is not for the chicken-hearted among us.  

Pat Starbird of Chesterville, who with family members opened Homestead Bargain Barn, said the hardest part of starting her own business was “developing the confidence to take that risk.”

Judy Tollefson of Farmington, who has started a wholesale knitting kit business, said the difficulty was that she was alone with her ideas and questions.

 “It’s hard being so isolated,” she said of her start up.

For Melissa Shea of New Vineyard, who is starting a mountain guide service and firewood business, the difficulty she faced is with “people taking me seriously.” In her firewood business named “Chainsaw Chick,” Shea said she’s been asked if her husband cuts the wood for her.

“I wouldn’t even let him touch my saw,” Shea quipped.

Risk-taking courage, self-reliant confidence and overcoming notions of traditional gender roles are a few of the many obstacles these new women business owners have faced. According to the U.S. Small Business Association, only two-thirds of all small business startups survive the first two years and less than half make it to four years.

To help increase the odds of business success particularly for women, the Maine Women’s Business Center, a program of the nonprofit Coastal Enterprises Inc., provides business counseling, workshops and peer networking and support meetings across the state. Although the program targets women, 19 percent of the clients who have received counseling with WMC over the last three years have been men.  

On Friday morning, 11 women, one man and business counselor Betty Gensel gathered for breakfast and business in Farmington.

Quilters Sally Rowe and Alison Terry of Maine Mountain Quilters will be having a show Oct. 16 & 17 in West Farmington and they wondered about the possibility of displaying quilts in downtown businesses as a way to get the word out about the show. A brainstorming session followed with the idea of filing empty store spaces with quilts, not only in Farmington but Wilton as well. Phone numbers and email addresses were exchanged.

As each person introduced herself and her budding business, supportive comments flowed: “that’s a great idea” and “there’s a great need for that in this area,” along with here’s who to call, were a large part of the discussion. Gensel interjected a few workshops in the area that may be of interest coming up and the discussion continued.

The peer networking group, which has been meeting for three years in this area offers business owners an opportunity to share their experience with new, existing and potential business owners, Gensel said. Last spring the group decided to move the meeting to breakfast time – a more convenient time for some – for the first Friday of each month and expanded it to run from 8 to 9:30 a.m. because more than one hour was needed for the discussion.

“It’s not limited to women but it was designed to address the special needs of women in business,” Gensel said. Special needs may include a difference in attitude towards women in business, a difference in selling techniques and an overall different learning style. 

“Women learn from each other,” Gensel said.

At each meeting two people, who have signed up, have the “spotlight” to showcase their business to the group. Pat and her husband Ethan Starbird presented a few of their “attic treasures” from their new Homestead Bargain Barn business on Route 41 in Chesterville. Gensel noted the spotlight time is great for new business owners to present their product before a group.

Networking support at the meetings often spurs new possibilities.

After Tollefson met Angela Werner of Wilton, who is a book publisher, at Gensel’s networking meeting, the two became “business buddies.” The buddies meet on their own every two weeks and urge each other to “work on the stuck parts.” For Tollefson, she found someone to bounce ideas off of and for Werner, her procrastination was cured because whatever was on her to-do list, she’d be sure to complete it before her next meeting with Tollefson.

Still, all the different aspects of starting a business can be overwhelming at times.

“People are in business because they have found something they want to do,” Gensel told the group. “They’re not in business to be in business,” she added, which brought a few knowing chuckles from the group. 

FMI: Betty Gensel, 207-778-6529 bjg@ceimaine.org
The next Western Maine Women’s Business Owners Peer Networking Event will be on Friday, Oct. 1, from 8:00-9:30 am at the Homestead Bakery/Restaurant in Farmington. The Women’s Business Center at CEI is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance.