{"id":6604,"date":"2017-11-06T07:25:19","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T11:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=6604"},"modified":"2017-11-06T07:27:38","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T11:27:38","slug":"why-older-women-entrepreneurs-have-time-on-their-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=6604","title":{"rendered":"Why Older Women Entrepreneurs Have Time On Their Side"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>This is not a how-to column for women over 50 who want to start their own businesses, but rather a \u201cwhy not?\u201d one.<\/p>\n

We hear a lot about sexism against businesswomen and a\u00a0lack of venture capital for women-owned enterprises<\/a>. And both of these are serious concerns. But based on my reporting talking to entrepreneurship experts and women business owners, I\u2019d say the deck isn\u2019t stacked against women over 50 hoping to launch businesses. In fact, I\u2019d argue that these women hold a few aces that younger female entrepreneur wannabes don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

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Kimberly A. Eddleston<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI would say that women over 50 starting their own business actually have more advantages than disadvantages in comparison to younger women,\u201d says Kimberly A. Eddleston, a professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Northeastern University and a senior editor on the\u00a0EIX Editorial Board<\/a>\u00a0of the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

Read on Forbes<\/a><\/p>\n

More Time and Energy in Midlife<\/h3>\n

\u201cGenerally, this is a time in their life when their responsibilities as a mother are substantially less and more easily managed in comparison to those women who are in the child-bearing and early child-rearing stages,\u201d Eddleston says. \u201cThis allows women in mid-career to become much more involved in their careers and to be ready to devote more time and energy to themselves than to their family responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts I\u2019ve interviewed have consistently told me that decades of workplace experience can make a big difference in whether womens\u2019 businesses thrive. \u201cThe added work experience and the associated boost to their self-confidence significantly assists in the development of their businesses,\u201d says Eddleston.<\/p>\n

Consider Michele Burchfield, 56, of Pittsburgh. As director of national accounts for the Boston Beer Company and an executive in other roles there before that, she spent 13 years \u201crunning all over the country with a full-time nanny raising her kids,\u201d she says. It wasn\u2019t working. She hit the brakes and resigned to stay at home and focus on raising her two elementary-school-aged sons. But she couldn\u2019t stand not working outside the home. So she launched a consulting firm, the MBM Group, catering to clients such as Fiji Water, D.G. Yuengling & Son and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.<\/p>\n

She Started a Beverage Company in Her 50s<\/h3>\n

Then three years ago, Burchfield took it up another gear. With her high school and college friend Carla Frank, she co-founded\u00a0Blume Honey Water<\/a>, a company which makes an all-natural drink combining water and bee-friendly honeys with fruit, herbs and spices.<\/p>\n

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Michele Burchfield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCarla and I sunk our teeth into research and worked for two years developing recipes and tasting honeys from all over the world while still working full-time in our respective consulting businesses,\u201d says Burchfield.<\/p>\n

Last year, Blume Honey Water hit shelves in Pennsylvania, the Washington, D.C., metro area and Colorado. It\u2019s now available in the Mid-Atlantic Division Whole Foods stores, 200 Giant Eagle and Market District stores, Mom\u2019s Organic\u2019s and Buehler\u2019s Markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really confident. I have almost 30 years of experience,\u201d says Burchfield.<\/p>\n

Burchfield is one of a growing number of women starting businesses. Women now make up 40 percent of new entrepreneurs in the United States \u2014 the highest percentage since 1996, according to the\u00a02016 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity<\/a>. And in 2016, there were an estimated 11.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., up 45 percent since 2007, according to the\u00a02016 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report<\/a>\u00a0from American Express. (Stats on businesses owned specifically by women over 50 are rare.)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the pull? In a recent\u00a0survey,<\/a>\u00a0Paychex asked 1,000 aspiring business owners how they feel, and what they fear, about the prospect of working for themselves. Women were more likely than men to say they were eager to start businesses because they wanted to work for themselves.<\/p>\n

For women, taking control of your career is one solution to both the gender pay gap and the lack of advancement opportunities that many feel in today\u2019s workplace, as I just wrote in\u00a0this New York Times article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, when I talked to Burchfield about her challenges as a woman starting Blume Honey Water, she was emphatic about gender\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0being an issue for her. \u201cIt has never even crossed my mind. My mom raised me not to think of it that way. She told me to ask: \u2018What do you need to do to be the best to compete and add value to your business, or who you are working for?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

No Special Obstacles as Women Entrepreneurs<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve heard similar views repeatedly from the female entrepreneurs over 50 I\u2019ve interviewed in recent months. Like Burchfield, they don\u2019t feel they\u2019re facing particular obstacles launching start-ups\u00a0because\u00a0<\/em>they are women.<\/p>\n

As I thought about it, it occurred to me that there was a common spine among the women I\u2019ve met who are becoming entrepreneurs: They cut their teeth in male-dominated industries.<\/p>\n

As a result, over the years, they developed thick skins. And that may be a core factor for women over 50 eying new ventures. \u201cStarting your own business is not for the meek,\u201d says Burchfield.<\/p>\n

More Capital of Their Own<\/h3>\n

And when it comes to funding their start-ups, women in mid- to late-career generally have more financial capital of their own to invest in their businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince differences in financial capital are a key reason that women owned-businesses tend to struggle more than men owned-businesses and have limited growth, the ability to invest more capital provides a substantial advantage to these businesses,\u201d Eddleston says.<\/p>\n

Burchfield and Frank, for instance, self-funded their Blume Honey Water research while earning income from their consulting practices. The women raised $1.8 million in initial outside investment from friends and family when they were ready to start production.<\/p>\n

Launching in a Male-Dominated Field<\/h3>\n

Destiny Burns, 53, is another successful female entrepreneur who toughened up from years working in a male-dominated field. She opened\u00a0CLE Urban Winery<\/a>, a boutique winery and tasting room in her hometown of Cleveland last year. But Burns had initially retired after a 20-year military career as a Navy intelligence communications officer and then spent 13 years in business development positions for defense contractors such as General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman.<\/p>\n

When I asked Burns about her challenges as a woman starting a business, she was quick to say there were challenges, but\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0because she was a woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not really encountered any specific bias or issues related to my gender or age\u201d she told me. \u201cI have spent my entire adult and professional life in a man\u2019s world\u2026 first the U.S. military and then as an executive in the defense sector. Most entrepreneurs I encounter are also men. I am comfortable in male-dominated business situations. I just don\u2019t see myself as any different and that\u2019s how I conduct myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her saving grace was her experience. She tapped the same skills to sell her business model to lenders that she\u2019d used in her post-military career when she made the case why the government should award her company the business.<\/p>\n

Paying It Forward<\/h3>\n

Another corporate refuge, Barbara Rodgers, 61, launched\u00a0Nutrition Life Strategies<\/a>\u00a0two years ago following a nearly 30-year career as a securities industry executive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter struggling with multiple sclerosis at the end of my corporate career, I was drawn to an education and career path in holistic nutrition because of the results I experienced personally in arresting my MS symptoms by changing my diet,\u201d Rodgers says. \u201cMy goal now is to pay it forward and help others who are dealing with chronic disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Burchfield and Burns, Rodgers credits her decades of experience in the workplace for preparing her to start her business. \u201cAfter nearly 30 years in the securities industry \u2014 a male dominated industry, especially when I got started in the 1980s \u2014 what I\u2019m experiencing now is refreshing. For the most part, anyone I\u2019ve met in holistic nutrition is very nurturing, supportive and friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting Certified as a Woman-Owned Business<\/h3>\n

For Burchfield, one of the biggest tests was not trying to make it in bro-based world, but the opposite: getting her business certified by the\u00a0Women\u2019s Business Enterprise National Council\u00a0<\/a>(WBENC) as a woman-owned business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a grueling process,\u201d Burchfield says. \u201cBut we got through it just in time to put the logo on our label and many companies, such as Target and Starbucks, have initiatives to work with WBENC-certified companies.\u201d Tapping into the increasingly women-friendly initiatives for capital and advice is a savvy strategy for female entrepreneurs of all ages, as I wrote about in this Next Avenue\u00a0column<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The best reward for Burchfield: \u201cIt sounds romantic, but when we watch someone taste our water and look up and say \u2018Wow,\u2019 you can\u2019t stop smiling,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s like your child taking the training wheels off the bike, and you see them tooling down the road on two wheels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the\u00a0AMERICA\u2019S ENTREPRENEURS SPECIAL REPORT<\/a><\/p>\n

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By\u00a0Kerry Hannon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Kerry Hannon has covered personal finance, retirement and careers for The New York Times, Forbes, Money, U.S. News & World Report and USA Today, among other publications. She is the author of a dozen books including\u00a0Money Confidence: Really Smart Financial Moves for Newly Single Women<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy<\/em>\u00a0and Healthy…and Pays the Bills<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Getting the Job You Want After 50<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness\u00a0<\/a><\/em>and\u00a0What’s Next? Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job in Your Forties, Fifties and Beyond<\/em><\/a>. Her website is\u00a0kerryhannon.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0@kerryhannon<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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