Bringing the work home
Women find fulfillment in home-based businesses
By Phyllis Hanlon
After years of frustration with corporate culture and its refusal to listen to employees' comments and suggestions, Kim Long of Shrewsbury decided to shed the layers of management that kept her from achieving fulfillment in her job.
She stepped out of the 9-to-5 rut so she could exercise her creativity and "chart her own course." Bursting with ideas and passion, she converted her home into a business, founding Fashion Advisors, a fashion/image consulting business that offers style coaching, fashion advice, and closet-organizing strategies and features "Juliana," a line of fine European clothing.
Now in control of her professional life, Long is able to live out her long-time dream of running her own company.
"My thinking cap and enthusiasm are always on turbo charge," she said. Modeling her business on the old-fashioned concept of the personalized attention women shoppers received in years past, Long, and her clients, both benefit from her work. As she helps define a woman's personal style "from the inside out," Long derives a great sense of satisfaction and empowerment. She has created her own personal corporate culture, which reflects a balance of flexibility, autonomy and control over her career and personal life.
Out of the office
Long is not alone among women seeking alternatives to the traditional office job.
According to Mary Shapiro, assistant professor at Simmons College School of Management (SOM) in Boston, women are leading the charge in how careers will be managed in the 21st century. "No longer does the employer manage a person's career. Each individual needs to manage her own career," she said. "She has to decide when, where and how much she will work. This involves deciding when – now or taking time off – where – office or home – and how much – full- or part-time. Starting your own business is one option in the array of flexible work arrangements available."
Six years ago, Nicole Anterni of Shrewsbury escaped the merry-go-round of long work hours, a scarcity of free time with her family and day care costs that gobbled up much of her paycheck. After attending a home jewelry party, she became enamored by the quality of the product and tremendous support from the company's management team. Anterni decided to join lia sophia (www.liasophia.com/checkitout) and is now division manager, overseeing an extended team of 270 women.
Anterni's leap has resulted in multiple benefits. "I can be the mom I want to be. Also, my husband gets bonding time when I work. This helps us have a stronger family relationship," she said. "And my husband thinks it's great that I am building a business."
In addition, Anterni's financial rewards from her home-based business outweigh the compensation from her previous job. She has also earned trips to Hawaii, Florida and Mexico and made some lasting friendships. "I am in control of my time and my income," she said. "And, every time I go to work, I end up at a party."
Flexibility
The reasons why Debbie Peña of Marlboro opted for a home-based business are much the same as Anterni and Long.
She became tired of traveling long distances, putting in approximately 50 hours each week and hauling around a carload of product. Her desire to simplify her life prompted her to create At Your Service, a time management and organizational services company that enables Peña to utilize her personal skills and help others at the same time.
On the business side, her company performs a variety of office duties including physical space organization and daily routine management. On the personal side, she assists individuals in several different ways, including running errands, shopping, taking pets to the veterinarian and getting car inspection stickers. "I never get bored," she said.
Even though Peña finds the ups and downs of running her own business a bit of an adjustment, she said she thoroughly enjoys her new work style and wouldn't trade the newfound flexibility she has for her previous job.
"I create my own schedule and make good money for the time I put in. I can work out and tend to family," Peña said. "Best of all, I feel like I'm making a difference. People are so relieved to get the help."
Rapid growth
Sherry Handel, director of the Central Massachusetts Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE), reported that 10.4 million women own their own businesses. She pointed out that 10 percent of CWE's client-base owns home-based businesses. That figure reflects the national average, she noted.
Shapiro from Simmons College said that women-owned businesses are growing at nearly two times the rate of all privately held firms (17 percent growth versus 9 percent).
"In the United States, one in 11 women is an entrepreneur," she said.
Shapiro also cited a statistic featured in a June 2004 BusinessWeek article relating to online businesses. "Of the 430,000 people who are estimated to earn a full- or part-time living on eBay, approximately 48 percent of them are women," she said. She pointed out that this flexible work alternative offers women a way to pursue a career, contribute to the family financial situation and achieve a balance between work and life responsibilities.
Shapiro also noted, however, that owning your own business does not always translate into fewer work hours. Rather, women who choose to leave formal employment organizations simply opt to work as hard and as many hours as they did before, with one caveat. Now they are able to select when and how they will work.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments