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July 4, 2009

Women bring special touch to business

Bank sponsors program helping female entrepreneurs find success

By BRUCE ROWLAND

Nationwide, they make up 10.1 million firms, 40 percent of all privately held companies.

They employ more than 13 million people and generate annual sales of $1.9 trillion. There are 23,797 in the 12-county region of upstate New York, 1,362 in Clinton County alone.

Women-owned businesses may be the most dynamic economic force that nobody knows about.

But how successful are they, especially here locally? Do we have any millionaires yet?

"We have some, yes we do," said Anne Cutaiar, vice president, licensed Key Center manager, from the 2 Brinkerhoff St. KeyBank office in Plattsburgh.

Beginning in 2005, KeyBank began taking special notice of the significance of women-owned businesses. That's when they started their Key4Women program, designed to channel customized banking service, access to capital, networking opportunities and ongoing education to women entrepreneurs across the country.

KeyBank also recently announced they have provided more than $2 billion in capital to qualified women-owned businesses, surpassing a 2007 pledge to lend these funds by 2012. Now, the bank will lend another $3 billion by 2012, which they hope will also contribute to the nation's economic recovery.

It's the second time Key has exceeded its goals of lending to women-owned businesses. In 2005, the bank pledged $1 billion and surpassed that number in 2007.

Recently, a Plattsburgh Key4Women group met at Prell's Custom Designs at 18 Clinton St., owned by Denise Prell, to hear speakers, network and compare notes on the challenges faced by women-owned businesses.

While most barriers have been broken down, there are still obstacles and differences in the way men and women approach their entrepreneurial task. Just the fact that men have often been in business longer can give them an advantage in getting loans and accessing capital.

Also, while there may be some local lady millionaires, money is not as often cited as the goal that drives a woman to succeed in business. Many are motivated by pride of achievement, the social aspects of business and the challenge of a job well done.

"Will I ever own a villa or a yacht? Probably not," said Jean Moore, pharmacist/owner of Condo Pharmacy at 28 Montcalm Ave. in Plattsburgh. "But you know what? I sleep at night."

Even though as an independent she has to compete against the many major drug store chains, she said, what she can do is take care of people by finding a niche to serve their individual needs and provide a stable environment for her 18 employees. Her husband and partner, a former pharmacy director at the hospital, died in 2005, and now she heads the family business. They first acquired Condo Pharmacy in 1994, and now she has been joined by her two sons who each own 10 percent of the business.

"A few years ago, we built a new building," she said. Now, she's glad her sons have taken an interest in the business side so she can focus on her interests, the clinical and pharmaceutical aspects.

Moore has had to meet her share of serious challenges as a woman entrepreneur, mainly finding and nailing down those key niches. Insurance companies have been cutting reimbursements and mail-order business has increased competition. "It's a tough world out there," she said.

Moore's solution has been to focus on "compounding" in her lab, which means custom designing medicines and treatments for her customers and designing the most effective and comfortable ways to administer them. These include nutrition and supplements, pain management, hormone replacement, veterinary services, anti-aging strategies and many other remedies.

Denise Prell also focuses on the satisfaction her work brings when talking about her business. She enjoys the networking, speakers and socializing that come with the Key4Women program.

She took the plunge and began her business full-time last August after working at Sears and at Larsen Interiors, where she gained expertise in the interior-design business.

Being a woman business owner in this field is probably an advantage, she said, as that's what many people expect. It may be more of a disadvantage being young than being a woman. With less of a track record, it can often be more difficult to get financing or establish other business relationships.

Prell said she's never experienced any problem with sexism as a female entrepreneur, just a few good-natured but borderline sexist jokes at places like Rotary. "I have a good personality," she said. "It doesn't bother me."

She's been building her business slowly, and her next goal is to buy her own building. "I'm pretty proud that for my age I've accomplished as much as I have," she said, adding that she'd like to someday have a fabric warehouse. Sewing, installation and decorating are her favorite parts of the job.

And her ultimate goal after that? She'd like a chance to delegate the business tasks she's not as fond of. "I just want to decorate and be the boss," she said.

Her main tip for other women going into business is to work hard and stay organized. "You have to write out your goals so you can reach them," she said, explaining that she recommends doing it by the month, year and over a five-year period.

"I check them off as I go and don't let myself fail. You can never be lazy. You always have to go, go, go."

Her philosophy recently paid off in her Shaklee business, which she does on the side, when she won an all-expense-paid trip to Mexico. "I wrote goals down to get that trip," she said.

Margaret Soderquist, area sales leader for KeyBank, also sees differences in the way men and women go about their business. A relentless drive to the top and measuring goals in cold, hard cash may be less prevalent among women.

"They do business in a little different way," she said, explaining that women value the socializing, networking, self-satisfaction and the pride that comes with owning a business.

She said she believes the Key4Women program helps them achieve these goals. "I think we serve a great need within our client base," she said. "We have a lot of clients. We really want to reach out to them."

The program reached Plattsburgh two years after it began. "For us, 2007 was when we started holding events locally," Cutaiar said.

Now, there are two local receptions a year and larger regional events that local members can go to. Last year, former President Bill Clinton's press secretary, Dee Dee Myers, was a featured speaker at a Key4Women forum in Burlington that attracted 400 people.

A conference in Syracuse in conjunction with the WISE (Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) Center and Syracuse University recently attracted 1,000 present or future women entrepreneurs.

"We bridge the larger events with smaller events in the community," Soderquist said.

The program also offers surveys seeking women's views and online opportunities such as Webinars and links to research information and other Web sites that may be of interest. One recently featured an interactive session with national financial expert Jennifer Openshaw.

"We partnered with her. She posts a lot of valuable tips for women-owned businesses for the Web site." Soderquist said. "People can ask questions and get advice directly from her."

Soderquist said women business owners often approach problems differently from men, rejecting traditional methods and devising their own.

"There's a lot more bootstrapping, piecing things together," she said.

They may be more open to new ideas, but also may be more inclined to borrow from family members when the need arises, thinking they may not be able to get a traditional loan.

"We want them to know the money is available," Soderquist said.

When it comes to conventional financing, women new to business are often unsure what to do or what they really need.

"We can help steer them along that path," Cutaiar concluded.



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