Fred Derf Veteran Posted June 29, 2005 Veteran Share Posted June 29, 2005 Jun. 29, 2005. 01:00 AM Women entrepreneurs on the rise CIBC study identifies rising trend as almost 800,000 females now run their own businesses The biggest increase is coming in the over-55 age group, reporter Sharda Prashad writes Twenty years ago, Mary Ann Freedman left her secure job to join the ranks of entrepreneurship because she had an idea. "I was 34 years old and I knew I wanted to do it," said Freedman, owner of Freedman & Associates, marketing consultants. She felt there was a niche for offering marketing services to professional firms and Freedman believed she could fill it. "I knew there were risks. At the time I was a full-time salaried employee (at one of the big accounting firms)." Freedman admits she was an exception at the time. Women of her era believed they would stay with a large company. A CIBC study, Women Entrepreneurs: Leading the Change, released yesterday, found that there were nearly 800,000 women, like Freedman, who were their own boss in 2004. That number is expected to climb to 1 million by 2010, with the growth of women entrepreneurs outpacing the growth of men by 60 per cent. But Rob Paterson, vice-president at CIBC, said the genders won't be balanced until about 2015 or 2020. "The growth of women entrepreneurs is being driven by sole proprietors, those without employees," said Paterson. "And by `seniorpreneurs' ? those over 55." In the last 15 years, the number of women entrepreneurs has increased by 50 per cent. Canadian women over 55 are showing the highest levels of entry to the self-employment market. "It's not surprising since kids are out of the nest or are leaving the nest," said Becky Reuber, strategy professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. "There aren't many women there to begin with. So it's catch-up." While Freedman made the decision to leave a "wonderful employer" for entrepreneurship, many women have become entrepreneurs not out of choice. "I was forced into it," said Lee Carter, 42, an e-business strategist and founder and managing director of Internet Intelligence, a company that offers e-business consulting and training. "I was laid off for the first time in my life five years ago." Carter decided to start her own company because both her parents were entrepreneurs and she felt it would lead to greater job security. "The only person who is not going to fire you is yourself," said Carter, who employs one full-time worker and two interns. As a mother of an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old, Carter appreciates the flexibility and said "there are still ceilings in corporate Canada." Working in sole proprietorships is often easier to manage, but offers less opportunity for growth, Reuber said. "One-person operations tend to be micro-businesses, where you tend to be working out of the home. (But) these are very unlikely to become high-growth businesses later." Freedman and Carter are also part of the 50 per cent of self-employed women who earn above-average wages, a trend the study attributes to the growing number of women entrepreneurs in professional businesses, such as advertising, business consulting and accounting. However, the polarization between income levels of self-employed women is the greatest, compared to any other job category in Canada. Women venturing into retail and personal services areas earn less than the average self-employed woman and they earn 30 per cent less than men in the same occupation, the study found. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968350072197 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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