APRIL 16–MAY 20, 2015 • THE CSRA’S MONTHLY BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Business: Not just for men anymore Women-owned businesses growing quickly in CSRA, Georgia By Gary Kauffman Scanning a white board filled with more than 150 names of women-owned businesses in the CSRA, it struck me: Women-owned businesses are hardly unusual anymore. There was a time, within the past generation, when a woman at the helm of a business was a bit of an oddity. But not anymore. According to a Forbes report, 31 percent of businesses in Georgia are either entirely or partially owned by women. In fact, since 1997 the number of businesses owned by women has increased by 118 percent in Georgia. That’s one
of the highest rates in the nation. Although no one has an exact tally of the number of women-owned businesses in the CSRA, as our white board indicates, it’s a significant number. “I think one of the reasons why women-owned businesses have grown is that women are good at networking and helping one another,” said Susan Caldwell, area director for the Small Business Development Center in Augusta. And success breeds success. “They’re seeing more women as role models,” Caldwell said. “They’re seeing more women who are successful, and
that encourages them to see entrepreneurship as a career choice.” The recession also played a role, Caldwell said. Hardest hit during that time were male-dominated fields. That often left women as the main breadwinners, and they became comfortable with that role. Women who have enjoyed successful careers in the corporate world are also turning to owning their own businesses, taking the skills and experience they’ve acquired See WOMEN BUSINESSES, page 2
Like mother, like daughter Alison Smith’s mother’s business inspired her own By Elisabeth Curry “My mom owning a business absolutely inspired me to start my own.” Standing next to her mother, Alison Smith, owner of Crickets Dry Goods in Evans, surveys the store she opened in October 2014. Unique gift items crafted by local artisans and hand-picked stylish clothing cover shelves, racks and tables, and it is evident that much effort has been put into creating a family-friendly atmosphere. Smith’s mother, Susan Bone, recently sold her own business – Ladybug’s Flowers & Gifts – to a 10-year employee. She has since come to work part-time in her daughter’s
new store, a juxtaposition both women find humor in, as Alison worked part-time in her mother’s business between 2005 and 2010. Unsurprisingly, Smith’s two daughters (Madison, 11, and Kate Lee, 8) have found ways to contribute at Crickets as well. “One of the reasons I started the business is that I have two girls,” Smith said, “and you don’t learn how to run a business in school. They helped us pick out the location, they helped us do the build-out here, they painted and stained things, and helped pick out items for the store. I think it’s a good experience for them to see how to start a business. It’s important to me to be a good role model for my girls, and I can’t do that if I’m working a corporate job.” Smith has a good mix of experience, both corporate (within the pharmaceutical industry), as well as small business knowledge within her mother’s former floral business. See MOTHER DAUGHTER, page 27
Alison Smith and her mother, Susan Bone, in Crickets Dry Goods. Smith says Bone’s years of running a business inspired her to start her own. Photo by Gary Kauffman