Single Moms Do Double Duty as Entrepreneurs
Starting a new business saps the energy of even the most determined entrepreneur, but for a single mother it can be overwhelming. Yet single mothers who own successful small businesses say their ventures not only fulfill their financial needs but provide a way for them to regain control of their lives.
The three single mothers featured here were forced into supporting themselves out of necessity. Lacking professional experience, they relied on their wits and personal experiences to create their own businesses.
All said they feel a certain amount of guilt over dividing their time between their children and their ventures. To counteract the inevitable resentment and jealousy children feel toward a demanding small business, the mothers suggested that all business owners share their entrepreneurial dreams with their children.
“After my husband and I split up six years ago, it took me six months to get over the initial shock and figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life,” said Phyllis Henson, a divorced homemaker who founded the Kids Hollywood Connection in Newport Beach to advise parents on how to introduce their children to show business.
Because she had no professional skills, Henson stuck with what she knew best--being a mother who was trying to help her kids break into Hollywood. Now teen-agers, Wendy, Kelly and Eric Henson began their acting and modeling careers in Japan when they were featured in an ad for a Japanese department store. Through the years, the Henson children have earned thousands of dollars from their appearances in television commercials and on stage.
“I feel I wasted their first years in the business,” said Henson. “We had the wrong agents and the wrong photographers--I even dressed them all wrong.”
Learning from her own mistakes, Henson set up a consulting business to help other parents find their way around Hollywood. She is a kind of a show-biz strategist, providing guidance for a basic fee of $225.
“I started my business with nothing--I didn’t even have $10 saved,” said Henson, who struggled for years to keep the family afloat on alimony and child support payments.
In between the long treks from Orange County to Los Angeles for auditions, Henson built her business by seeking referrals from all the agents and other show business people she met. Many times, she said, her own children’s careers suffered while she devoted her energy to helping other children. Today, her office walls are covered with pictures of her clients.
“As a single mother in business, your time is torn between the business and your children,” said Henson. “I feel a lot of guilt when I’m not at home taking care of them. They’ve almost raised themselves for the past four years.”
At times, Henson said she could barely pay the bills. Today, she is living comfortably, if not lavishly. “I have a really good feeling when I see one of the kids I’ve helped on television.”
Kelly Henson, who at 14 is returning to show business after a few years off, said it is important for children to get involved with their mother’s business.
“You should try to help your mother,” she advises. “I go down to the office and help her file things or answer the phone.”
Kelly Henson said she and her 13-year-old brother and 18-year-old sister appreciate how hard their mother works. “But she never left us alone and she hasn’t had to worry about paying the bills lately.”
Another single mother ended up supporting both her infant son and her ex-husband when their marriage ended 14 years ago.
Lynn Salant-Mirfield, chairwoman and chief executive of Mirant Industries in North Hollywood, went back to work when her son Sam was about 2 weeks old. When Sam was 4, she set up her first company, which provided toiletry and gift items to airlines. That business evolved into the multimillion-dollar Mirant Industries.
“Fourteen years ago, there weren’t that many women in business,” said Salant-Mirfield. She said it was especially difficult to stand up to the criticism from her family over the long hours she spent away from her young son.
“My feeling was that if you spent quality time with your children, it’s OK,” said Salant-Mirfield. Now Sam is 18 and attending Princeton University. His mother says one lasting effect of her son’s spending much of his youth with a series of housekeepers is his current passion for the consistent quality of food in the school cafeteria.
Betsy Collins is another single mother who parlayed her personal knowledge and interest in people into a thriving business. A mother of four, Collins had previously held only one job: as a greeter for the Welcome Wagon in Bedford, Tex.
On her own, she moved to Huntington Beach in 1986 to begin a new life.
Seeing a need for a neighborhood welcoming service, Collins raised $2,000 by cashing in an insurance policy and started Bright Beginnings. The company works with local civic leaders and the Chamber of Commerce to provide newcomers with a packet of information about the city, gift certificates from merchants and ads from local doctors, dentists and others. Bright Beginnings operates in eight Orange County cities and is now registered with the state to sell franchises. The Irvine-based company charges $11,000 for the franchise, which includes computer software to run the business. Franchise holders also pay a 10% monthly royalty.
“When I started this business at home, people thought I was playing office,” said Collins. “But the business gave me emotional stability and made me feel creative.”
Collins’ daughter, Melanie Hodgson, is a single mother with a 6-year-old daughter. She joined her mother’s company three years ago to develop the computer systems that form the heart of the business.
“We offer a viable form of marketing because businesses pay us to do this word-of-mouth advertising,” said Hodgson. She said Bright Beginnings is a good business for single mothers because it is easy to start up and is home based.
Empathy Said to Be Key to Higher Sales
Walter Hailey started out as a flour salesman. He ended up being one of America’s most successful insurance salesmen--selling $1 billion worth of insurance policies primarily to the people involved in the food industry.
Today, Hailey teaches his sales secrets to business owners and managers at his “Power of Persuasion” seminars conducted on his 1,000-acre ranch in Hunt, Tex. Hailey shared a few of his secrets with the Los Angeles chapter of the CEO Club earlier this week.
“To be successful, your salespeople must be ego-driven and have empathy with the customers,” said Hailey. “Empathy is important because people buy when they feel like your salesperson understands them.”
According to Hailey, ego-driven salespeople are equally pleased with a $10 sale and a $10,000 sale.
Instead of holding boring morning sales meetings, Hailey suggests putting your sales staff out on the street or on the phones between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. “This is when the people with money are up and making decisions,” he said.
He also stresses the importance of developing your “natural existing economic relationships.” For instance, he advises business owners to begin cultivating all relationships, including the people you meet at church.
He also suggests setting up an appointment with the top person at a company you do business with to hand-deliver the money you owe them. At this point, you have the owner’s total attention and can ask them to start buying the goods or services your company sells.
“Figure out who you are spending your money on because the trolley runs in two directions,” said Hailey.
