The Southeastern University Low Income Female Entrepreneurship LIFE Project

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The Southeastern University Low Income Female
Entrepreneurship (LIFE) Project

• Research produced by Telaekah Brooks, Catalina
  Ford, Adrienne Burkley, Michelle Alston, Timora
  Pratt, Diernee Yates, and Rosalind Parker

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Introduction

• The purpose of this research project was to
  identify the barriers and challenges facing low
  income female entrepreneurs.
• This included identifying gaps in services from
  technical assistance providers, for which best
  practices will be recommended, establishing
  support groups for the participants, and
  providing training to them to further business
  development.

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Research Methodology

• With a group of undergraduate and graduate level
  students, a survey was devised that addressed
  expected issues for the participants
• Pre- screening interviews were conducted via
  phone for all potential participants
• A series of ten focus group sessions were held
  with more than fifty women to gather colloquial
  data on their fears and challenges

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Raw Data

• 52 women participated in the focus groups
• 11 women made less than 14,999 annually
• 15 made more than 44,999 annually
• Almost 10 possessed only a HS diploma 33 had
  some college
• 28 had an associates degree, 21 had a
  bachelors degree and 11 hold masters degrees
  or higher
• 43 are single, 17 are married, and 31 are
  either separated or divorced
• 64 indicated that credit was a barrier 89 said
  savings or money was an obstacle
• 25 were already in business 62 were interested
  in starting a business or nonprofit and 6 used
  to have a small business or nonprofit

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More Data

• Six of the eleven women that made less than
  14,999 annually were analyzed in depth.
• All had at least two dependent children living in
  the home.
• One had 4 dependent children and an Associates
  degree.
• Another had 3 dependent children, owns her own
  home, has a Masters degree and owns a small
  business
• A third had 2 children, 2 grandchildren, some
  college and was operating a small nonprofit out
  of her home
• Of the participants that reported an income
  between 15,000 and 19,999 annually
• One had no children and a HS diploma
• Another had one non- resident child and
  vocational training
• A third was over 60, had four non- resident
  children, a bachelors degree and indicated that
  social security was a primary source of income
• Of those women making more than 45,000 annually
• All had between one and three children
• At least one is currently unemployed
• Education ranges from vocational diplomas to
  masters degrees
• Half of them own their homes

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Focus Group Data

• Barriers
• Fear was the predominant barrier to
  entrepreneurship
• The fear of failure and fear of success
• How to overcome rejection
• Fear of banks and financing
• Most were unaware of resources available to them
  from TA providers
• Credit, financial literacy and a lack of start up
  capital were major issues, as expected
• Networking, marketing and training were
  identified as areas needing assistance
• How to sell their product and themselves as
  serious businesswomen
• Available childcare options and transportation
  play a role in their daily lives

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More on Our Findings

• Recommendations for TA providers
• A more holistic approach to business development
• Women were often given information without the
  counseling or education needed for them to
  understand how to move forward
• A focus on financial literacy
• Credit, financing, and savings were significant
  issues for this population
• Sensitivity to womens issues
• Childcare and transportation difficulties often
  were not considered in program design

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Gaps in Our Research

• We did not address dependent adults living in
  households with the participants (either as
  children or other relatives)
• Education did not always indicate higher annual
  earnings- job category and industry information
  may have been helpful here
• Some participants may not be working in their
  primary career paths or degree fields as well
• We did not inquire about barriers to income

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Ongoing Activities

• Networking Events
• To build their confidence and create business
  opportunities we will utilize speakers, panel
  discussions, role playing, speed networking
  techniques, and elevator speeches
• Support Group Activities
• The aim is to create relationships between the
  participants that will continue after our
  involvement, so group training events and
  meetings will create group identity
• The Toolkit for TA providers
• This will be designed to give TA providers
  insight into the issues facing this demographic
  and feedback on how to develop programs that
  target them
• A Comprehensive Final Report
• This will be a data source for further research
  on low income women

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In Closing

• We plan to continue our research on this
  population and address some of the gaps mentioned
  earlier
• Southeastern University, the Center for
  Entrepreneurship, and our students were excited
  to participate in this important research
  project.