DelBene visits Molly Moon’s to discuss challenges for women business owners

There is a sisterhood among women business owners.

There is a sisterhood among women business owners.

They are part of a tribe that contains many commonalities among its members, who often face similar challenges — from the struggles of securing a business loan, to finding spaces to lease with reasonable rent prices.

These issues and more were the topic of discussion Monday morning at a round-table discussion with Rep. Suzan DelBene of the First Congressional District and four women business owners from Seattle and the Eastside: Molly Moon Neitzel, owner of Molly Moon’s Handmade Ice Cream in Redmond and Seattle; Michelle Bomberger, founder of Equinox Business Law Group in Bellevue; Dani Cone, owner of High 5 Pie in Seattle and Karyn Schwartz, owner of SugarPill Apothecary, also in Seattle.

The round table was held at Molly Moon’s in Redmond. Neitzel said it was awesome to host the event, adding that it is always great to host other women at her business, especially elected officials.

For Neitzel, increasing the visibility of women-owned businesses is important because she has a 3-year-old daughter and she wants her to see that girls and women can run businesses just as much or more than men.

“Little girls are not going to think they have the same opportunities as the boys in their class,” Neitzel said about the lack of visibility. “I want to make sure (my daughter) knows girls and women can definitely be the boss.”

COMMON STRUGGLES

DelBene, who is a former business owner and entrepreneur, said the purpose of the round table was to learn what successful women in business have gone through to get where they are now, to understand the challenges they have faced throughout their careers and figure out what can be done to help other women who are trying to start their own businesses.

During the discussion, the women touched on some of the barriers they faced as they worked to start their businesses.

“We all faced similar obstacles,” DelBene said about her and the other women’s experiences.

One of those experiences had to do with trying to get business loans.

Schwartz recalled when she was working to start her business how she was advised to embellish on her goals for her business, an herbal apothecary where she practices herbal medicine, offering customers advice. Schwartz also sells retail products at SugarPill, which is in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Schwartz never wanted to become a big business; to her, opening her own business five and a half years ago meant being part of her community. This was reflected in her original business plan when she began applying for small business. No one would lend her money. Once Schwartz put down that she had plans to expand, she received a loan.

Since then, she has looked at her original plan and has found that it was spot on and matches with how her business is doing now.

“I feel so triumphant that I’m still standing,” Schwartz said about her business.

Bomberger recalled a client who also struggled initially to get a small-business loan. She said her client was dismissed from traditional small-business loans because their company was not big enough and found it “really disheartening” to be dismissed.

The women on Monday said another factor that may account for women having a difficult time securing loans could be that they are non-traditional both in terms of their gender as well as their types of business.

DelBene said bankers may not be as comfortable lending money to a business or someone who is not “tried and true,” but that “alternative” may end up coming up with a breakthrough for their respective industry.

ACCESS TO CAPITAL

According to a press release from DelBene’s office, women-owned businesses represent a $3 trillion economic force and support 23 million jobs, but women still face significant barriers compared to their male-owned counterparts.

While the group agreed that securing small-business loans can be difficult, Neitzel said sometimes, just getting that conversation started can be a challenge. She said when she started working on opening her business, she wondered how she was going to get a loan if she was not a golf player, as men sometimes conduct business while playing golf. She and the other women also mentioned men going out for drinks — another casual social setting where business is conducted that women may be excluded from.

Cone said she has felt locked out of the conversation by not having access or a “seat at the table.”

The topic of access to capital came as DelBene brought up how women entrepreneurs account for only $1 out of every $23 in small-business lending, despite representing about 30 percent of all small companies. In addition, the press release states that women are more likely to be turned down for loans or face less favorable terms than men.

In addition to this gap in lending, Neitzel also noted the pay gap between men and women — which has women earning $0.79 to every $1 men earn.

“We have further to come than that $0.79 reveals,” she said.

A LAW TO EVEN OUT THE FIELD

DelBene also discussed on Monday a piece of legislation she introduced with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell for Washington, which aims to provide women entrepreneurs equal treatment when it comes to starting and growing their own businesses.

According to the press release, if the Women’s Small Business Ownership Act (H.R. 4027) passes, it would increase business counseling and training services for women entrepreneurs and give women-owned businesses the same level of support as other Small Business Administration (SBA) initiatives, such as those currently serving minorities.

DelBene said the bill has passed in the House of Representatives and they are now waiting for the U.S. Senate’s vote. She added that the bill is part of a larger package related to the National Defense Authorization Act, so lawmakers are looking at more than just her bill for the vote.