to get a bit depressed at the 'woman beats recession' stories that are about really shit businesses that haven't even started

[Heroine]

I an getting a bit bored of the 'I was made reduntant and now I am starting my own recession beating bead-selling/ironing/wardrobe consultancy/dating agency business that hasn't even started, is doomed to fail and only possible because a) I can pump my large redundancy payout into it and b) because my husband is not redundant, but somehow I providing hope for any women who is not a lazy arse to make a fortune out of 'doing something she loves'

They really are patronising in the extreme and I am sure only there because you can get a nice pretty made-up shot of someone runnning a crap home-made dreamweaver business.

Ihate the way these articles are written as though any daft woman silly enough to work in something as unfeminine as a real job is a silly thing who just isn't as clever as the golddigging sponge and her fantasy business..
oh it makes me fume there are so many at this time of the year... nhmph

at "6 children all called Amelia in private school"

These bunting-cupcake knobbers are the type who go on "Relocation Relocation" as well.

YANBU

Although I do very much admire people who start their own businesses, even if they fail.

i think the media slant is annoying.

i do think OTOH that some of these businesses are going concerns, but most self-employed businesses need a second regular income to kep paying the bills -

at my work lots of my colleagues (in a call centre) have husbands in building/ driving jobs. So - quite often their husbands can hav a month or two without work (or worse, work but no pay) while their money keeps the money flowing.

quite simply it isn't sensible to rely on a start-up on its own for your income. Some of the clients we have also have regular jobs in addition to their own businesses - it's just finncially prudent. So Mrs something-something with her own business and husband is just one version of a situation that often works the other way round.

My grandmother ran her own business as sole income, but only out of lack of other good options (corporate greetings: my mother once spent all november cutting out 1000 sleighs for a specific card they did...it payed a pittance)

YABU for picking on women but YANBU for pointing out that there are many 'pretend' businesses that didnt really make any money for heir owners in the last decade - apart for the increase in value of the property it operates from. This applies to men and women.

There was also real trend about 10 years ago of investment bankers (men) buying shops in their tax efficient SIPPs (self invested pension funds) that their spouse (wife) then operated a faux business from.

The real adantage was in the tax break and the leveraged property investment - not the business which in fact would never have surived if it had to pay a proper rent and actually employ people on a full wage.

Same with lots of people who bought and did up houses - it was the rise in the overall property market that made the money not the value added by the person that bought and did it up. They got lucky and had access to cheap capital during a bubble and that was it.

I was in the local newspaper in 1986, I had given up work to have DD1.

I started a business from home making silk flower arrangements, I made some from home and friends asked for some and it escalated.

I started doing party plan especially on the RAF base.

In eighteen months I purchased a shop, and concentrated on briday flowers.

After three years I fancied a change, sold the shop and invested the money in property, renovated three houses which are currently let. I still own them today.

I do find it strange that people have so much to say about what other people do to make money. Yes in the beginning my DH paid all of the household bill and I was helping by making a little money on the side but these properties are now worth £750000 and give me an income of £1800 per month.

It always seems to me that anyone who takes an opportunity is looked down on. Especially by those who do nothing and then say "it is allright for you, you probably inherited it or spend your parents money.

annapolly, what you describe is a measured expansion, led by demand (being asked to to do more, rather than foisting your creations off on your "friends" anyone in grabbing range).

There's also the fact that encouraging people (by means of articles like this) to start bunting&cupcake businesses is actually a bit harmful, because in an economic crisis, people cut back on unnecessary crap. Identifying a useful local service and offering it can work (eg if you live somewhere with a lot of older people and few local shops, doing something like a mobile greengrocery in a van)but so many live-the-dream start-ups seem to offer such useless twatty things, whether it's indifferent jewellery or reiki healing/storytelling.

Annapolly that's brilliant, well done. I'd love to move into property development but just don't have the initial capital to purchase the first house. I think I'd be brilliant at it too.

But annapolly surely you would agree that you had it easier than someone who didn't have a husband who pays the bills to fall back on?

FWIW I too have a business, which I funded entirely myself and which I'm very proud of. Over the years I've worked with lots of other small businesses, and the ones who stay in business are the ones who have no other option but to be successful because they rely on the income in order to be able to live.

In my experience, the people with a safety net give up when the going gets tough because it's too difficult and too much hassle. So they usually aren't in business for long, but they do tend to screw up the market's economics whilst they are in it. Look at the buy to let property market and all those people flipping properties... That's how we ended up with the subprime property fiasco in the US.

"useless twatty things"

SGB, that gave me a really warm feeling. I Heart Mistwunthropy!

Red Dragon, you said I "completely missed the point."

No, I didn't miss the point at all: I addressed the subtext of this thread, which is laughing/sneering at other women who have the temerity to take a chance on something difficult.

Women's magazines are desperate for feature articles; instead of sniping, why don't you volunteer for an article?

How on earth is that the subtext?

I and other posters have been objecting to the way these articles belittle women.

It's really crap. Do you not think so, or do you like people acting as if it's newsworthy that a woman has a not-yet-started, not-very-brilliant idea for a business?

Loads of women run big, successful businesses, ffs. Let's focus on them instead of what Trillian aptly called a 'pat on the head' to women who've not yet done anything.

Actually, I think the subtext of these articles is more sinister- presenting redundancy as some sort of lifestyle choice implies change, renewal, an opportunity to succeed.

Which is handy, since this government is handing out redundancies opportunities to succeed left, right and centre. 500 jobs cut from chidren's services? Pah- that's 500 new lifestyles full of opportunity opening up, right there!

It also sends the subtle message that we are all responsible for our own employment, which supports the cuts very well.

"Until you've tried to run a business, however twunty its product or target audience, you're not really qualified to slag off someone trying to make a go of things."

I run a business, thomas. It does not consist of sitting in front of the aga in my pinny. It consists of keeping customers happy, hitting deadlines, staying in line with legislation, working all hours, knowing employment law and a million and one other boring things which are never mentioned in these articles.
The articles always run to a formula: MILF with seriously-earning husband and adorable children runs business from the kitchen table of her million pound Georgian house. She and/or DH 'happen to know' someone who gives them orders on a plate. That's how business works, isn't it?

"Women's magazines are desperate for feature articles; instead of sniping, why don't you volunteer for an article?"

thomasbodley, as I mentioned above, many "women's magazines" (esp. advertising-led freesheets) are also desperate for advertising, and (a) inexperienced businesses which (b) are selling something for potential consumption by readers are the best targets for the kind of softening up constituted by "free press".
Moreover, copy from wannabes is simply easier to get than from successes, as wannabes have more time to do the interview, and are more willing to do an interview in the first place, whereas Ms HotShot niche-law consultant is busy either making money or taking a well-earned break.

And while we are on the subject of "volunteering for an article", don't you know that that goes on, too? It's a great business model for some of those involved (though both readers and writers lose out, the latter by being offered bullshit which anyone could write, because those who do it for a living demand to be paid. Of course, this is not taking into account the "sinecure" columnists who also piss me off....).

Sorry for the rant, but media economics are very screwed up!

I'm curious - are the tat gift shops that seem to populate our local town this type of business? Just how many twee photo frames and cushions can they sell?

yabu; this country needs more entrepeneurs to pull us out of recession.
I make and sell jewellery and can't afford to live off it but it's extra money and I make a profit. I love what i do so neeeeer.

I also find the idea that these ''feminine'' businessess are lesser than ''proper'' manly, technical, profit driven vast enterprises. Quite sesxist imo. When the babies are tiny it's bettre to do something than jack shite.

and people will always need jewellery

No; but if you start making things out of silver and diamonds you can make a profit. It's a luxury item and luxury in my book means £££££££
I'm not interested in what people need (yawns loudly) I am interested in what they WANT! I know it's a recession, I know I won't make enough money to live but I love what I do so neeeeeeer! I work in a jewellers too and it's not doing amazingly in the recession but the only peopel who are are those seeling necesities and I'm an arty farty git who likes making twatty things out of silver and gemstones.

Hear hear, plupervert, many of the posters don't seem to understand how womens magazines work. The start-ups that are interviewed/featured are not hunted down by a team of top-notch journalists as the most 'newsworthy' case studies; they are supplied by PR girls in response to zillions of lazy memos from journalists working to tight deadlines. These memos do the rounds of PR agencies (there are special email services that collate and distribute them), saying "we need X examples of redundant-to-start-up by 3pm tomorrow, must be based near London for photoshoot and so on". My sister was once such a PR girl and used to forward lots on to me as a way to promote my business. She detests womens magazines as she knows there is nothing real or insightful in them. Not only the advertising but basically every article is led by promotion and product placement, without which they would have no content.

Yy because in a recession what we need is more cupcake entrepreneurs!

How very Marie Antoinette

What we need in a recession is for people to start buying stuff. In order to keep the economy buyant. It dosn't mattter if that's cake, bread, mineral water, petrol, diamonds, whatever. If we stop buying stuff and apsiring there's no economy.

Well we do live in a free market capitalist society that just cannot cope with anti- consumerism. It's not right but that's what we are all winging about. Less holidays and less luxury goods. It's not like we are being forced to walk 10 miles to get water every day like some people do in Africa.

I could train to be a plumber but I'm just not interested. I am interested in setting myself up as a GCSE tutor. The last thing this country needs is a lack of aspiration in business. There's no rich husband funding me either. Just the rich taxpayer

Ulp hang on - if you can work three years and be £10K down, a better business decision is to sit out the recession on the dole

I started working for myself in an earlier recession. It is not cup cakes but you can make money in all kinds of areas. I don't think any are worse than any others but some press like to see women as pathetic, in kitchens and kept down and kept by rich men so I'm sure articles which pander to that stereotypr get printed. I had the opposite views 2 weeks ago of something a journalist wanted to publish so she went off searching for someone who shared the conclusion/view of the piece. That's just how it works.

It can be a good time to start a business in a recession. That man who built up the haidressing business - Tonyi * Guy or whatever it is - worth huge amount now as one of the first franchises, he was saying that in today's paper and I'm sure he's right.

Recessions can give women the start to start up on their own which is all to the good. Of course it might be in waste paper or management consultancy or pharmaceuticals or imports, not necessarily cakes and fashion.