Helping entrepreneurs find rhythm

Belly dancing and business might not seem to have much in common.

But if they do, Sarah Dorman -- co-owner of SaraCura, a Dinkytown boutique that sells belly-dancing supplies -- is as likely to know as anyone.

What the longtime belly dance student and entrepreneur has learned is that succeeding at either activity usually takes time and expert help.

Dorman found belly dancing painful at first, but kept working with instructors until she found the underlying rhythm that made it fun.

When she and business partner Alice Marks wanted to open a bigger store, they went to WomenVenture. The St. Paul-based nonprofit helps women and men start and expand businesses, develop or change careers and manage their finances.

WomenVenture, marking its 30th anniversary this year, will host a celebration May 2 at the Minnesota History Center.

The agency has helped more than 90,000 clients of diverse backgrounds. In 2001, WomenVenture President Tene' Wells, a former agency client, appeared on TV with Oprah Winfrey to collect a $100,000 Use Your Life Award.

In SaraCura's case, Dorman and Marks met with WomenVenture to draft their business plan. They also got a $25,000 loan from the nonprofit, enabling them to get a lease and make renovations to the storefront they opened in July.

They credited their business consultant, Maliha Husain, with helping them choreograph the deal.

"The landlord wanted to see the loan first, and the loan people wanted to see the lease first," Marks said. "I hadn't any idea how to chicken-and-egg that, but Maliha said maybe we should get those two together, and they convinced each other."

Trial and error

In the past, Dorman relied on "many years of trial and error," and a habit of going more by feel than by numbers.

She has gone from selling her handmade jewelry at weekend festivals to running a full-time kiosk to opening her own small specialty shop.

Now she has 1,300 square feet of retail space, a full lineup of belly-dancing gear (skirts, veils, tops, headdresses, finger cymbals and so on), plus jewelry and art from 60-some local artists.

SaraCura generated $52,000 in revenue from July to December. Dorman expects that figure to reach $150,000 this year.

"We wouldn't have been able to do it without their help," Dorman said of WomenVenture. "It took it from the dream part into the reality part."

WomenVenture was created in 1989 from a merger of Chart, a nonprofit that helped women enter or reenter the workforce, and Wedco, which helped women start small businesses.

So if a client goes to WomenVenture eager to start a company -- but the agency's consultants don't think the time or the idea is right -- that client can go over to the agency's career and work services area to explore career paths.

Or, if a client who has been in career counseling discovers an interest in entrepreneurship, that client can go to the agency's business development side to work with consultants on a business plan.

Perhaps of greater importance today, given the economic downturn, is the agency's financial literacy section, Wells said.

As a partner in a state program, Family Assets for Independence Minnesota, WomenVenture also offers training and matched savings accounts for low-income women and men who want to save money to start businesses, buy homes or pursue postsecondary education.

Wells said they are looking to license the WomenVenture model to groups around the country.

WomenVenture client Warleah Teamah, a single mother who works two jobs to support her young son, improved her budgeting skills and repaired her credit rating through individual counseling.

Through those sessions and other agency programs, Teamah has built up savings that she will use to buy a home, she said. She testified about the benefits of WomenVenture's services this month before state legislators.

A midlife question

WomenVenture client Sarah Benson has taken courses and volunteered at the agency as she has explored that common midlife question, What do I want to be when I grow up?

Benson first thought she wanted go into financial planning, and volunteered as a financial literacy trainer. She later concluded financial planning wouldn't leave enough time to care for her young son, given her husband's demanding job.

So she returned to WomenVenture to take a new career and life-planning class for mothers who have young children. Now she is considering going into real estate investing.

"It has been transformational, the benefits that have accrued from their coaching," Benson said. "I have a lot more support, not only in exploring options, but in having that sense that I have a team of experts to rely on."

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Woodbury. His e-mail address is todd_nelson@mac.com.