Women help female entrepreneurs thrive, find resources

METRO DETROIT — Female business ownership is on the rise. A 2026 report by Wells Fargo showed that women owned 15.7 million businesses in the United States — 40.6% of the total.

But starting a new business is daunting. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% to 25% of new business — one in every four to five — fail in the first year. That’s why it’s vital for women to know about resources available to them and learn from fellow female business owners as they embark on their entrepreneurial journey.

Meghan Spicer has owned SideStreet Diner in Grosse Pointe City for the last 15 years.

“First of all, I think it’s important to surround yourself with professionals,” Spicer said. “Don’t try to be the accountant. Don’t try to be the plumber… It’s important to be sure you feel confident in the people you surround yourself with so you can grow your business and have a life.”

Anne Duffey-Leo, owner of the gift shop Duffey & Co. in Grosse Pointe Park, echoed those sentiments.

“If you’re not good at something, always hire someone to do it for you,” she said. “You can’t be everything. It’s important to know where your strengths are.”

One of the things Duffey-Leo said she wished she had known was the fact that there are organizations that can help entrepreneurs with loans, investments, bookkeeping and the like.

“There are lots of organizations that will come to your help,” Duffey-Leo said.

Joining an organization such as the Women’s Business Alliance — a division of the Southeast Michigan Chamber of Commerce — can be a way to network, meet other female business owners and find vendors. Maria A. Polsinelli, vice president of the chamber — headquartered in Clinton Township — said the WBA has quarterly luncheons.

“We have powerful businesswomen as speakers to motivate (attendees),” Polsinelli said.

She said the chamber also hosts panel events covering topics of interest, including a recent session on artificial intelligence.

Polsinelli said they connect businesses with each other for everything from branding and marketing to health insurance. A forthcoming feature on the chamber’s website — semchamber.org — will allow members to connect with and purchase products and services from each other online. They also work with government officials and promote local nonprofits.

“We believe in connecting businesses to businesses,” Polsinelli said. “We understand the importance of bringing our elected officials into close range with (the business community) … The third pillar is nonprofits. We need to make the community go round (and help) those in need … (We do) anything we can to connect (businesses), brand them, help their businesses to be successful and bring them the resources they need to be successful.”

With more than 1,000 members and an email subscriber list of about 5,000, the chamber’s reach is wide. Polsinelli said chamber officials will also meet individually with members to address their questions and respond to their needs.

Local libraries are a great free resource. Lexi Smith, the emerging technologies librarian for the Grosse Pointe Public Library, said people should get a library card in their home community, if they don’t already have one, and if they want to borrow materials from other libraries, they can use that to obtain a statewide MILibrary card that will give them access to items at other participating libraries.

On the GPPL website — grossepointelibrary.org — visitors can go to the homepage menu and click on the Research & Learning tab, which will take them to databases like Libby and Hoopla. One of those databases is Reference Solutions.

“It’s kind of like the White Pages (in the old phonebooks), but digitally,” said Smith, noting that users can find people and businesses this way.

There are map views as well, so prospective business owners could see, for example, how many similar businesses are in a particular area, which might influence where they want to locate.

Smith said Reference Solutions also has information about annual business expenditures, so users can see how much similar businesses in the area spend each year.

Michigan Legal Help is another database business owners can tap into, and Smith said it’s “really user-friendly.”

There are thousands of e-books about starting a business on Hoopla alone that library card holders can download and read.

You have to be the face of your business and know your customers, Spicer said.

“You’re building relationships,” she said. “That’s the thing I’m most proud of — the relationships I’ve built with the community.”

Building relationships with customers is ongoing.

“Don’t count on your family or your friends (exclusively),” Duffey-Leo said. “Your best customers (are people) you haven’t met yet. It’s important to continue to generate those new best customers.”

She recommended visiting businesses like the one you want to start and doing your homework but staying true to your unique vision.

“Really understand your mission, your purpose,” Duffey-Leo said.

Not everything will work, but that’s OK.

“There’s definitely a school of hard knocks that we all go to,” Spicer said. “If it’s your passion, you’ll take the hard knocks and move on.”