• Women's Business Centers, created by the U.S. Small Business Association, are located throughout the country. Most centers provide assistance and training in business topics such as financing, management and marketing. All centers provide individual business counseling and access to the SBA's programs and services.

Many of the concerns and questions that occupy the minds of business owners are the same regardless of gender. Both female and male entrepreneurs are likely to be concerned with issues such as business growth, attracting qualified employees and finding solutions to the rising costs of labor and technology. To address such issues in your business, consider these tips:

• Find your niche. Business growth may come from directing your company's efforts toward a niche market that isn't being adequately served. Examples of such markets can include a specific gender, neighborhood or income or age bracket.
• Know what you'll need to spend. Before opening a new business or starting a new venture, get a better idea of how much money you may need by attending trade shows and consulting business people in the industry. Consider costs associated with technology upgrades, expansion, operating expenses and reduction of debt.

Some of our moves may be motivated by the heart. And some of us find that we've risen as far as our companies will allow us. "A, lot of Black women are simply fed up," says Beatryce Nivens, author of Success Strategies for African Americans (Plume, $13.95). "They did all the right things, but they're being blocked from promotion. Even if the money is good, they see they're not going to make it to the top, so they're looking to do something different."

That something different means taking charge of our own hopes and dreams, and creating change. All this may seem impossibly out of reach, particularly for those of us who are the sole support of families. When we're pressed for time, it's hard to think ahead. If we gave up on school long ago, it can be difficult to get back into the study habit. When we live paycheck to paycheck, saving can seem like a joke. But don't be daunted. As these sisters' stories show, change can be challenging, but it is also rewarding--especially if we determine the direction.

From Tragedy to Success

For Jill Devers, it was personal tragedy that forced her to take stock of her assets and more carefully plan her future. She's soaring toward success today as a client-relationship manager with a hot new Internet company in Chicago called Starbelly.com, which builds virtual stores on-line. Having gotten in on the ground floor, she expects to strike it rich soon when her firm takes its stock shares public and she cashes in on her stock options.

But Devers, 35, also knows what it's like to be at a standstill. Almost two years ago she was so paralyzed by grief over the death of her mother that life had lost its meaning. She wanted to quit her job--a position in public relations that was going nowhere and paid less than half the $50,000-plus salary she's making now at Starbelly. But she had no clear idea of what to do instead.

"My mother was my foundation," Devers says. "When I lost her, my whole focus left. My ambition was gone. I just kind of wanted to mourn and be by myself."

continued ...

WANTED: A NEW CAREER.

WANTED: A NEW CAREER.

Author/s: Mary Ann French

Calling all savvy sisters who want to take charge of their work--and their lives. Overcoming everything from personal tragedy to professional criticism, these four women have done exactly that

THE ECONOMY IS FLUSH AND JOBS ABOUND. But if it seems the grass is greener on somebody else's career path, well, maybe it is. There's no better time than now to seize upon an interest or a hobby or a dream, to reinvent yourself as a more appealing job candidate, to set out for the career you always wanted.

People are changing careers so often these days that they've spawned a growing industry of career counselors and coaches. And phenomenal numbers of Black women are taking the ultimate plunge, going into business for themselves. Between 1987 and 1996, the number of firms owned by women of color grew by 153 percent, according to the National Foundation for Women Business Owners (www.nfwbo.org). More than one third of those--405,200 businesses--are owned by Black women.