Girl Power!

August 13, 2009 9:10 AM

What can a group of women do to add some fulfillment to their lives?

My group of friends, all in our early 30s or late 20s, some with families, all in relationships, are looking for a project or business we could do together. Something that could give us more purpose and an escape from the boredom that seems to creep into life when you settle into a routine. We all have various skills and live in the Boulder, CO area. Skills include: computer programming/database/web development; accounting; sales; marketing; design; event planning; real estate...

A few of us work from home, which can get boring without the companionship of coworkers, and others have kids which is great but can lead to the feeling of "is my life only about building blocks and alphabet games?" We got together last night and realized that we all have lately been feeling under utilized and "stuck" in our chosen places. We want to come up with some type of business opportunity that we could all contribute to, do some fund raising, or volunteer together.

Any ideas? How could a group of women with no experience of working on our own (we are all employed by others) get something started like this? How can we help? Who can we help?

posted by boulder20something to human relations (15 comments total)

Start a business! Sell a thing or a type of thing you're really excited about (niche markets abound in the Boulder area, methinks), and market and promote the crap out of it. You'll make money, you'll feel useful, who knows what else?
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:16 AM on August 13

When I was about 8 years old, my mom and some of her friends (mostly mothers of my schoolmates) decided they were unhappy with the way my school was run. So they founded their own Montessori-accredited school. They fundraised, they bought and renovated a Victorian mansion, they hired teachers, they wrote curricula, came up with afterschool programs. Almost 15 years later, the school's still going strong. It was a LOT of work, much of it enjoyable, much of it challenging, and it was really rewarding for all involved. Me, my sister, and quite a few of our family friends all attended the school, so the founding members all had a personal stake in it.

I don't know if a school would be right for you and your friends, but if you can identify a common need that you could address, it'll provide the motivation to stay engaged in the project.
posted by oinopaponton at 9:22 AM on August 13 [1 favorite]

Start a gardening collective. Pitch in to rent a garden plot--or maybe one of you has space to grow something--and spend your time growing things from seed, weeding together, harvesting as a group. Then donate the harvest to your local food bank (having made sure, in advance, that it will accept fresh produce). If it takes off, you can then invite a handful of kids to learn about raising food.
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:12 AM on August 13 [2 favorites]

So, selling crochet squares or beaded earrings isn't gonna be your bag, I take it.

With that mix of skills it sounds like you could have a pretty bangin' local blog/website. I'm picturing a business plan like this:

You get the blog going with several authors writing about local events and issues. Maybe local politics, art openings, restaurant reviews, concerts, parenting, relationships, etc. Make your blog the site for local happenings in Boulder, and provide a useful events calendar. This can be something several people contribute to and be done for very little $, assuming everyone is donating their time. Then start selling advertising, and paying yourselves (or at least cover costs). Assuming all goes to plan, you'll have the ears of many of Boulderians and this is something people will pay to promote to. Start planing parties. Get advertisers to sponsor parties, and many businesses may be willing to donate party supplies in exchange for advertisements on your site. Think local wineries, restaurants, musicians, etc.

You can build support for local businesses, and even do events (with priced tickets) for charities.
posted by fontophilic at 10:15 AM on August 13

Probably best to stick with volunteering. If you're asking the internets for ideas of what kind of business to set up that combines event planning and real estate, it might be better to see if there is actually any one organization that would utilize the combination of skills described.

A business is not a hobby; if you just want something to hang out together that isn't trivial, take language classes, yoga or set up a team to play in some adult sports league. People put real investment (emotional and financial) into businesses and before even considering the idea, everyone needs to be on the same page in terms of financial and time commitment, how they will prioritize it (no "oops, I'm going to take a trip next week, someone cover for me"), what their goals are (financial? charitable? "fulfillment" is a vague term with much divergence in meaning), and where the support (financial, physical, etc.) is going to come from.

Going into business with friends without a lot of serious thought is a good way to lose friends.
posted by rr at 10:30 AM on August 13

You could set up a timebank. I've been wishing I had the time to do this in my community.


At its most basic level, Time banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar. Then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you. It's a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.

Each Time Bank has a website where you list what you would like to do for other members. You look up Time Bank services online or call a community coordinator to do it for you. You earn Time Dollars after each service you perform and then you get to spend it on whatever you want from the listings.

With Time Banking, you will be working with a small group of committed individuals who are joined together for a common good. It connects you to the best in people because it creates a system that connects unmet needs with untapped resources. To see what happens each week when you are part of Time Bank is deeply fulfilling, especially if you are helping to make it run.
posted by hellboundforcheddar at 10:35 AM on August 13 [1 favorite]

Volunteer somewhere! I used to work at an after school program and was responsible for finding volunteers, and also worked alongside them. One of the best parts of my jobs was hearing how fulfilled the volunteers were. One of them told me that it was the highlight of his week and no matter how crappy he felt before coming in, he always felt better afterward.

Not only is it great for yourself, but volunteering is an awesome way to have a shared experience with your friends, and hopefully can bring a new sense of closeness to your group.

Best of luck!
posted by too bad you're not me at 10:54 AM on August 13

Become evangelists for local wildflowers (which is the same things as protecting a number of plant and animal species in your local environment).

Learn everything you can about the local wildflowers -- how to grow them, what they look like in a garden (in terms of ornamentals, which is what most people are after), when they blossom, height, which ones go best with which, which ones are edible, which ones have traditional uses, which other species depend on them, etc. -- and then try to get all of Boulder's flower gardeners to use local flowers.

Write web pages and books. Distribute large-print pamphlets to let gardeners know about these things. Give aways seeds with instructions.

Convince people with potential garden space to let you come in and plant wildflower gardens and return occasionally to tend the gardens. Regularly congratulate the owners for continuing to do good. Convince them not to use any sort of chemicals on them, which would largely defeat the purpose. Your spies scope out the target, your diplomats go in and negotiate an agreement, your masterminds plan the garden, and your flying squad of gardeners goes in to do the work quickly and cheerfully for the landowner. You might do entire fallow fields or standard garden plots or tiny window boxes. (You might be able to sell ready-made window boxes with local wildflowers already started in them.)

Try it with local schools so you get kids involved. Schools often have lawn space that is unnecessarily planted with one unnatural hybrid grass cut to an exact height and chemically treated to destroy all competitors. Some of that waste land could be used as teaching material for learning about local ecology.

In your group's underground lair, maintain maps of your garden locations by species and try to give good coverage so local species of butterflies and bees and other insects will always have lunch within easy flying distance. ("Butterfly X needs flower Y. According to our map of Y, we need better coverage here and here.")

Research local laws and look into homeowner association rules to make sure you stay within their sometimes crazy bounds. Your local wildflower might be some uninformed HOA committee's weed. Make sure the local government is on your side. Make friends with local HOA folk. Get garden shops to sell local seeds. Turn potential enemies into allies.
posted by pracowity at 12:28 PM on August 13

http://www.titznglitz.com/index.htm

you could try bringing this event to your area. it's a fairly massive undertaking (it *will* take a year to plan) but an awesome, awesome night, and amazing cause. from the collective skills you listed, it totally sounds like you have what it takes to make it fabulous :D

now that i think about it, an event like this might even be all the more crucial and urgent in the US. i was involved in the halifax one a few years ago -- can't find words for how amazing it was. if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line!
posted by crawfo at 1:03 PM on August 13

Sounds like a perfect group to mentor young girls, and boys also. Do you have a chapter of BigBrothers/BigSisters? You could mix individual commitment with fundraising and group tutoring, etc.
posted by raisingsand at 3:35 PM on August 13

It sounds more like you're looking for a good use of time, not a good way to make money. In this respect, I think it would be unsatisfying to start a side business, especially if it revolved around the skills you use for work 40+ hours a week. Also, tying your financial wellbeing to your friends isn't a good way of keeping friends.

Just to throw out some personal feeling on charities, if you decide to go that route, as the son of a woman who almost died of ovarian cancer, I always get upset by the "breast cancer only" approach that so many women's health charities take. It completely dismisses the health struggles of so many women. I think the skills set you mention would be perfect for raising attention and funding to overlooked forms of cancer and other diseases.
posted by ifandonlyif at 6:21 PM on August 13

Start a music programme or theatre group for disadvantaged children and/or retirees. Or match up senior tutors with children.
posted by x46 at 1:19 AM on August 14

Start a Ladies Activity Club
posted by like_neon at 1:44 AM on August 14

ifandonlyif -- as someone who's had all sorts of cancers in their family, i'm really sensitive to the different ways certain diseases are popularized and attended to and others neglected, so please don't take my reference to titz'n'glitz as an assumption of importance-over-all-other causes.

what i think it neat about the organization is that the dollars raised actually go to the people who are getting treatment -- for childcare, travel, prosthetics, other related expenses. it's what i think sets it apart from other orgs, that it attends to the neglected (and costly) difficulties of illness.

it could easily be modified to include anything! :)
posted by crawfo at 10:18 AM on August 14

Some microfinance institutions have developed lending programs in developing nations to help women start their own businesses. Since these women have little in the way of collateral, the microfinance companies lend to them as a group, and the peer pressure from the group ensures that everyone is being responsible about their part in running these businesses and paying back the loans. It's a fascinating system.

I would check out kiva.org and research microfinance institutions that work in developing nations - perhaps you could create a sister group and help women start their own businesses where their work is greatly needed.
posted by theflash at 7:27 PM on August 17