HOME-BASED BUSINESS ON THE GROW

Patsy Garner of Cape Girardeau likes her new home-based industry.

"We have a lot of fun," said Garner, who plans and presents "Victorian Tea" birthday parties for young "ladies," ages 8 to 12. "The girls dress up in Victorian costumes, complete with hats and gloves."

Mary McAllister, also of Cape Girardeau, provides a means to preserve such moments as tea parties, and other happenings via use of organizing and preserving photographs with the creation of photo-scrapbook albums.

Garner and McAllister are just two of the more than 80,000 home-based industries in Missouri.

"This is "Home-Based Business Month" in Missouri," said McAllister.

Home-based businesses, previously referred to as "cottage industries," are on a growth mode in the United States these days.

A new home-based business starts every 11 seconds.

Home-based businesses create an estimated 8,219 new jobs every day.

The average home-based business household earns $50,250 a year, and nationally, home-based business generate from $40 to $60 billion a year.

These are some impressive statistics from an age-old industry that came to the forefront a half-dozen years ago and has suddenly developed into a growing phenomena.

"Home-based business have been around for years," said Jan DuBray, a founding member of the Missouri Home-Based Business Association, which came into being little more than a year ago.

Claudia James, who conducts an educational seminar business from her home in Kansas City, is president of the 150-member organization.

DuBray, manager of sales operations for Southwestern Bell Telephone in the St. Louis area, said a number of companies have employees who work out of the home.

"Some Southwestern Bell employees work, full and part-time, from their home, especially in telecommunications," said DuBray. "That's one reason that Southwestern Bell is so interested in the home-based industry work force.

More than 30 million Americans, or about a third of the nation's work force, works full or part-time from their homes.

"All of these jobs are not just telecommunications," said DuBray, "Many professional people -- lawyers, plumbers, accountants, sales people and writers -- work out of their homes."

White-collar workers account for 60 percent of home-based workers, noted DuBray. About 30 percent are involved in financial services, computer-related services. Other are involved in construction, health care, real estate, education, and arts and crafts.

Arts and craft manufacturers, however, constitute only 4.4 percent of workers in home industries.

Home industries are in a definite growth pattern.

The term, "cottage industry," dates back to the 1700s and 1800s, when rural families added to their agricultural income by making products in the home.

The most important product during the early years of the industry were cloth and clothing, shoes, cigar and hand-decorated items.

Home-based industries grew to about 13 million by the 1980s. Then, between 1988 and 1994, the number of home business increased from 13 million households to 20.4 million, representing a growth of 7.8 percent a year.

In many cases, people who join the self-employed, including home industries, are those who have lost a job, said Brian Posnanski, of Fleishman Hilliard Inc., a St. Louis public relations firm that helped compile statistics in a home-based industry survey for Southwestern Bell.

"There are a number of growth factors in home industries," said Posnanski. They include a seesaw economy and corporate down sizing that are making self-employment a necessity. Since 1985, the ranks of Fortune 500 have declined by 2 million.

The success rate of home industries is phenomenal.

Entrepreneurship courses have resulted in much of the increase in home businesses. In 1967, there were only 10 courses on entrepreneurship in the nation's colleges. Today, there are more than 400.

"A lot of businesses fail the first year," said Posnanski, "but the success rate for home industries for the first three years, the most vulnerable time for a new business, is 85 percent."

The number of people working in the home is expected to increase in the future. And, to help work-at-home entrepreneurs, a number of home-based seminars are being held throughout the country.

In Missouri, conference sponsors include the Missouri Home-Based Business Association, Southwestern Bell, University Extension, Missouri Small Business Development Center, the SCORE Chapter of the Small Business Administration, St. Louis Community College and the St. Louis Small Business Monthly.

Membership in the home-business group is urged, said DuBray. Additional information, for both corporate or individual membership, is available by calling 1-800-758-1888.

Home industries are to the liking of many at-home earners. Nine of 10 work-at-home wage earners agree that "their own hours" allows them to spend more time with the family.

Garner started her home business, "Victorian Tea," after reading about the success of the business in Kansas City and St. Louis areas.

"We've been impressed with the response in this area," said Garner. "We're already booked into December."

Garner conducts the tea parties in the home of the birthday host. "We provide everything for the tea party," she said. The girls dress up in Victorian dress and have a tea party and fashion show. Garner also provides a Victorian heart-shaped birthday cake and a Victorian take-home favor."

"The girls love it and the moms and dads love it," said Garner.

Additional information is available by calling 335-5640.

McAllister, in her Creative Memories home business conducts hands-on workshops to help people create their own scrapbook albums.

"Photographs are the windows to our past, yet many people leave them in envelopes and shoe boxes on closet floors," said McAllister. "They should be seen, shared and safeguarded."

Some 90 percent of Americans have cameras, and the Kodak Co. estimates the average family takes 840 pictures over a seven-year period.

Creative Memories presents five different ways that photos can be mounted, noted McAllister, adding: "We also stress labeling the pictures and keeping a photojournal that tells a story."

McAllister is available for presentation to groups and organizations, which includes things to look for in photo albums.

Additional information is by calling 334-3026.