Starting A Woman-Owned Consulting Business In Houston: Is It Worth The Risk? (Editorial)

This assignment was to write an editorial that related to our feature article. Since my feature article was about starting a Woman-Owned Consulting Business, I chose to write my editorial on whether the risk of starting a consulting business in Houston was worth it. We were required to use factual resources, as well as quotes or other supporting information to substantiate our editorial. I found this assignment to be somewhat difficult because I had to give my opinion about a topic I was not all that familiar with. With this in mind, I had to give a strong enough opinion so that readers could clearly see my point of view. I hope that I succeeded.

Women currently living in Houston who are considering starting a consulting business should go ahead and make the leap. The economy in Houston makes it a great time for women to start a consulting business. According to the Houston Business Journal, “Houston’s private-sector employment base has expanded 7.6 percent during the past five years, the third-best rate in the country.” Houston’s large metropolitan area also provides plenty of resources to help new start-up businesses such as the Small Business Administration, SCORE, The Houston Business Solutions Center, as well as numerous women-owned business associations. With a great economy, the demand for consultants is high.

When asked why she felt there is a demand for consultants in Houston, Jeannette Waldie, business communication services consultant and owner of J K Waldie & Associates replied, “In today’s competitive market, companies need to operate with as low an overhead as possible, so clients often hire me to help them when their staff is overloaded. I know quite a few proposal consultants, but there are very few in the Houston area, especially in the AEC market, so I knew the demand was there.”

Starting a consulting business requires some serious consideration though, and rightfully so. Daniel Zeevi, a blogger on DashBurst.com says, “…for every five successful startups you hear about, there are 95 somber stories you were never told. That’s right: 95 percent of new ventures are shut down within their first five years of operation!”

However, the odds are much higher for woman-owned business consultants to be in the 5 percent of successful startups, because of Houston’s thriving economy (and no forecasts indicating a slowdown), an abundance of resources to help new business owners, and the high demand for consultants. Starting a woman-owned consulting business in Houston is definitely worth the risk.