Starting over with startups

Steve Wolfe decided not to look for another job in the paper industry after he was laid off. He became a certified financial planner, and now works from home and meets with clients in this rented conference room at Corner Office in Vancouver. (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

After Alan Blackford was laid off in December, he decided to be his own boss. He bought an online celebrity database and is launching Directory Wizards, an online directory of local businesses, next month. (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

“A lot of them are saying, ‘I’m over 50. No one is going to hire me. I’m going to have to do something on my own.’” Jan Harte, Washington Small Business Development Center (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

Alan Blackford commuted from Clark County to a good job as strategic director of business development for a Tigard, Ore., software company. Now he's launching two businesses from his Battle Ground home.

Although he's owned a business before, he probably wouldn't have chosen to leave the steady paycheck that supported his wife and four children right now.

His company made the decision for him when it laid him off in December.

He looked for another job, but with no luck. "My expertise is relatively narrow in scope, if not by industry," said Blackford, 43. "It's going to be a while before those positions will be built back in."

While his laid-off friends have dumbed down their résumés to try to snag a job, Blackford took a different route. He searched Web sites that post businesses for sale. He bought an online celebrity database, and also collaborated with partners to create a local business directory that will launch in July.

Blackford is among a growing number of laid-off workers, especially those in their 40s and 50s, who have decided not to wait for a call from a hiring manager. They're creating their own jobs by starting businesses, planting the seeds of economic recovery.

The number of Clark County businesses reporting to the state Department of Revenue grew from 35,386 in January 2006 to 37,436 last month for a 5.8 percent increase over three years.

The city of Vancouver has received fewer applications for new business licenses, but the worker who handles those licenses said he has been receiving more inquiries from people who don't have work.

Decisive statistics from the federal Small Business Administration on business startups in the recession won't be available for a couple of years, but history shows a pattern of startups emerging in economic downturns. Perhaps you've heard of Microsoft? Bill Gates, then 19, started that company in 1975 — during a recession.

A layoff is "a trigger for people to do what they already wanted to do," said Suresh Kotha, the faculty director for the University of Washington's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. "People start businesses because they don't like working for someone else."

Bill Gates aside, most entrepreneurs are in their 40s, and those in high-tech are usually about 54 or 55, Kotha said. They tend to have spouses with secure jobs and health benefits, as well as a financial cushion.

The would-be entrepreneurs seeking help from the Washington Small Business Development Center in Vancouver tend to be between 40 and 60, said Jan Harte, who runs the center.

"A lot of them are saying, 'I'm over 50. No one is going to hire me. I'm going to have to do something on my own,'" Harte said. "They can't afford to retire because their 401(k) has taken a hit."

Steve Wolfe wasn't ready to retire when he was laid off at age 50 after a 28-year career as an operations manager for Georgia-Pacific Corp. He considered searching for another job or perhaps consulting in the industry.

"I know an awful lot about making toilet paper, and wood pulp, and recycled fiber," said Wolfe, 52. "But my heart wasn't in it."

So he made some big changes. He and his partner — she runs a landscaping business — sold their house. He enrolled in a University of Portland training program and became a certified financial planner.

He started Pathfinder Financial Advisors LLC in 2008, realizing a long-standing dream to provide objective, fee-only advice to "everyday people." To keep overhead low, he works from his Vancouver home and rents space for meetings at Corner Office near Westfield Vancouver mall.

"I joke about being my own IT person," Wolfe said. "Doing as much as you can of that (administrative) stuff is a good way to help keep costs low and not starve to death in the first couple of years."

Wolfe said a lot of his fellow baby boomers have changed their ideas about retirement given both job and stock-market losses.

"You have to somehow have income," he said. "If you can find a way to get some income from something you enjoy, it keeps you from having to drain resources."

Health insurance was a major concern for Wolfe. Indeed, access to health care is a barrier that often keeps workers from setting out on their own, Kotha said. Losing a job pushes them to plunge ahead anyway. Wolfe continued to pay for health insurance through his former employer for the full 18 months allowed by the federal COBRA law before buying his own health care plan.

The credit crunch poses less of a problem for startups, Kotha said. Smaller startups are usually self-financed. And venture capital is still available for bigger startups, especially in high-tech, although VC firms are much more careful about what they fund these days, Kotha said.

Financing is more of an issue for those seeking to open franchises, also an option that attracts white-collar laid-off workers. The franchise industry projects modest declines this year, said Alisa Harrison, a spokeswoman for the International Franchise Association. But she still expects franchise business growth to outpace other sectors, in part because laid-off workers with good business pedigrees look to make their own opportunities during economic downturns.

The recession alters would-be entrepreneurs' risk calculations, experts said. For many, working for a company doesn't seem like the safest alternative anymore.

"It's just tough to have any security out there," Blackford said. "If you're able to launch a business when the economy is in tough times, when the economy turns around, you're going to do well."