Case 7.1 Ella Williams: Making It on Her Own After working for 13 years in various departments at Hughes Aircraft Corporation, Ella Williams, believing in herself, decided to form a small business of her own. With the help of the SBA's Section 8(a), she took out a S65,000 second mortgage on her house and founded Aegir Systems in Oxnard, California, to provide engineering, environmental, mul- timedia, and computer services to the aircraft industry. She struggled for three years-often scrounging aluminum cans from dumpsters to earn money to support herself and her two children. Her daughter was mortified, she said. "But she sure was interested in the money when I cashed them in." It was an uphill battle to convince white-male-dominated firms that a black-woman- owned company could deliver the technical services she offered. Although she eventually proved to them that she could, it took three years to get her first client. The turning point came when she went back to her kitchen and baked cheesecake, breads, and muffins for her prospects. Shortly thereafter she got her first contract. 1946 Part Two How to Plan and Organize a Business By 1998 she had 70 employees working in the Oxnard headquarters and regional offices in Los Angeles. Her talent and achievements have been recognized in numerous ways. In 1993, Northrop named Aegir its "Small Business Supplier of the Year." Williams was named one of "The Nation's Ten Most Admired Women Managers of 1993" by Working Woman magazine, and AT&T designated her "The 1993 Entrepreneur of the Year." In 1996, she was presented with the "Woman of the Year" award by the Women's Transportation Seminar, and in 1997 she was voted "Business Person of the Year" by Business Digest readers. Questions 1. What kind of financing did Williams use to start her business? 2. How could SCORE have helped? 3. Do you think that this cycle of "uphill battle" is typical for minority-owned businesses? Source: Andrew Tobias. "You Can Still Make a Million Dollars," Parade magazine, October 29, 1995, pp. 14-15: Kathy A. Price, "Business Person of the Year-Ella Williams." Business Digest 38 (Winter 1997) at www.bigest.com/win8.html: and correspondence with Ella Williams. 7 22