She's passionate about the idea of a home business, despite a certain self-described inferiority complex. (If she had a separate office, would the business seem more real and important?) "I like working at home," she declares. "I don't have to fight the traffic or pay tolls. I don't get dirty looks if I take a 45-minute lunch." Her ideal: keep working at home and have all the people who work for her also work out of their homes.
Plus, one of her goals is to be able to watch her children herself, even while working. Until this point that's been OK, but her infant hasn't become a toddler yet. "It would be ironic to put her into day care," Blakeslee says with a grimace. "It would be 180 degrees from how I want to raise my little ones. I have silly visions of reading her stories, taking her for boat rides. Babies, I think, have to take priority."
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So what should carolyn Blakeslee do? Slow down her growth? Keep expanding fast, but begin hiring and delegating? It could turn out that putting in the extra effort, time, and money now would afford her the kind of freedom she wants -- although the freedom would come later. Making production less reliant on herself, putting to paper the figures and strategies in her head, and even extending ArtCalendar's product line into auxiliary items could lead to a company structure that would enable Blakeslee to be a part-time coordinator.
But can she both grow her business and find more time for her daughter now? She thinks she can -- sort of. She's mostly confident that she can adapt as her baby grows more mobile. "Like the business, parenting will pick up in intensity," she predicts. She plans to sustain current 100%-a-year growth for the next 18 months, albeit at bigger volumes. "It'll be a pretty big effort in terms of managing," she says, "but it's handleable."
She has become more savvy with her company's numbers: she's keeping track of renewals (61% in 1990 and 58% so far for 1991) and of how each list is performing. She's setting aside 20% of cash receipts for savings, and tracking how much money needs to be held to fulfill subscriptions.
For now, she's made some decisions and put off others while she thinks through her choices. A friend with an M.B.A. is helping her develop a business plan. ("I was pleasantly surprised when he told me I was doing OK," she says.) She's hoping to free up some time by getting her part-time worker to take on more clerical work and by enlisting one of the free-lance writers to write some of the listings, as well.
She's alert to the compromises she may be forced into by the growth of circulation alone. But figuring out which steps to take next remains a challenge; they seem so big, so daunting. So Blakeslee just keeps tapping at the computer keys, making calls, feeding the baby, writing listings. And wondering how to keep balancing, balancing, with both her children demanding attention.
THE 'BOARD' RECOMMENDS . . .
Hire help, focus on circulation, and search your soul
So what should Carolyn Blakeslee do? Inc. assembled an ad hoc advisory board and asked.
The advisers are: Thomas J. Gilgut Jr., former owner of several newsletters, author of How to Buy, Sell, and Price Newsletter Properties, and now vice-president of Shakespeare on Disk, which produces educational software; Lesa and Jon Ukman, a sister-and-brother team whose company, International Events Group Inc., tracks the advertising-sponsorship-marketing industry, employs 20 people, and has annual sales of more than $3 million; and Trish Vanni, who owns Sullivan Communications, a three-year-old, 5-employee, $500,000-a-year contract publishing business. (This past summer Vanni, who was expecting her first baby as Inc. went to press, hired a consultant who will become her business partner in January.)
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Should Blakeslee grow, sell, or just hold ArtCalendar steady?
Lesa Ukman: She can't keep it where it is. It's too much work. She's definitely got something here, but just leaving the business where it is now is the worst of all worlds because she has the everyday burden and not enough freedom to care for her child and pursue her art.
Gilgut: She should grow, yes, but slower. Target 50% a year, not 100%. She's already dealing in large numbers, and mistakes can compound. This is a woman with a new baby, cutting back her workweek, with a publication that already has 5,500 subscribers. Overextend yourself and suddenly the whole thing comes down on you.
Vanni: Also, it sounds as if she's working really hard to make $2,500 a month. She can grow more, make more money, work 20 hours a week -- and have just as satisfying a product -- by giving up control.
Gilgut: She can't have more time for her family and grow and diversify, all by herself. It's impossible. And it's dangerous for all this to be weighing on her, anyway. What if she gets sick? What if her daughter gets sick? She has to protect her asset by getting help.
