First of a two-part series detailing an entrepreneur's use of an outside board as she struggles to grow her company.
I thought that after two or three years in business I would have large cash reserves, no debt, and time to travel and enjoy my independ-ence from the corporate world I had left. Instead, almost eight years later, I still work 50 or 60 hours a week and drive a used Jeep. My revenues are still under half a million dollars. And I still wonder, How do companies get big, anyway? How does anyone prepare for business ownership? If business is a game, I feel I haven't figured it out yet
"March 20, 1992
"Dear Mr. Gendron:
"I have a story idea for you. . . . "
* * *
The letter writer briefly described her direct-marketing consulting firm, Direct Response Marketing Inc., which she had started about eight years earlier, and which specialized in lead generation for manufacturers through telemarketing.
Recently, the company had been chosen by a new nonprofit organization in Pittsburgh, PowerLink, to be one of two local woman-owned businesses to be awarded a high-powered corporate board of directors for a year.
"What impact," she wrote, "would that have, first, on a tiny business that finally had a toehold in a fast-growing industry . . . and, second, on the business owner? . . .
"My proposal is to continue keeping a journal this year, as I have for the last several, and submit regular reports to you.
"If you are interested in the possibility of a story, feel free to call me.
"Best regards,
Anita F. Brattina
President."
* * *
PowerLink's goal, Gendron learned after a few phone calls, is to help local female business owners catch up with their male peers. The nonprofit's founders (Barbara Moore, president of Pittsburgh-based Anderson Transfer and women's business advocate for the Small Business Administration, and Ilana Diamond, a senior manager at Price Waterhouse) had discovered that the missing link for many female business owners in Pittsburgh was financial. Not how to get money, but how to make it a priority in their companies, to put profits right up there with successful marketing as a business goal.
Intrigued -- and impressed by the organization -- Gendron called Brattina. Impressed again, especially by her keen curiosity about the journey she was about to take, he signed her up. Here, then, is the first of two installments, excerpts from Brattina's chronicle.
* * *
September 2, 1991 I've decided to submit an application to PowerLink for an advisory board, at the suggestion of a friend who is the cofounder. Barb M. says they are looking for companies that are growing. I didn't correct her. It is true that in 1984 we did $27,000 and in 1990 we did a little more than $250,000. I suppose I should feel proud of the accomplishment. But as the years pass, the longer I am in business, the more I question my own ability to grow this company single-handedly.
How does a company grow from $50,000 in sales to $10 million or $100 million? Am I doing something wrong? I am willing to stretch to find out, even if it means adding another set of tasks to a very full schedule. [Note: In my speaking to women's business groups, my favorite metaphor of the business owner is the man on "The Ed Sullivan Show" who balanced spinning dinner plates on the ends of tall sticks. Just as he had 15 spinning, one would start to wobble and then another and then another. This PowerLink advisory board seems like adding 7 more plates.]
October 1, 1991 I've been selected as one of two companies in the PowerLink program. My friend says they wanted companies that would help set the pace for this experiment. They also wanted to start small and get input from the business owners so that subsequent "classes" would benefit. I am thrilled and inform my employees of our selection. Their response is reserved. I am not sure why.
January 2, 1992 I receive a list of five board members who were selected for me. I approve them and add two of my own. I pick Dwight F. because he has been a client since 1984 and watched us shift from being a consulting firm to becoming a service bureau. Rick M. has extensive telemarketing experience, more than anyone else on the board.
January 5, 1992 Draft 3 major goals from the list of 75 we came up with at our annual company meeting: hit $750,000 in sales; analyze and improve internal communications and systems that have an impact on customer service; analyze my management methods and figure out how to delegate better and help grow the company in a responsible way.
* * *
I am unsure of what to tell the board about the company. I wish I could pay my employees better. I wish we could be 100% error-free on every client project. I still let receivables slip over 60 days. I still lose money on some jobs because we hire a new person who makes a mistake, so we do the work over again. We never seem to have enough cash. I still don't have my accounting on the computer. And when I go away for long weekends, I still check in once, sometimes twice, a day, assuming that my help is needed with a problem at work.
* * *
January 15, 1992 We close the year at $367,422. That's almost a 37% increase over last year, despite the flat economy. My decision to shift our resources to automate our telemarketing service seems to have been a good one. It means we can accept work from larger companies that need fast turnarounds. It also means I have more employees to manage and a $25,000 loan to repay (a few more plates). We are cash hungry all the time, and we have more debt than I've ever exposed us to. And, yes, the Jeep has 93,000 miles on it.
January 21, 1992 I attend my Women's Business Network meeting to tell them about my selection as one of the companies to receive an advisory board of directors.
