So when they left Singer's home, they went back to the drawing board and put together a business plan line by line. Janson recalls the next three and a half weeks as "hell." They valued the company at about $2 million and offered Singer a 25% equity stake. "They've got a great business plan," Singer says. "They're focused; they've got a great concept." But the business plan led to questions that were harder to answer. Does 10 Minute Manicure have a limited audience? Where does it go if it doesn't get into the right number of airports? And is the concept easily duplicated? "It's not like they've reinvented the wheel," he says.
He also doesn't want to make such a major investment based on a single meeting. "A big part of my decision," he says, "is to make sure that the management team is able to take it where they want to take it." Since none of the founders has built a serious business before, how will he make that determination? "It basically gets down to gut feeling," he says simply.
All three cofounders cite "control" as one of the main reasons they wanted to start their own business, but at this stage they are anything but in control. At press time neither Singer nor the Dallas/Fort Worth airport had made a decision about 10 Minute Manicure -- despite frequent queries from the women. Singer suggested that he wait for the Dallas/Fort Worth start-up to be operational and then evaluate things. O'Neil has been negotiating with Singer, but the founders are holding firm that they need $500,000 to launch. It's a catch-22.
So the three are preparing Plan B. Janson will focus on making pitches to other airports and following up leads on other investors. Jimenez is exploring the prospect of setting up nail kiosks in professional buildings in downtown Miami and Dade County.
Something -- anything -- has to happen soon for them to reach their goal of generating revenues this year. And the stakes are not insubstantial. Jimenez, who by her own account is the least comfortable financially of the three, had cut back her hours at her job and was set to leave it at press time. Already she's feeling the pinch. In October she decided that her splashy spring wedding would instead be a small ceremony in Las Vegas. Her life and her vocation have become inextricably entwined. "I had a dream that I was getting married at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport," she confesses.
But whether the business succeeds or not, says Jimenez, she now sees the world from a totally different vantage point. Some of her friends have made inquiries about possibly hooking up with 10 Minute Manicure if it gets off the ground. But their queries stun her. "I can't believe it," she says. "They're inquiring about working for someone. It sort of defeats the whole purpose."
Karen Dillon is Inc.'s deputy editor.
Read the complete Start-Up Diaries series.
Executive Summary
COMPANY: 10 Minute Manicure
FOUNDERS: Karen Janson, 33, CEO; Vivian Jimenez, 31, COO; Lorraine Brennan O'Neil, 35, part-time chief administrative officer
FAMILY: Janson, married; Jimenez, engaged; O'Neil, married with one stepchild, and a baby on the way at press time
CONCEPT: Set up small kiosks in airports offering -- you guessed it -- manicures in 10 minutes
FINANCING: Hoping for $500,000 in angel money
PROJECTIONS: First year, $3.3 million in revenues, $1.1 million in income; second year, $5.3 million in revenues, $3 million in income
HURDLES: Winning concession contracts from airports, which typically are run by local government agencies practicing rampant cronyism; maintaining the customer traffic that the business model calls for (five manicures per hour at each two-chair kiosk for 13 hours every day of the year)
PERSONAL FUNDS INVESTED: $20,000 total from the three
EQUITY HELD: 33% for each founder, until reduced by sale of equity to investors
SALARY: None to date. If the company gets its hoped-for $500,000 seed money, the three cofounders anticipate taking approximately $45,000 each in salary for their respective roles.
PREVIOUS JOBS: Janson and Jimenez as executives in Florida's largest PR firm; O'Neil as name partner in a law firm
SOURCE OF IDEA: Friends Janson and O'Neil, while fantasizing poolside about starting their own business, "wanted something that would make the professional woman's life easier," O'Neil recalls. "We came up with the idea and the name just like that," Janson says.
OUTSIDE BOARD OF ADVISERS: Nothing formal; informally, an array of friends and acquaintances
WHY THEY'D QUIT: Says Janson, "If some major player came in and swooped up spots in major airports. That's the only reason."
WHAT THEY'D BE DOING IF THEY WEREN'T DOING THIS: "I'd start another business," says Janson. "Or maybe I'd work on that absolutely perfect novel, but I always think I need a little more life experience to make that bite."
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION: "My uncle, a Jesuit priest at Georgetown, who says that if you die trying, then you're a success," says Janson. "That's how I feel about this business."
ROLE MODEL: Janson grew up watching her father, Bob Sweeney, succeed in his own right as an entrepreneur. (Currently, he runs Regal Kitchens, which manufactures high-end kitchens for large-scale construction projects.)
