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She Owns It: Dealing With a Laid-Back Software Vendor

April 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
She Owns It

Portraits of women entrepreneurs.

In a post published last month, Susan Parker, a member of the She Owns It business group, shared some of her frustrations about working with a software vendor that didn’t seem to share her sense of urgency. Her company, Bari Jay, has been in the process of switching to new software for more than a year. During a recent conversation, Ms. Parker reviewed the status of the project, which was supposed to take three months, and she responded to reader comments on the earlier post.

No, Bari Jay has still not made the changeover. But Ms. Parker is cautiously optimistic. “We’re into the home stretch,” she said. Invoicing is the new system’s remaining sticking point, but at least the process of testing the invoicing function has begun — a sign of progress, she said.

She hopes the new software will be up and running by May. To try to ensure that the vendor picks up the pace, she has been holding daily huddles on the subject with her staff. And once or twice a week, during the huddle, Bari Jay calls the vendor to address issues that have arisen among the group. “This eliminates the he-said, she-said,” she explained.

Ms. Parker noted that the well-intentioned advice of some commenters reflected the erroneous impression that Bari Jay was attempting to create a fully customized system. For example, one commenter wrote, “I cannot fathom her business is so complex/unique that she needs completely custom software.” Ms. Parker couldn’t agree more, which is why she chose the software option she did, an off-the-shelf solution that is being partially customized for Bari Jay. “The majority of the system already existed,” she said.

Other suggestions might have been helpful had she followed them a year ago, Ms. Parker said. She noted that given the time that has elapsed, the amount of work already done, and the payments she’s made, Bari Jay is “way past the point” where it would make sense to — as one commenter put it — abandon this “unsuitable spouse at the altar.” As for withholding payments, it’s also too late for that, although Ms. Parker said she has certainly learned from that mistake.

She has tried issuing hard deadlines and checking references, as some commenters recommended. But, she said, the deadlines have so far proven ineffective. And though Ms. Parker grilled past references, she noted, “No one’s giving a reference unless it’s good.”

We’ll follow up to see whether Bari Jay’s software vendor delivers by May, as Ms. Parker now hopes.

You can follow Adriana Gardella on Twitter.

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/dealing-with-a-laid-back-software-vendor/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,

You’re the Boss: Buying Versus Renting: Owners Consider the Advantages

August 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

She Owns It

Portraits of women entrepreneurs.

Deirdre Lord prefers renting.Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times Deirdre Lord prefers renting.

At a recent She Owns It business group meeting, the conversation focused on real estate. The business owners also touched on the related subject of working remotely, a topic we’ll explore further in coming posts.

The Megawatt Hour, a start-up owned by Deirdre Lord, rents an office in shared space. To try to lower costs, the company has moved three times in the last two and a half years. When its lease on “really dumpy space” in Queens was up, Ms. Lord said she found more centrally located space in Manhattan that eased commutes for the staff. Ms. Lord does not foresee owning. “We rent, and we will only rent,” she said.

Considering the cost of office space, she wondered what the group thought about letting employees work remotely.

“I feel you really lose something,” said Beth Shaw, who owns YogaFit. In fact, she feels so strongly about the issue that she regrets installing separate offices in her current space. Even walls can render your employees too remote, she said.

“It’s really funny that you brought that up,” said Alexandra Mayzler, owner of Thinking Caps Tutoring. She said she approved employee requests to work from home once a week. But then it turned into twice a week. Although she says she believes that productivity can increase when employees work independently from home, she doesn’t think working remotely is good for the company culture. “Somebody’s out one day, the next person’s not there the next day, and there’s no structure,” she said.

“I had that same issue in my office,” said Ms. Shaw.

Susan Parker, who owns Bari Jay, a dress maker, returned to the issue of renting or owning commercial real estate. Her company rents space in Manhattan’s Garment District. When she and her sister took over the business, Bari Jay had two months left on its lease. “We ended up just getting a year extension, and it took us over six months to end up signing a lease for the same exact space,” she said. “When you have 11,000 square feet, you cannot find a lease.”

She said she considered moving to an identically priced, slightly smaller but nicer space with 24-hour access (her current building has limited hours, six days a week). But ultimately, the thought of moving and uprooting operations persuaded her to stay put. “I’m here for a long time,” she said.

Johnson Security Bureau, which is owned by Jessica Johnson, operates from a townhouse in the Bronx. The company bought the building in an estate sale almost 20 years ago. Before that, she said, Johnson Security rented space in the neighborhood. Ms. Johnson said she was happy that she did not have to worry about long-term leases and utilities, which would be more expensive if she rented.

Ms. Mayzler runs Thinking Caps Tutoring from a rented Manhattan apartment (not her residence). The company’s branches in Texas, in Austin and Houston, operate remotely with employees who work from home.

“Have you thought about incubator space for Texas?” Ms. Johnson asked.

Ms. Mayzler said that, for now, she needed more space only when the company hosted pizza parties for its Texas tutors. So far, she has rented conference rooms for that purpose. But this year, there will be more tutors. Additionally, it would be nice to find inexpensive space as Thinking Caps begins to do more team-building activities.

YogaFit is seeking less space. Ms. Shaw has been trying to sell the company’s building in Torrance, Calif., on and off for a year. She said she bought it for $1.4 million in 2006 and did extensive renovations, including creating the offices she now wishes were gone.

“If everybody was in one place, there would be more communication and productivity,” she said — not to mention less texting and eating at desks. The office walls aren’t the only drawbacks to the space, which is in a rather isolated area 30 minutes from Ms. Shaw’s home on the west side of Los Angeles.

Even though she invested in renovations, Ms. Shaw said she would be happy to sell the building for the price she paid. She would then like to buy much less expensive loft space in downtown Los Angeles. But her building hasn’t come close to selling. She wondered if she is using the wrong agent.

She said there was a large Asian community in the surrounding area and that it’s a popular location for Japanese companies, including Honda, Nissan and Toyota, all of which have offices nearby. “Maybe I need a Realtor that will market the building to the Japanese or Chinese market,” Ms. Shaw said, adding that Chinese investors are buying in Los Angeles.

“Have you thought about having an event where you invite Asian fitness professionals in and then maybe that will help spread the word?” Ms. Johnson asked.

“I love that idea,” Ms. Shaw said.

“Who decided that you should buy the building?” Ms. Parker asked.

“I decided because I’m not a good renter,” Ms. Shaw said. “When YogaFit started, we were under a bar, and beer leaked into our yoga studio for seven years.” Unlike Ms. Parker, Ms. Shaw said she had not worked with a business coach or a group like Entrepreneurs’ Organization to help with such decisions.

How has your business handled the real estate decision?

You can follow Adriana Gardella on Twitter.

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/buying-versus-renting-owners-consider-the-advantages/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,

She Owns It: A Dressmaker Tries to Deliver the Right Dress at the Right Price

December 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

She Owns It

Portraits of women entrepreneurs.

As she works to get a handle on pricing, Susan Parker, a member of our business group, weighs the competing interests of art and commerce. On the one hand, Ms. Parker, who owns the dressmaker Bari Jay, is thrilled with her creative designer and credits her with much of the company’s turnaround. The designer, Kristine Eikenbary, takes her inspiration from higher-end fashion. “Her designs are gorgeous,” said Ms. Parker.

But they are also expensive, thanks to more complicated elements that add fabric and labor costs. For example, a plain dress might require three yards of fabric, while a shirred or pleated one could take five or six — plus the added work required to create these features. On top of that, as a result of increased costs for raw materials, labor, and shipping, it’s getting more expensive to manufacture the dresses in China.

Hiring Ms. Eikenbary three years ago was a coup for Ms. Parker’s father, who spent a year wooing the designer before he became ill (he subsequently died, leaving the company to his daughters, Ms. Parker and her sister). In those three years, Bari Jay’s average retail dress price has risen to more than $200. “Two hundred seems to be the magical number,” said Ms. Parker. Many customers won’t pay more.

Despite Bari Jay’s growth — in 2010, annual sales increased 20 percent — many stores, especially in the Midwest, have dropped the company because of its prices. The slack has been taken up by increased sales to some of Bari Jay’s other retailers.

Ms. Parker said she wanted Ms. Eikenbary to keep doing what she does “because that’s what’s made us what we are.” But she also wants her to incorporate some simpler styles — even though designing simple can be complicated. “You almost feel that simple has been done in every way possible,” said Ms. Parker, presenting a challenge for Bari Jay’s creative designer.

“Does she understand the financial implications?” asked Jessica Johnson, a business group member who owns Johnson Security Bureau.

Ms. Parker said she did and was eager to make it work.

“But she’s creative, and that’s what drives her,” said Alexandra Mayzler, a business group member who owns Thinking Caps Tutoring.

“Right,” said Ms. Parker, who is starting to receive next season’s designs. When she opens the pictures, she said, she feels like she is “having a heart attack” and worries that Bari Jay won’t be able to produce the styles at prices the retailers will pay.

The company’s salespeople, who are on the front lines with retailers, tell Ms. Parker that it’s fine to have dresses that sell for $230 or $250 as long as other designs are available for $180 or $190. Bari Jay’s retailers  stock only sample sizes of each dress, so customers must order their size and wait for delivery regardless of which style they want. A store needs to carry only 12 Bari Jay styles to sell the entire line. “But if we have no dresses in the store, we just lost a Bari Jay sale,” said Ms. Parker.

“Could you do two lines, like Bari Jay and Bari Jay Plus?” asked Ms. Johnson.

Ms. Parker replied that they had considered that, but determined they would be unable to make a cheaper line. Any additional line would have to cost more.

And the rising cost of manufacturing in China will continue to be an issue, said Ms. Johnson.

“That’s my fear,” said Ms. Parker. She is unconvinced that a simple dress that costs less than $200 today will cost less than $200 next season. “I’m wondering at what point people say, ‘I don’t need a Bari Jay dress. I’m just going to go to David’s Bridal because their dresses are under $200,’” she said.

Ms. Mayzler pointed out that labor costs are rising worldwide as workers demand and receive fair pay. She speculated that rising costs must be an industrywide issue — one that Ms. Parker’s competitors are also facing.

That’s true, Ms. Parker said. However, some larger companies mass produce dresses and use cheaper fabric (a compromise Ms. Parker is unwilling to make). So while their prices are also rising, their dresses still cost much less than Bari Jay’s.

But you’re trying to attract a certain customer, said Ms. Mayzler. She added that, just as Thinking Caps provides more than “a body to warm the seat while your kid does homework,” Bari Jay is also special and should market its strengths as a maker of better-quality dresses.

Ms. Parker agreed — but only to a point. Yes, some stores do appreciate the value of a Bari Jay dress, and that’s why the company has been successful. But she worries that continued price increases could sharply limit Bari Jay’s growth potential.

“I think you have to decide what your goals are,” Ms. Mayzler said. She made an analogous decision, she said, when she chose not to offer lucrative test preparation classes, as opposed to the individual tutoring that distinguishes Thinking Caps. While the classes bring in more money per hour, Ms. Mayzler decided they didn’t fit her mission.

“The difference — or at least the way I perceive the difference — is you’re going after the end user,” Ms. Parker said. She explained that she might lose a sale to a girl who wants a Bari Jay prom dress but can’t get one because all the stores in her area have dropped the company.

“So it’s more opportunity costs,” said Ms. Johnson.

“If I don’t sell to one store, God knows how many sales I could potentially be losing,” Ms. Parker said. She added that she was not willing to consider selling directly to consumers through the company’s Web site because it would put her into competition with Bari Jay’s retailers.

We’ll check back with Ms. Parker and the other owners in future posts. In the meantime, what do you think of Bari Jay’s dilemma?

You can follow Adriana Gardella on Twitter.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=3fc1717d2d86f3ef8006c3904866c6cc

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , ,