Return to News Index

You’ve worked hard to create a successful business, and now you’re ready to take it to another level. There are plenty of ways to expand; you just have to decide which method is right for you.
To help you work through the problem, we shed light on several entrepreneurs who found ways to grow their businesses and boost their profits.
1. Merge with or acquire another business. When Jayne Hancock Group acquired 14-year-old Townsend Inc. in July 2007, it was simply the next logical step in a 2-year-old relationship.
The two agencies had been working under the same roof for two-and-a-half years. Jayne Hancock’s firm was a fast-growing marketing group specializing in media, sports and technology, while Jackie Townsend’s was a leading technology PR firm focused on branding and PR.
Story continued

Story continued

“It was almost like a no-brainer. It was almost like, we can’t do this and not come together,” Hancock says.
The company that emerged out of the acquisition, JHG-Townsend, helps companies create their branding and messaging, then helps them apply it in traditional and new media markets.
Hancock and Townsend decided against a co-CEO setup for the new company.
“You don’t want any cloudiness about the structure and who’s going to make the decisions,” Townsend said. So Hancock took the top position, and Townsend became executive vice president.
Both say the merger thus far has been terrific. “Everybody’s starting to feel and see an energy that we all visualized by doing this,” Hancock says. JHG projects $8 million in earnings for 2008.

Story continued

Story continued

If you’re considering an acquisition, Townsend says you should get to know your potential partner well before committing to a relationship.
“Know what it’s going to be like to work things out in the tough times,” she says. “If you know you can get through the difficult conversations you need to have, then you know you can get through a partnership.” Such conversations, Hancock says, involve strategic or operational decisions, ranging from investing in new systems to opening a new office, bringing in a new hire or making an acquisition.
2. Spin off new profit centers. Jocelyn Silverman started 304 Media, a boutique advertising agency, six-and-a-half years ago. Since then, she’s branched out with two more companies: Short Run Cards and Creative-Juice.

Story continued

Story continued

Short Run Cards can produce small runs of plastic, personalized VIP cards in only two days. The cards are used for loyalty programs that offer discounts or points to cardholders. Creative-Juice offers creative outsourcing solutions that produce design services for larger advertising and PR agencies.
Short Run Cards came about after 304 Media ordered its own set of VIP cards.
“No one could do the turnaround on the cards,” Silverman, 28, says. So, like many an entrepreneur, Silverman decided to do it herself. She purchased equipment, and leverages her employees’ free time to design the cards and print them in-house. Now 2-and-a-half years old, Short Run Cards made a small profit its first year and has gained traction each year.

Story continued

Story continued

Creative-Juice was born out of necessity in March 2007, to make up for the loss of a client that provided 30 percent of 304 Media’s business. The gamble is working well.
With the success of her spinoff businesses, Silverman will launch another related business, StorkMagnets.com, this month. It will produce birth announcement magnets online. It’s the ultimate example of leveraging resources, Silverman says, because all of the design and programming are already complete and the website is completely automated. In fact, Silverman expects StorkMagnets to quickly become her primary source of revenue.
“We have received incredible feedback through our initial testing and have several people anxious to place orders,” she says.
To read the entire article, visit http://womenentrepreneur.com/article/3144.html

###