Never-Ending Stories Here's the tale of one entrepreneur who refused to close the book on her favorite out-of-print classics.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What: Publisher ofout-of-print books for children and young adults
Who: Madelene Towne of Green MansionPress
Where: New York City
When: Started in June 2001
As the mother of three children, Madelene Towne wanted her kidsto read the same books she had enjoyed as a child. But aftershopping around unsuccessfully, she realized that most of herfavorite titles were out of print. Rather than giving up, thisformer trust and estates lawyer decided to bring them back to lifewith her own book publishing business.
Towne started out by researching the availability and copyrightstatus of her favorite books, then she purchased and acquired therights to those that were available. She then hired a printer,artists and designers to give the old books an updated look.
After joining The Small Press Center, a New York Cityorganization that assists small presses, Towne, now 47, happened tosit in on a seminar where a Barnes & Noble buyer was discussingselling books. When the two met, the buyer asked Towne to submither titles and find a distributor, because they wouldn't beable to deal with her directly. Towne secured a distributor-andBarnes & Noble placed its first order.
In fall 2002, the self-financed entrepreneur released her firstfive titles, including The World of Henry Orient by NoraJohnson, The Joyous Season by Patrick Dennis and TheWonderful Winter</.I> by Marchette Chute. The books are alsoavailable on Amazon.com and at independent bookstores, and 15 moretitles are in the works.
Says Towne, whose business posted quarterly sales of $30,000,"For me, it's more than just a business. It's really amission to get these books out there, [to] have them readagain."
Paper Chase
What: A site that screensfor plagiarism
Who: John M. Barrie ofTurnitin.com, a division of iParadigms LLC
Where: Oakland,California
When: Started in June 1998
When he worked as a teaching assistant at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, John M. Barrie, 35, saw firsthand the problemacademic dishonesty posed to educational institutions. So after hegraduated in 1998, he and a group of eight friends launched a Website designed to help teachers catch dishonest students. Today,four of Barrie's co-founders remain in the business--ChristianStorm, 31; Emmanuel Briand, 33; Melissa Lipscomb, 31; and ToddHuddleston, 34.
Called Turnitin.com, the system scans high school and collegestudents' work for plagiarism. Students submit a digitalversion of their term papers online, and Turnitin.com screens thepapers against three databases. The business got off to a goodstart, thanks to $2 million in start-up capital raised from familyand friends.
Today, the antiplagiarism system has been adopted by theUniversity of California system, every university in the UnitedKingdom, Cornell, Duke, Rutgers, and thousands of high schoolsworldwide. Sales for 2003 are expected to exceed $5 million.
Shaping Up
What: An alternative toovercrowded gyms
Who: Robert B. Shapiro ofBodyScapesInc.
Where: Newton,Massachusetts
When: Started in April 1997
During his tenure as a health-club manager, Robert Shapiro madethree observations: Some clients found it intimidating to use theequipment for the first time, many had to wait to use the exerciseequipment during peak usage hours, and there was high demand forpersonal training.
After he was laid off from the club, Shapiro wrote a businessplan, sought out a $70,000 loan from the SBA and opened a differenttype of club. "We have five or six people an hour working outat one time," explains Shapiro, 34, who intially relied onword-of-mouth and grassroots marketing. Shapiro sets his businessapart by not offering gym memberships; instead, clients can buysix, 12 or 22 sessions at a time, a feature that Shapiro creditsfor his club's 90 percent retention rate.
BodyScapes offers the latest in workout equipment, an intimatesetting and workouts by appointment only. (Clients are met bytrainers who take them through their individualized workouts.)Clients range in age and fitness levels, including many who areundergoing physical rehabilitation, and 65 percent are women.
Plus, the clubs are staffed by top-notch professionals: "Wehave athletic trainers, physical therapists and exercisephysiologists," says Shapiro. "We have the best of theexercise sciences."
With 2002 sales of $1.3 million, BodyScapes has three locationsin Massachusetts, chosen for their proximity to affluentareas--after all, it takes a high-income demographic to afford the$60-plus fee per session.
On a shoestring
What: Advertising/publicrelations firm
Who: John Galbraith of TwinPartners Inc.
Where: Rochester, NewYork
When: Started in 1996
Start-up cost: $50
It was the birth of his twins that sparked John Galbraith'sdesire to start an advertising and PR firm. When the babies wereborn premature, Galbraith realized that no challenge could matchthat harrowing experience. He left his job as a senior accountexecutive at an ad agency and filed a dba for Twin PartnersInc.
Bartering with an ad agency landed him in a warehouse where heworked rent-free for two months. When he moved down the hall to aone-room office for $200 a month, his office was robbed the secondday. "All I had was a computer and a phone, and they stoleboth," recalls Galbraith, 36. He used technology and the bestequipment to keep overhead down. For instance, he put commercialsonline for clients to view in real time rather than shipping themout. Though he was saving, Galbraith still dressed professionally,believing people want to work with those who look successful.
The business brought in $150,000 in sales the first year, andlast year, Twin Partners shifted its focus to PR, increasing grosssales to $2.5 million for 2003. With buyout offers from two majoragencies last year, it appears Galbraith was right about breedingsuccess.
