COVER STORY

BridgeView Marketing partners Mike Emerton and Dale Allaire (front) stand with team members Laurie Dunigan, Joline Biancavella, Jackie Abramian, Michelle Saturley Bob Colbert and Rich Smith. Amy Root-Donle photo

It's a brutal truism that small businesses fail at a high rate often within the first two years, sometimes much sooner (studies show the rate to be 80 to 90 percent). The reasons for such a high rate of failure are numerous: a bad business plan, a good business plan in a bad market, not enough money, not accounting for growth, not enough time or effective marketing or the bad luck of launching in uncertain economic times.

Ventures talked recently to two Portsmouth businesses that were started in the past year that have made it through the first difficult stage of establishing themselves and are feeling confident about the future. They are sole practitioner (for now) Kelly Whalen of Whalen Public & Media Relations and Dale Allaire and Mike Emerton of BridgeView Marketing (originally profiled in the June 2007 Ventures).

Both of the firms reflect the growing creative market in the region with their public relations, sales and marketing expertise. And both include an entrepreneurial drive to be their own bosses after having worked for years with other companies and agencies. Mostly in their own words, they talk about struggle and dealing with success as they ponder the next stage of growth.

Kelly Whalen

"What possessed me to start my own business is that I have always been independent," said Kelly Whalen. "I was working for a small agency in Portsmouth and had been stagnant for a couple of years. No corporate ladder to climb, no change in clients, and working a lot of hours for someone else. I didn't want to manage other employees, because I find it very difficult to delegate.

"The past year has been great, beyond my expectations," she said, and one set up by her previous experiences in local agencies such as Brown & Company and Calypso Communications. "One of the main reasons I chose to go out on my own was a need in the market for public-relation services. Many of my friends are sole practitioners in the marketing/advertising industry, but no one specialized in public relations.

Kelly Whalen in her home office. Amy Root-Donle photo

"Fortunately, I have had plenty of business opportunities and I have not endured the typical start-up difficulties that many companies go through. Starting out, I had one very large client, so my goal this past year was to bring on more clients, both retainer as well as project-based, to balance the work load, but also provide long-term financial security."

Dale Allaire and Mike Emerton

Dale Allaire of BridgeView Marketing said he and partner Mike Emerton have felt vindicated by their business plan of offering a unique service that "bridges" a wide range of services.

"Our concept of �bridging the gap' between traditional PR and sales has been widely embraced by our customer base, with customers integrating new services on a monthly basis," he said. "In essence, we have exceeded our goal to double our revenue."

One of BridgeView's major client successes was with the high-tech company, Voyence. Not only did BridgeView have its retainer doubled but the increased lead generation, HTML e-mail marketing, customer Webcasts and full Web site traffic, and statistical analysis led to the elevated product and company exposure "" which led to the purchase of Voyence by Massachusetts-based EMC in late October.

"Both companies share the issue of time and dealing with growth as concerns that must be addressed. Finding time or marketing ourselves. It's that old �cobbler's children' phrase," said Emerton. "Because we are well steeped in our client's marketing endeavors, it's difficult to find time to actively market ourselves."

"Owning a business is not for everybody, you have to be very self-motivated and resourceful. It also takes confidence and the ability to sell yourself," Whalen said.

"I have stuck to my original plan of offering quality, high-level public-relation services to clients in the New England area," said Whalen. "Portsmouth has a supportive small-business environment, meaning many businesses prefer working with a sole practitioner. It's the personal service, and the fact that you don't get a junior person or an intern working on your business.

"I work with all my clients directly. It is also extremely important to me, not to have too much work, in order to provide the best possible results for existing clients, so I have turned away business "" which I can't believe, but just emphasizes the need for public relations in the market place.

"The toughest part of owning your own business, especially as a sole practitioner, is that you are always working. I am struggling with that now and learning to take vacation and actually be on vacation without picking up the Blackberry for e-mails."

Allaire said for his company the trick has become "knowing when to bring on additional assistance for the business aspects. As client services grow, your time for accounting and billing procedures diminishes as well. Billing/accounting are just as important as providing quality services, you must devote significant time to this. Knowing when to say, �enough is a enough' and pass the baton to a qualified person is difficult."

Bridgeview is also dealing with a change in the business plan.

"The core business plan of contracting has proven effective. The area offers a wealth of talent who do not wish to make a 1-½-hour drive down (Route) 128 or 93 each day," Allaire said. "However, due to our growth, we are exploring the option of converting some contractors into employees."

While feeling confident about the future, Whalen is also dealing with growing pains.

"When I first started out, I said I would never hire employees. But I have found that there is a distinct need for public-relations specialists in the region," Whalen said. "I am at that point now where I need to re-look at where I want to go with my business. I could grow considerably in 2008, if I put the right resources in place. I am just not sure at this point how I want to grow."

Being her own boss means that Whalen can donate time and services to one local nonprofits such as the N.H. Film Festival and Seacoast Local.

"Now that I work on my own, I am able to do this more effectively."

Emerton said they are feeling confident about the future.

"Even as the specter of recession finds it way deeper into boardrooms, we remain extremely optimistic about the next few years. Companies will always seek new and proven methods to track and quantify the cost of marketing endeavors to pipeline opportunities," he said. "Gone are the days of buying $100,000 ads and not mapping impressions to sales "" budgets have gone down, but expectations have gone up."