APRIL 2011 N Y R E P O R T. C O M $6.95

How Bethenny Frankel pursued the insanity of reality television to create an empire

Exporting to Emerging Markets

The Real Successful Housewifeof NYC

PluS: The Fiercest Women Entrepreneursin New York

VOL. 8, NO. 4

C1.indd 1 3/25/11 3:20 PM

february 2011 N Y R E P O R T. C O M $6.95

GREEN BIZ TIPS YOU CAN ACTUALLY USE INVESTING FOR ENTREPRENEURS

How laying low helped profits soar at Applegate Farms

ThEONEdAYwORkwEEk

Founder and CEOStephen McDonnell

C1c.indd 1 1/24/11 3:38 PM

MARCH 2011 N Y R E P O R T. C O M $6.95

incubating entrepreneurial talent

How Tom Shannon’s idea

to brand bowling as luxe made

millions

get your company growing

bowlmor’s

kingpin

VOL. 8, NO. 3

C1.indd 1 2/22/11 11:35 AM

OCTOBER 2011 N Y R E P O R T. C O M $6.95 VOL. 8, NO. 10

Also Inside:Host Cooler Events p34 Find Better Partners p36 Pay Less Taxes p42

Why PAPerless Post WIll Put evIte And hAllmArk out of BusIness

C1a.indd 1 9/23/11 4:37 PM

Tom Shannon took a rundown bowling alley and grew a

$50 million business BY DARIA MEOLI / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JILL LOTENBERG

22 | The New York eNTerprise reporT | march 2011

A K I N G P I N INMANHATTAN

22-26.indd 22 2/22/11 9:03 AM

Tom Shannon, founder of Bowlmor Lanes, behind the

shoe rental in his Times Square location.

22-26.indd 23 2/22/11 9:03 AM

NYREPORT.COM | The New York eNTerprise reporT | 31

To share this article online, visit nyreport.com RL 79127. Related articles: “3 Lessons on Grabbing Your Audience’s Attention” RL 78917 and “Is Your Website Lame?” RL 72813

You know you should be blogging for your business, but maybe you just don’t know where to start,

or you are fearful of how to sustain the momentum once you begin. Join the club. Most entrepreneurs I speak with have more fears about blogging than they have about their taxes.

The first step in conquering these worries is to understand why you should blog.

Search Engine OptimizationSearch engines ascribe high value to fresh and relevant content in their rank-ing algorithms. With ranking in organic search becoming more difficult, you really should be doing all that you can in this area, and that includes blogging.

New content, in the form of blog posts, gives the public a reason to come back to your website. The more visits and return visits, and the longer visi-tors stay on your website (reading your blog) the more search engines make the deduction that yours is a relevant and reputable site to bring up in the search rankings.

Building Public TrustProspects and clients feel safer doing business with people they know, and your blog is the perfect opportunity to give your company a voice and let its personality shine through.

The New ReferralIf you publish good content, people will share it. If one reader shares your blog with another person, it may set them on the path to becoming a customer.

Now for the real challenge: what to write about. For starters, think in categories, such as some of the services your company provides or topics on specific product lines or service models you offer. Create four or five categories to write about where you can share information that will be interesting and helpful. Try brainstorming with your team, putting a publishing schedule together, and building up some posts, so that you can deploy a blog post once a week. You can also have more than one blogger in the company. Just make

Blog

10 IdeasFor YourCompany

Don’t let fear of blogging hinder your website’s marketing potential bY MaRdY siTzER

BLOG

31-33.indd 31 2/22/11 11:26 AM

32 | The New York eNTerprise reporT | march 2011

everyone who is writing for your blog is on the same page regarding content strategy, keywords, and tone.

The following are some content-generating ideas.

Customer Service

Your service teams have a wealth of knowledge and advice. They have

seen it all, done it all, and responded to it all. Service members of the staff have some great insights that prospects and customers would find useful and sharable. Review incoming emails and look for questions asked, then share the question, and provide an answer. Chances are, there are others out there who were wondering the same thing.

Expertise

Caution: do not let the blog become a sales pitch. Think about the

products and services you offer and how they fit into your customer’s life or work. For example, if your company

sells wine, write articles sharing reci-pes that call for wine, talk about food and wine pairing, offer tips on how to choose a bottle at dinner—you get the idea. You can create great content around your area of expertise. I love an old tag line from Syms: “an edu-cated consumer is our best cus-tomer,” and I do believe blogs are a wonderful way to educate your audience and motivate them to become

great customers.

Empathy

Knowing your audience is impor-tant, and understanding their chal-

lenges is critical. Write about their points of pain. If you can demon-strate an understanding of their chal-lenges, then you have shown empathy. Empathy and understanding are power-ful emotional triggers and can help you gain readers’ interest and trust. Let’s say you are an accounting firm; a business

owner’s point of pain might be cash flow. A good series of articles might be centered on cost-savings ideas, how-to articles on reading a P&L statement, or instructions on how to create a dashboard for monitoring cash flow to make better decisions.

Ah-Ha Moments

We all have them. Did you learn something,

discover something, or read something that is worth sharing? Share the name of a book you just read and how it got you thinking or will help you with a chal-lenge. Don’t worry about being off topic once in a

while. These are great opportunities for your audience to get a sense of you and your values—become a personality they feel aligned with and can trust.

In the News

Is there pending legislation that will directly affect you and therefore

affect your customers? Maybe the leg-islation will affect them directly, as well. Offer your opinion, and remain

open-minded and willing to hear other points of view. Current events can gen-erate stimulating dialogue.

Decision Process

Are you considering new equip-ment or new services? How did

you find suitable options, and how did you evaluate them? This would make a great series of blog posts that will invite recommendations from readers. It will also let your customers know that change is on the horizon, and why, giv-ing you the opportunity to enlist sup-port before you roll out the change or add to your service and product offer-ings. Your audience may be deciding whether or not to do business with you. Sharing your decision process can help align you with your audience as they go through their own decision process, and can go a long way toward making them feel good about their decision to work with you.

Experiences

You go places, do things, see things, and get involved in things. Share

your experiences. Give your readers an opportunity to virtually join you on your journey and learn as you learn.

Empathy and

understanding are

powerful emotional

triggers that can

help you gain

readers’ interest

and trust.

* Personal NoteYes, personal. Blogs are supposed to be where people get to know you, so every now and again it is okay to share a personal story. Your readers will feel closer to you and your company—that is what makes them loyal—when you are real and likable. A little vulnerability is a good thing.

31-33.indd 32 2/22/11 11:28 AM

24 | The New York eNTerprise reporT | february 2011

If you survived the economic tsunami of the last 36 months, you know that not everyone lost their house, but everyone got wet, and some came out soaked to the bone. John Keynes, the

influential British economist, once said “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.”

Many entrepreneurs found their busi-nesses on the edge of survival; it could go either way. This economic crisis forced entrepreneurs to re-evaluate everything—payroll, employee performance, manage-ment, reporting structure, costs, product or service mix, competition, and what the real market opportunities were going forward. These evaluations, changes, and decisions had to be made as revenue fell, cash flow was compromised, and bank lending, as well as personal resources, rapidly diminished.

Many owners of privately held busi-nesses found themselves in an acute

liquidity trap. They were forced to reduce or forgo their own pay and slash pay-roll. Compounding the difficulty, many found that their investment portfolio had cratered along with their business. Much of the investment advice offered during the prior years was proffered when the investment gurus had the eco-nomic winds at their back. In this recent economic storm, almost all asset classes were correlated and suffered similarly. Consequently, many entrepreneurs who had invested outside of their businesses found that hedge funds had onerous lock-ups, therefore diminished liquidity; real estate and stock values had crashed in lock-step; and any sale of part or all of their business (if they could find a buyer) was going to be at great loss.

So how would you go about adopting a more sobering perspective on building and protecting the asset value of their busi-ness to survive difficult economic times? Franklin Covey suggests, “begin with the end in mind.” So, let’s fast forward to an end game scenario and work backwards:

How business owners can avoid the next liquidity trap.

WealthManagementAfter the Downturn

To share this article online, visit nyreport.com RL 78761.

by richard lavin

Mr. Entrepreneur, who has built the business to a $10 million revenue rate. Along the way he increased his compensa-tion to $900,000 per year, to include base pay, retirement benefits, leases, and other credit card expenses. His vacation home is paid for and his primary residence has a $500,000 mortgage. He also has $2 million invested in the stock market.

Now let’s compare this scenario to Mr. Prudent Investor, whose first rule of busi-ness and life is to “stay out of trouble, not get out of trouble.” His second rule, given his apparent net worth, is to “stay rich, not get rich.” Mr. Prudent Investor sold his business for $10 million (or one times sales) leaving him $7 million after taxes. Combined with $2 million that he already has in the stock market, this gives him a total of $9 million in investable net worth.

“John Keynes, the influential British economist, once said ‘the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.’”

WEALTH & TAXES

24-31.indd 24 1/24/11 3:54 PM

NYREPORT.COM | The New York eNTerprise reporT | 25

He now recognizes that if he is to protect his principal, (avoid drawing down on his principal and survive the vagaries of the market), he must live within the three percent rule. That is, he must live off of three percent of his investable net worth and set aside two years of living expenses to avoid drawing down principle in severe market declines. Depending on his tolerance for risk, age, and investment philosophy, there is an infinite number of asset allocation ratios of stocks to bonds to real estate, and a myriad of esoteric investment vehicles that he might consider. And within the basic allocation in each class is a variety of permutations: small cap, large cap, corn, cotton, oil, commercial, residential, long-term, short-term, treasury-backed, dividend-paying, and so on.

What he would not do is put 80 percent in a single small cap stock and the balance in a mixed portfolio of other stock posi-tions. That would be a scenario of great risk. However, that is exactly the position in which we found Mr. Entrepreneur when we met him. Almost his entire net worth was tied up in his business, and the balance of his portfolio was in the market.

So what are the lessons an entrepre-neur is to glean from living through the economic tsunami and from Mr. Prudent Investor? Recognize the inherent risk of ownership in a privately held business, which is similar to a single-stock position in a small cap holding, and diversify away from that risk in all other investment hold-ings; for example, treasury-backed short-term municipal bonds.

The continual investment in his own business has proven to be a great way for an entrepreneur to build wealth as that is where, since they have the greatest control and influence on out-comes. However, as the owner, there is the responsibility to protect that asset, as well as his personal well being. Therefore, prudence suggests he also set aside two years worth of living expenses to shelter him through the next storm so that he will not find him-self in a liquidity trap. NYER

Richard Lavin is founder of LEVERAGEDWISDOM, a peer-to-peer learning group for owners who want to increase the equity value of their business-es. He can be reached at richard.lavin@leveragedwisdom.com.

What new tax legislation means for small business in 2011

Tax Law Changes Made Simple

With the start of the new year there is a slew of new tax rules that can help you reduce your tax bill for 2011, although

some other changes create administrative burdens. Many of the rules were created or extended by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which was signed into law on December 17. As an entrepre-neur, here is what you need to know:

BY BaRBaRa wElTMaN

24-31.indd 25 1/24/11 3:54 PM

30 | The New York eNTerprise reporT | april 2011

MySims2Go(mysims2go.com)

With the purchase of an international MySims2Go card, this service will

find the most efficient carrier to trans-port your outgoing calls while you travel. MySims2Go provides various subscription plans to help business owners minimize roaming fees or international calling charg-es. For example, users can get one UK number and use it as a global number every time they travel. It allows for free incoming calls in over 100 countries. Fees vary by use.

MeetingWave (meetingwave.com)

When traveling, make the most of your time in a different city.

With MeetingWave, only available on the iPhone, you can search for business networking events, happy hours, golf outings, and more opportunities happening while you are in town. Or you can post a request that describes the type of meeting or event you are looking for or person you’d like to meet for lunch in your destination city. Users receive email notifications of responses to their posts. This app is free, and for those not on iPhone, the service is available through MeetingWave’s website. Ridgefield, CT–based attorney, John Boyd, Esq, uses the app to meet other business people while traveling. “You don’t need to disclose your name or specific location if you don’t want to,” he says. “Meeting new people via the Internet or mobile can be scary, but you verify your work email and display the verified domains to ensure the other users are legitimately in the industry or business or alumni group they say they are.”

fring (fring.com)

Need to have a face-to-face meeting with an employee or a client while

you’re away? This app—available on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, and Ovi—allows you to make and receive video calls for free with anyone who has a smartphone. It also provides a text chat service, also free of charge, to cut down on those text messages. Carolyn Paddock, founder and CEO of In-Flight Insider, a website and app for frequent travelers, downloaded fring to her iPhone as an alternative for international calling. She loves the fact that with fring, she can call a UK landline for 1 cent a minute, as compared to regular mobile calls with her carrier for $1.35/minute.

Travel Apps for Productivity

Get the most out of your business travel and remain productive by taking a look at

these apps, recommended by entrepreneurs BY LINDSAY TIGAR

To share this article online, visit nyreport.com RL 79583.

30,38.indd 30 3/23/11 6:39 PM

6 | The New York eNTerprise reporT | april 2011

nyreport.com

five things not to miss on nyreport.com

Weekly PollIf you ran CBS, would you have fired your cash cow - Charlie Sheen - for his off-set behavior? According to our current events weekly poll, 75 percent of readers would have kept him on-air. Click and vote each week to weigh in on current topics that get entrepreneurs thinking. nyreport.com/poll

Meet NY Report Experts and Fellow ReadersOur website helps you get offline and in front of other entrepreneurs around the tri-state area. In addition to finding information about our “2011 Small Business Awards” and “Saving Energy in NYC: True Stories That Make Sense,” you can search for other NY events or post your relevant events for free. (See more on what we have coming up on page 11). nyreport.com/events

Brand Like a CelebrityAs a serial reality star and serial entrepreneur, this month’s cover story may have taken personal branding to the extreme. But some of what she’s learned about successfully marketing yourself can apply to any business owner looking to increase name recognition in their industry. Watch this video for her advice. nyreport.com/bethenny_frankel

The Anonymous CEOEver wish you could have open discussions with fellow entrepreneurs yet experience the same confidentiality offered by a therapy session? If so, check out nyreport.com’s blog, “The Anonymous CEO.” This blog allows visitors to discuss gripes, praises, and problems with employees, spouses, clients, the governments, and anything or anyone else. And of course, do so anonymously. nyreport.com/anonymousceo

Google Loves Me, Google Loves Me NotWant to know 20 things Google loves about your website (RL 77583) and 30 things it hates (79418)? Try to implement these tips and avoid these pitfalls to improve your company’s organic search.nyreport.com/mardy_sitzer

Start clicking

at nyreport.com.

Updated daily with

web-only content and

featuring the best business

networking events in the

tri-state, our website is

a must-bookmark for

entrepreneurs.

“Duh.Winning.”

6.indd 6 3/25/11 3:18 PM

Also InsIde:The Indelible Success of Sandra Lee p8

Closing the Digital Divide p20

Overcome a Business Plateau p38

entrepreneurs share strategies for how to run your business better today

IN BUSINESSbest

the

9

november 2011 N Y R E P O R T. C O M $6.95 voL. 8, no. 11

C1c.indd 1 10/21/11 1:55 PM

48 | The New York eNTerprise reporT | november 2011

The Buck STopS Here

The Top 10 ReaSonS I’ll neveR Go Corpor ate aGaIn

By michelle court

10“No more dark suits and pantyhose. Now I can not only wear color, but can more fully express myself with my wardrobe. Pantyhose—never again!” Teresa Delaney, owner, TDelaneyPR

9“I love the freedom of knowing that I own my sched-ule and workload—even if it’s about three times as much as when I worked for an employer. I frequently pull 12 to 15 hour days, but it never feels like drudge

work.” Lauren Fairbanks, partner, Stunt & Gimmick’s

8“It’s the flexibility of travel and structuring my life the way I want it to be structured. I work hard for four months and continue to work throughout the year. How-ever, I will take a few months and work from Buenos Ai-

res, Argentina. I’ve mastered tango, become fluent in Spanish, and love the food and wine of this country. I believe in splitting time between places because no place is perfect throughout the year.” Vincenzo Villamena, founder and owner, onlinetaxman.com

7“I don’t have to sit through long meetings in corporate office parks, staring out a window and listening to ex-ecutives toot their own horns. Most meetings I do these days are via phone or online conference…in gym shorts

and a t-shirt.” Michael Frenkel, president and owner, MFC PR

6“Small business owners are hiring to make money, corporate America execs are firing to save money. Who would you rather be?” John Cerasani, presi-

dent, Northwest Comprehensive, Inc.

5“I like to get things done—not just talk about it. In the corporate world you spend seven hours discussing what needs to be done for every hour you actually spend get-ting it done.” Dan Kraus, president, Leading Results Inc

4“I don’t have to deal with other people’s foibles. I don’t have to make nice with despicable co-workers. I don’t have to deal with back-biting. I don’t have to smile when someone’s being a jerk.”

Michelle Gamble-Risley, CEO, 3L Publishing

3“Being an entrepreneur is demanding; however, the flexibility means I can still pursue success while being able to spend more time with my daughter. I may work twice as hard but I have half the guilt!”

Megan A. Brown, co-founder, HatchedIt.com

2“I can secure my future. I have been able to make much more money than I ever did working corporate. Also, I’ve created a valuable asset that I can sell when I’m ready to call it quits.” Anita Mahaffey, CEO and

founder, Funika Inc. and Cool-jams Inc.

1“I wanted to build something from scratch that was all my own. I knew that opportunity would never happen in the corporate world.” Tony Ellison, CEO and president,

Shoplet.com NYER

Want to read more? Want to add your own? you can find this article online at nyreport.com/current_issue.

We asked entrepreneurs why they traded in their cushy 9-to-5s for a potentially uncertain future. Here are a handful of our favorite responses.

48.indd 48 10/21/11 1:55 PM

Fast+FuriousGrowth

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

$379

.1 $496

.8

$699

.4

$859

.4

$1,0

29.8

Average Growth

annually[2004-2008]

28.4%

SOURCE: Wood Mackenzie

SOURCE: Wood Mackenzie

SOURCE: Shire

A PharmExec Graphic

A PharmExec Graphic

200

400

600

$800

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

A PharmExec Graphic

The Big Little Company 2007

2006

ProAmatine $49.3

Carbatrol $52.4

Pentasa $99.3

Agrylin

Adderall XR

MAJOR PRODUCT SALES [$US millions]

$474.5$317.9

$132.5

$119.2

$87.2

$45.3

$50.9

This chart shows how analysts view the introduction of Strattera as a one-of-a-kind market-changing event.Other estimates note that generic competitors most likely won’t reach the market until 2008. Shire says the market expansion is a good thing for Adderall XR and for future ADHD drugs.

Strattera

Adderall XR

Concerta

Ritalin

ROYALTY INCOME [$US Millions]

Zeffix $24.7

3TC $144.6

$132.5

$21.2

+

Shire’s 2007

total revenue

was more than

$1.2 billion.

ROYALTY INCOME [$US millions]

Zeffix $24.7

3TC $144.6$132.5

$21.2

PRODUCT SALES [$US millions]

Fast+FuriousGrowth

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

$379

.1 $496

.8

$699

.4

$859

.4

$1,0

29.8

Average Growth

annually[2004-2008]

28.4%

SOURCE: Wood Mackenzie

SOURCE: Wood Mackenzie

SOURCE: Shire

A PharmExec Graphic

A PharmExec Graphic

200

400

600

$800

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

A PharmExec Graphic

The Big Little Company 2007

2006

ProAmatine $49.3

Carbatrol $52.4

Pentasa $99.3

Agrylin

Adderall XR

MAJOR PRODUCT SALES [$US millions]

$474.5$317.9

$132.5

$119.2

$87.2

$45.3

$50.9

This chart shows how analysts view the introduction of Strattera as a one-of-a-kind market-changing event.Other estimates note that generic competitors most likely won’t reach the market until 2008. Shire says the market expansion is a good thing for Adderall XR and for future ADHD drugs.

Strattera

Adderall XR

Concerta

Ritalin

ROYALTY INCOME [$US Millions]

Zeffix $24.7

3TC $144.6

$132.5

$21.2

+

Shire’s 2007

total revenue

was more than

$1.2 billion.

ROYALTY INCOME [$US millions]

Zeffix $24.7

3TC $144.6$132.5

$21.2

PRODUCT SALES [$US millions]

Eisai Global Filing Plan

United States European Union Japan

FILED Careram [T-614 : Rheumatoid arthritis]

Zonegran [E2090: Epilepsy]Aricept [Orally disintegrating tablets]Aricept [Liquid]

FY2004 E2080 [Epilepsy] E2080 [Epilepsy] Pariet [H.pylori eradication]

FY2005 D2E7 [Rheumatoid arthritis]E2014 [Cervical dystonia]E7210 [Contrast medium]Pariet [Symptomatic GERD]

Aricept [Severe AD]Aricept [Dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease] Aricept [Vascular dementia, re-�le]

Aricept [Severe AD]Aricept [Vascular dementia, submit additional data]

FY2006 E2007 [Parkinson’s Disease]E7070 [Breast cancer]E7389 [Breast cancer]

E2007 [Parkinson’s disease]E7070 [Breast cancer]

FY2007 E5564 [Prevention of endotoxin-related complications after coronary artery bypass graft surgery]

E5564 [Prevention of endotoxin-related complications after coronary artery bypass graft surgery]

KES524 [Obesity Management]

FY2008 E5564 [Sepsis] E5564 [Sepsis] E7070 [Gastric cancer]

Japan

C

SOURCE: Eisai 2008

SOURCE: RoperASW, a division of NOP World

SOURCE: Wood Mackenzie’s Medicare Insight

A PharmExec Graphic

A PharmExec GraphicA PharmExec Graphic

A PharmExec Graphic A PharmExec Graphic

Companies conducting data analysis in-house

Companies that outsourcedata analysis

75%

25%

SOURCE: Cutting Edge

A PharmExec Graphic

SOURCE: Partners+Simmons

GenentechAmgenRocheJ&JAllerganSchering AGSanofi-AventisSchering PloughNovartisAbbottWyethNovo NordiskAstraZenecaEli LillyGlaxoSmithKlineBMSMerck & Co.Pfizer Inc.ShireBoehringer Ingelheim

0 20 40 60 80 100%

Percent of 2008 US brand drug revenues coming fromdrugs covered by Part B

14% 34%10% 41%

SOURCE: 2005 MARS Study

A PharmExec Graphic

Over the past year, 33% of American adults did not take their prescriptions as recommended. Below are some of the most common reasons for failing to follow treatment regimens.

SOURCE: Harris Interactive

SOURCE: Harris Interactive

64% forgot

36% said had no symptoms or symptoms went away

35% wanted to save money

33% did not believe the drugs were e�ective

31% said they didn’t think they needed the drugs

28% had painful or frightening side e�ects

25% said the drugs prevented them from doing other things they wanted to do

The marketing department budgets at life sciences companies have increased over the past three years,

even though these departments have a decreased role in generating revenue from sales.

77% 91% of marketing executives

in the life sciences industry say their departmental budgets

have increased over the past three years

of marketing executives in the life sciences industry

say their department’s role in generating revenue has

decreased

According to a Harris Interactive survey,

27% of American adults were treated for mental health problems over a two-year period ending in March 2004. Of those, the majority were treated using drugs only and without participating in therapy.

34%

47%

19%

Participated in therapy and took drugs to improve their mental health

Only took drugs to treat their mental health problems

Only participated in therapy