Entrepreneur Journal: Jane Saidenberg, CEO Jane Marvel

MARCH 24

Good morning! Well, I know I sound chipper but there's a lot to do today. I spent a good part of the day yesterday with Julie (my friend of 20 years and my real-estate broker) looking at office space. I've been working out of my apartment up until now, but I think the time is right to get an office/showroom. Sort of a strange and scary time to look to spend money, but here's my thinking: real-estate prices are lower in NYC now, so I can probably get a great deal on a space; I've outgrown working at the apartment - I can't have buyers come for appointments here, the girls (my assistants Jill and Katharine) are tired of working around the kids and the dog. Poor Katharine has to work at the kitchen table! Here's how I found the money: since I have been taken on by a permanent showroom in Atlanta (yea, Tango Reps!) I was able to re-allocate money by dropping my booth at the Atlanta Gift Show. Believe it or not, the costs to rent the space twice a year at the Atlanta Gift Show, staff it, and trek my booth down from NY to Georgia is actually going to pay my yearly rent for an office/showroom! I'm psyched!

Sales, sales, sales!!! I'm hoping to at least coast through this recession by trying to increase my distribution, so Jill and I have been brainstorming for ways to reach new stores across the country. Because Jane Marvel is affordable and fashionable, we're finding a lot of positive response. We'll see if anything pans out!

The boys are still on spring break this week, so it's hard to work around them … Michelle (my babysitter, samples coordinator, and "shipping clerk") is doing a great job keeping them busy; just a few more days and then they'll be back at school! An added challenge is the weather; it's just not warm enough yet for them to play sports outside, so we're trying to keep them busy with play-dates and indoor activities. We had this really fun game of "Life" last night! All four of us: Nick (age 10), Lucas (age 5) Andy (my husband), and myself.

Headed downtown this afternoon to my EO Forum meeting - EO stands for Entrepreneurs' Organization - which I joined this past December. EO splits into small groups of what we call "Forums" that meet monthly to discuss our successes, failures, roadblocks, etc. Most of us have new businesses and families, so it's always helpful to discuss how to balance everything…. then went out to dinner at an AWESOME restaurant called "Mas" (39 Downing Street in the Village ) that is named after the French word for farmhouse… thanks Andy for babysitting!

MARCH 25

Another crazy day… our accountant, Harold, came by this morning and that always takes some time. I also had to run and get a haircut, since I just found out from my publicist that an editor from Elle Décor will be coming to the apartment tomorrow to check it - and me - out for an article in one of its upcoming issues… deep breaths Jane, it's just a look-see.

We picked up 2 new stores today: one in Michigan and one in Maine! I love thinking about what the stores look like and what their customers' tastes are, and in such different territories, too! I love it when customers send us photos of themselves, or how they stage the bags, etc. Also that way we can offer advice on what pieces go well together, and clever ways to "create a story" so that the line looks appealing to their customers. Whenever we take on a new client we always send a "welcome kit" - signage for their stores with the Jane Marvel logo, some recent press that we've received and a note to have them never hesitate to call us with questions or issues.

We were honored to be featured in this month's Real Simple Magazine - an adorable spread that included the Wallet in Stars/Mocha. This has already created a bunch of new web customers for us and is such a boost to helping our brand name "get out there."

March is always a kind of "dead" month - even if the economy wasn't in the dumps - because it's between the holidays and spring. So we've been getting tons of different projects underway, such as calling all the stores on our client list (yes, over 300 of them!) to see how everyone is doing in these hard times. We want to know if we can be helpful, or even if we can just commiserate. I think it's great to reach out just so they know that we know what they're going through! The good news is we've talked to a lot of optimistic folks, and it's really helped to remind us to count our blessings.

I forgot to take out something for dinner - thank goodness for microwaves! I defrosted some chopped meat and made an awesome Spaghetti Bolognese. I love winding down in the kitchen after a busy day: just me and some sharp knives :).

MARCH 26

Spoke with the factory in China early this morning: we have a shipment coming to The States soon, so they are finalizing production. Our inspectors have been by a few times and everything seems to be going well. We had a specific quality issue where one of the rivets was coming loose, so I wanted to make sure they replaced the hardware for this run. Can't wait to get our new patterns in stock; we have about 50 pre-orders ready to ship to stores as soon as the new stock arrives in the U.S., so I'm psyched for that. And then we can add all the new bags and patterns to the website for our online retail customers.

Today the editor from Elle Décor came by; he was so nice and solicitous. He took a bunch of pictures and then told me that he would show them to his editor. We'll see what happens! I decorated our apartment myself, so I would be so flattered if they actually chose it - it's what I like to call "child-friendly modern." I like to mix IKEA with flea market finds, with some mid-century modern designs.

Back downtown for some more office space appointments; actually saw some interesting spaces this time! One was in a great centrally-located building with a lot of sunlight and big windows. A bit higher than my price range though, so I think I'll keep looking.

Had a few friends over for "Famous Chicken" (Lucas's favorite - really embarrassingly easy recipe, but always a crowd-pleaser - mayonnaise is one of the ingredients!) and to watch American Idol results (we let the kids stay up a little later)… only a few more days of vacation so I think it's OK.

MARCH 27

Had an early breakfast with friends from my old William Morris agency days: we all live in NYC, except for one who is in LA, so whenever he comes to New York we all meet for breakfast. I wish we had more time to hang, because it's always such a blast to reminisce and catch up.

A friend has a really large showroom on 7th Avenue so I went there to take a look, since she's interested in sharing. It would be really fun to hang with her - she is an apparel rep, so she has about 6 lines of clothing that she and her brother represent to stores across the country. It's a different market than mine, since I'm accessories, but it could be a symbiotic kind of relationship if there's a space there that makes sense. I took a bunch of pictures so I'll see if that's a good option.

Back to the office: it's Siara's birthday! Siara is an intern who comes in from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) once a week. She's a really hard worker and is a huge help in making sure we get out catalogs, follows with clients, makes deposits at the bank (yea!), etc. Michelle made cupcakes for everyone and we had a celebration!

I feel like I've been out of the office so much lately so now I'm just going through e-mails and checking on all the operations. I spoke to a few of our road reps today to see how their territories are doing; definitely some gloom and doom, but also some new opportunities. It's a really sad thing when you hear of a store closing, but at the same time there are often new stores popping up as well. Some territories are also more seasonal than others, such as Florida, and since there have been less "snowbirds" this year because people are cutting down their travel expenses, there has been an overall drop in business. I'll have to call my parents who just moved down there full-time to get their friends shopping more!!!

Ah, Friday night pizza night! We also watched the original Pink Panther movie - very different than the recent re-make!... and now the boys are in bed… Andy is fetching me a little nightcap (thank you, honey!) and I'm writing one final e-mail to China. I am pitching a really large chain next week and want to get some preliminary pricing on some products I want to develop for them.

APRIL 3

Here I am a few days later… I had my pitch meeting yesterday for a chain of office supply stores. I wanted to talk to them about creating a special line of computer bags for them. They were very enthusiastic about the idea - they are looking for a lower priced item and I have been exploring the idea of doing a lower end line for Jane Marvel - more options for customers' wallets - so I will be working on designs for samples over the weekend. The idea would be to make these bags more utilitarian and less "fashion-forward," that way they will be totally different than my boutique line yet still have the Jane Marvel functionality and style.

Back to the office/showroom search - I am hoping to be able to make a deal to share the space with the showroom reps on 7th Avenue. If we can make the numbers work we will have a beautiful place to work and showcase our product for clients. I've got my fingers crossed that the numbers make sense for everyone!

I had lunch on Wednesday with a friend who is the sales manager for a line of well-priced jewelry. We met at the Atlanta Gift Show, but they are based here in New York. It was great to share notes and bounce ideas off each other. She has come up with some great creative ideas to boost sales during these down times. Because she's a seasoned veteran of economic ups and downs she was very "Zen" about the cyclical nature of it all. I loved her overview and have been sharing it with others.

Jill is on vacation for a few days. I was answering phones yesterday: helping customers, taking orders, solving problems… she's so good at it and I'm so spoiled that she takes care of all of it, so I was very rusty trying to get it all done. It's funny to think that just a year ago I was working by myself with Katharine helping as an intern once a week! Now that we have expanded so much in such a short amount of time, it's hard to believe I used to do all the work myself. But when you're an entrepreneur, you often have to do that until the point where you have enough revenue coming in to hire others to help you. I always asked other entrepreneurs: "how do you know who you'll need to hire and when you'll need to hire them?" And they all answered the same way: "you just know!" It seemed so mysterious at the time, but I guess it's pretty true. Since I had Katharine coming in once a week, it was easy to increase her hours and start to pay her once I wasn't able to do all the work myself; now she's here at least 3 full days each week. And then it was clear that I couldn't do all the order entering and customer service, so that was my first full-time employee. Now we have yet another intern and Michelle who multitasks for my kids AND Jane Marvel! I love the camaraderie in the office - it really makes the work even more fun.