Speakers, Service and Spousal Partners:
Couple brings celebrities to Canadian events
Home Business Report (Summer, 1999)
By
E.T. (Mitch) Lenko
At age
12, Farah Perelmuter decided that she would become a model. She
prepared a business plan to reach her objective. Two years later,
she achieved that goal and began modeling at age 14. Two more years
passed and Farah, at the age of 16, opened a self-image school in
Winnipeg.
It's not surprising,
then, that 13 years later this youthful and determined entrepreneur
is a partner-with her lawyer husband, Martin-in a highly successful
home-based business. The two operate an agency called Speakers'
Spotlight, which represents celebrity speakers.
"Hiring a lawyer
for the business would have been too expensive, so I married one," laughs
Farah. Martin, who was employed with a prestigious Bay Street law
firm in Toronto, gave up the practice after the first year to
form Speakers' Spotlight with Farah.
Years earlier,
Farah had abandoned her self-image school in Winnipeg to move with
her family to Toronto and to attend The University of Western Ontario.
After working several years as an advertising executive with a small
Toronto company, she again made the move to self-employment.
"It all happened
within the month of June 1995," recalls Farah. "We got married,
quit our jobs, moved and started our business." Looking back, all
four of those decisions proved to be sound for the couple.
Speakers' Spotlight
currently represents about 60 professional speakers, but is also
connected with thousands of speakers worldwide. Last year the company's
bookings exceeded $1 million. The business is paid a commission,
typically 25 per cent, for each booking. Its catalogue of speakers
is impressive, including hockey hero Paul Henderson; astronaut Roberta
Bondar; Margaret Trudeau; and authors David Chilton, Nualla Beck,
Faith Popcorn and Peter Neumann. The company is also lining up presentations
for actor Christopher Reeves, comedian Joan Rivers and media czar
Moses Znaimer.
"Christopher
Reeves is particularly challenging," explains Farah. "Because of
his debilitating condition, he requires a private jet at a cost
of about $3,000 per hour of flying time. That expense has to be
added to his $100,000 speaking fee. Faith Popcorn is another challenge.
Her fee of $25,000 increases to $35,000 if there is an overnight
stay."
Exceptional
service is obvious in every aspect of the Perelmuters' business. "Our goal is not to become bigger, but rather to be the best at
what we do," emphasizes Martin. "We want to recruit exciting speakers
that change peoples' lives. Of the last 100 applications we received
from potential speakers, we watched around 15 give presentations
and selected two or three to add to our catalogue."
The agency has
never had an occasion when a speaker did not show. They've developed
a stringent follow-up procedure with both speakers and clients,
and most of their speakers have a good understanding of customer
service, meeting with clients beforehand to go over their presentations.
The Perelmuters
have adapted well to operating a business in their home. They say
they've managed to avoid the potential problems that might arise
between spousal partners, mainly due to a careful separation of
their business and personal lives.
Certain areas
are set aside strictly for business purposes. The couple's offices
are situated on the first floor of their residence, while the
upper
floors are used exclusively as private living quarters. "We never
leave business documents in the living room or bedroom," says Farah.
"Otherwise we'd never be able to relax. Also, since the environment
we work in affects our moods, we selected cool shades of blue and
gray for our work area. In our living space, we've used warm, neutral
colours."
Although the
couple has five incoming telephone lines, they avoid business calls
after hours and use call display to decide which calls to answer.
They have also asked family and friends to refrain from calling
during office hours.
To avoid the
problems that could arise between spouses in the same business,
the Perelmuters have a simple but effective policy. "The key to
success is having clearly defined roles within the business," says
Martin. "Know what it is that you love doing and separate the tasks
accordingly. If you love what you are doing, it no longer feels
like work. We do the strategic planning together, but the day-to-day
tasks are separated."
Martin handles
the detail work, including bookings, record-keeping and follow-up
arrangements. Farah has the creative ability, preparing their catalogue
as well as marketing tools and media releases for their speakers.
Says Farah, "We're also careful to communicate
as business partners, not as spouses, in front of our staff,
and we maintain professionalism
with clients at all times."
This does not
mean, however, that the couple never has disagreements.
"In a business
where both partners always agree, one of the parties is probably
redundant," says Farah. "It's usually easy for us to make decisions
because we listen to each other," adds Martin. "Our backgrounds
are different and we have lots of trust and respect for each other
in our respective domains."
When asked what
advice they could offer other young couples who might be considering
self-employment, there was certainly no disagreement in the Perelmuters'
response. "Learn as much about yourself as you can. Know what
you like to do and design your career-and your business-around
that."
For more information,
you can reach the Perelmuters by e-mail at info@speakers.ca.
Mitch Lenko
is director of the Centre of Entrepreneurship at Centennial College
in Scarborough, Ont. and serves as eastern regional editor of Home
Business Report.
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