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January 10, 2005

Designed to last | A chat with Shawneric Hachey, founder of 15thMinute in Portland.

By Dorothy Ogrodowczyk
Founded: October 2003
Revenues, year one: $162,000
Projected revenues, year two: $375,000
Address: 226 Stevens Ave., Portland
Phone: 899-1450
Web: www.15thminute.com

Describe what your company does.
We are a design and advertising agency. My co-principal, Brian Latham, specializes in print design and branding. I specialize in interactive design, copyright and branding. Print design includes print advertising, annual reports, outdoor and transit (such as billboards), collateral [materials], brochures and point-of-purchase displays. Interactive design includes Web development, Flash-enhanced design, multimedia movies and online marketing.

How many employees do you have?
It was just me for the first seven months of the business, but we are now a two-person agency.

When did you first get the idea for the company?
I had been a freelance journalist and editor for publishing companies in New York, California and Paris. I got tired of the publishing industry ˆ— too many limitations and parameters. I decided to shift to design and advertising because I always wanted to be creative. Brian has a degree in architecture. You don't need a design degree to be a designer these days.

What was the biggest challenge going from idea to reality?
To take the leap into a territory where I had never been before. When someone hires a designer, they like to see some credentials, but I went into a market where I wasn't known.

How did you finance the launch of your business, and what did it cost?
I used personal funds. It cost about $30,000. I didn't want to carry debt in the beginning, so I bought equipment over a six-month period as jobs came in.

What have you achieved since then?
We have several big companies on our client list, like Boston 2004 [which organized] the Democratic National Convention, Boston University and Hannaford. I didn't think we would achieve that so quickly.

What are your plans for growth?
We would like to assemble a team of designers with different areas of expertise that can offer different perspectives to the campaigns and projects we produce. Right now, a lot of our work comes from Boston, but thanks to technology, we only have to go down there about one day a week. Our vision is to grow at a modest pace and not lose our small-company feel. We never want to become corporate.

What's your competition like?
There are so many design agencies out there. We offer personal service: When a client calls us, they talk immediately to the designer, rather than a receptionist or an account manager. Lots of firms can deliver good design, but if their account management is horrible, clients might leave.

How do you market your business?
A lot of it is word of mouth and our website. We don't market the business beyond that. We [also] get work by partnering with other design firms. For example, we're going after a proposal that requires TV advertising, even though we don't do TV. So we'll align forces with a firm that does TV, and we'll both go into the presentation together.

Describe a mistake you've made in your business and what you learned from it.
A mistake we made in the beginning was devaluing our time. As we began to grow, we said, "We're worth [a higher rate]."

We've also tried to make our business model simpler. When we pitch to a client, we used to show six or seven examples, but now we show one or two. When companies hire us, they put their trust in us to choose designs that we feel are best. Offering too many choices confuses clients and devalues our opinion.

If you were given $500,000 toward your business, what would you do with it?
We like to get a cool space that reflects what our business is. We want our future designers to come to work every day and feel comfortable.

Your company name refers to the Andy Warhol quote that everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame. Don't you want your work to last longer than that?
With 15thMinute, there is never a 16th minute. Our clients continue to be successful and famous.


New Entrepreneurs profiles young businesses, 6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to dorothyo@mainebiz.biz.

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