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February 7, 2005

HR for hire | A chat with Sally Morris, owner of Compliance Solutions LLC in Pownal.

By Dorothy Ogrodowczyk
Founded: October 2003
Employees: One
Startup costs: $7,500
Revenues, year one: $16,000
Projected revenues, year two: $23,000
Contact: 688-4007 PO Box 904, Yarmouth 04096

Your firm offers a specific type of legal advice. Tell me about your business.
I help small businesses compile their human resources policies into a handbook they can give to employees. I help them comply with laws that apply to them about employee relations, and I help them plan and best use those laws to their advantage. Maine law requires every business to have, for example, a sexual harassment policy, or to define where employees can smoke. The businesses I work with have about seven to 10 employees. They don't have a human resources person. The owners are jack-of-all-trades people.

Employees are a firm's biggest investment in terms of overhead, both for large and small businesses. So the idea is to be proactive.

When did you first get the idea for the company?
I've been a lawyer for 12 years. I worked in employment litigation at firms in Boston and Portland, representing employers and employees. I've seen personnel issues from the perspective of what happens when things go wrong. I wanted to move away from that and get into problem solving.

How did you finance the launch of your business?
I used home equity. This company began from my law practice. My overhead is low ˆ— malpractice insurance, technology, things like that.

What was the biggest challenge going from idea to reality?
Educating the small-business owners of the need and benefits of the product. Generally, I think small companies think compliance and human resources "stuff" does not apply to them.

How do you market your business?
I'm involved in [business] organizations such as the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce. I also do some public speaking, and I write articles about issues that might be hot in human resources departments. [For example,] right now there's a law about what to do about returning service members.

I've also done a bit of advertising in smaller newspapers [but] I'm not currently running [ads] because I think in order to be successful, you have to have a budget to keep a presence there.

What's your competition like?
There are human resources consultants, traditional law firms, websites and even resource books that would be competition. I distinctly serve the needs of small businesses, and tailor the product to them. I provide services on a flat-fee basis, [which] meets the needs of small businesses. For a company of fewer than 15 employees, I charge $975 for a customized handbook, plus guides and checklists.

What are your plans for growth?
My biggest plan is to put a template for an employee handbook on my website that can be downloaded for a fee. I also want to have downloadable templates for different add-ons that go with the handbooks to allow flexibility, and guidance checklists with information on what companies should have in a personnel file, or steps to deal with a problem employee. The site is being built ˆ— it's not yet launched.

I also want the site to provide resources, like links to government sites, and I want to provide Web-based training on human resources issues. For example, Maine law says that companies with 15 employees or more have to provide sexual harassment training to their employees, so I want to offer a Web-based sexual harassment training course.

Do you have repeat clients?
It varies. I always like to build relationships. Sometimes businesses come back and say, "I want to do this for an employee." With some places, I'll get a handbook together and then they're all set. In terms of types of industries, it varies. I've worked with small shops, construction companies, waste disposal companies, dog kennels, everything.

The Oscar nominations recently were announced. Do you have a favorite for best picture?
I have to laugh at your question because I think the last movie I saw in the theater was Jerry Maguire. Needless to say, I can't tell you what was nominated, nevermind my favorite.


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

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