May 2, 2005
Staff attorney | A chat with Merritt Carey, owner of Graffam Solutions in Portland.
By Rebecca Lamet
Founded: November 2004
Employees: One
Startup costs: $8,000
Revenues, 2004: None
Projected revenues, 2005: $45,000
Contact: 828-4882
29 Runnells St., Portland
Tell me about your human resources consulting business, Graffam Solutions?
I provide primarily flat-fee services to businesses concerning their employee relations. I give businesses guidance on the legal issues they might face when hiring or firing someone, when they need to do a performance review or when they are dealing with sexual harassment law.
I have an annual consulting contract for $1,000, so you can call me up as an employer and say: "I'm going to fire this guy, this is what's happened, what do I need to be concerned about?" And I'll give you an answer.
How did you get the idea for this business?
There are a lot of businesses out there that really want to do the right thing around their human resources, but it doesn't produce income so it's easy to put on the back burner. It became apparent to me that there was a need to get smaller businesses or even midsize businesses access to this information in an affordable way.
Your background is in employment law. Was your legal work similar to what you do now?
I worked at Verrill & Dana [in Portland] doing litigation, and then I was in-house counsel at UnumProvident Corp., doing strictly employment law. When I was doing litigation I saw businesses on our doorstep that were paying up thousands of dollars to defend against a [human resources-related] lawsuit that was unnecessary. Then when I was at UnumProvident I learned a lot about the business side, which is more of a risk-based analysis approach to following the rules [of employment law] but also getting the job done.
How did you finance your launch?
I'm still in the process of financing it. I have loans ˆ most people that go into business go into debt a bit, but I'm hopefully on the back side of that. Mostly my startup costs were in marketing, designing my website and printing a brochure. Printing costs can be really expensive ˆ letterhead, mailing stickers and the actual brochure will cost around $2,000-$3,000. The graphic design work will be another couple thousand.
How do you market your business?
Until recently my marketing strategy was just going around and meeting with people, and I got some really good clients right off the bat. But I realized recently that it's very time consuming to market that way.
Recently, I did a press release [announcing the launch of the business] and I'm planning a brochure mailing. We have been working on a website that will be up by June 1.
Who is your competition?
I think other human resources consultants are my competition, and I guess in a way lawyers are my competition, but not as directly. What I'm doing is different from traditional employment law, because most lawyers won't come to your business and do the kind of thing consultants do. A lot of people also have asked me, "What can you provide me that a human resources consultant can't?" And I can provide legal analysis.
Can the business be financially viable with the flat-fee approach?
I don't know if I can ˆ check back with me in a year. I just felt like I talked to [enough] businesses and looked at the numbers, asking [myself] whether they sounded reasonable.
Because I'm affordable, I need to do volume or else I can't do it. It may be that after the first year I realize that I have to raise my prices. But if I wasn't going to be affordable, I may as well have continued doing what I was doing.
What are your plans for growth?
Right now, I want to keep it just me. Certainly I could see getting some administrative help down the road, but I feel like what I'm marketing is myself and my knowledge. There are areas I could expand into, like sexual harassment investigation work.
You were a member of the first all-female sailing team in the Whitbread Around the World Race in 1993. Is there any overlap between that experience and your current business?
Spending nine months on one boat with 11 other women, I'd better be a people person and a problem solver.
New Entrepreneurs profiles young businesses, 6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to editorial@mainebiz.biz.
Employees: One
Startup costs: $8,000
Revenues, 2004: None
Projected revenues, 2005: $45,000
Contact: 828-4882
29 Runnells St., Portland
Tell me about your human resources consulting business, Graffam Solutions?
I provide primarily flat-fee services to businesses concerning their employee relations. I give businesses guidance on the legal issues they might face when hiring or firing someone, when they need to do a performance review or when they are dealing with sexual harassment law.
I have an annual consulting contract for $1,000, so you can call me up as an employer and say: "I'm going to fire this guy, this is what's happened, what do I need to be concerned about?" And I'll give you an answer.
How did you get the idea for this business?
There are a lot of businesses out there that really want to do the right thing around their human resources, but it doesn't produce income so it's easy to put on the back burner. It became apparent to me that there was a need to get smaller businesses or even midsize businesses access to this information in an affordable way.
Your background is in employment law. Was your legal work similar to what you do now?
I worked at Verrill & Dana [in Portland] doing litigation, and then I was in-house counsel at UnumProvident Corp., doing strictly employment law. When I was doing litigation I saw businesses on our doorstep that were paying up thousands of dollars to defend against a [human resources-related] lawsuit that was unnecessary. Then when I was at UnumProvident I learned a lot about the business side, which is more of a risk-based analysis approach to following the rules [of employment law] but also getting the job done.
How did you finance your launch?
I'm still in the process of financing it. I have loans ˆ most people that go into business go into debt a bit, but I'm hopefully on the back side of that. Mostly my startup costs were in marketing, designing my website and printing a brochure. Printing costs can be really expensive ˆ letterhead, mailing stickers and the actual brochure will cost around $2,000-$3,000. The graphic design work will be another couple thousand.
How do you market your business?
Until recently my marketing strategy was just going around and meeting with people, and I got some really good clients right off the bat. But I realized recently that it's very time consuming to market that way.
Recently, I did a press release [announcing the launch of the business] and I'm planning a brochure mailing. We have been working on a website that will be up by June 1.
Who is your competition?
I think other human resources consultants are my competition, and I guess in a way lawyers are my competition, but not as directly. What I'm doing is different from traditional employment law, because most lawyers won't come to your business and do the kind of thing consultants do. A lot of people also have asked me, "What can you provide me that a human resources consultant can't?" And I can provide legal analysis.
Can the business be financially viable with the flat-fee approach?
I don't know if I can ˆ check back with me in a year. I just felt like I talked to [enough] businesses and looked at the numbers, asking [myself] whether they sounded reasonable.
Because I'm affordable, I need to do volume or else I can't do it. It may be that after the first year I realize that I have to raise my prices. But if I wasn't going to be affordable, I may as well have continued doing what I was doing.
What are your plans for growth?
Right now, I want to keep it just me. Certainly I could see getting some administrative help down the road, but I feel like what I'm marketing is myself and my knowledge. There are areas I could expand into, like sexual harassment investigation work.
You were a member of the first all-female sailing team in the Whitbread Around the World Race in 1993. Is there any overlap between that experience and your current business?
Spending nine months on one boat with 11 other women, I'd better be a people person and a problem solver.
New Entrepreneurs profiles young businesses, 6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to editorial@mainebiz.biz.
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