 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Family Ties and Creativity Are Keys to Success for Unique Business BrownTrout Publishers, Inc. has collected its share of accolades over its 20 years in business, including recognition for its merchandising and distribution prowess with two "Vendor Partner of the Year" awards from Borders Group. The company credits its success to a relatively simple formula: unwavering commitment to creating excellent products, providing the highest level of service and being responsive to changing market needs. As with most "simple" formulas, however, the devil is in the details, and the trio behind BrownTrout has never lost sight of that. As a result, it stands today as the leading publisher of calendars worldwide and the top supplier to mega-chains such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Borders Books & Music. BrownTrout is a business born of creativity. Twenty years ago, founders Marc, Mike and Wendover Brown shared an interest in the environmental movement, and that wasn't all they had in common. Marc and Wendover are husband and wife, and Mike and Marc are identical twins. From the start, this has been a family business, and that flavor has only intensified over time. Today, of the 36 people who work at the company's headquarters, 26 are related to someone else working there. As Wendover puts it, "If you spend so much time at your work, it's nice to work with those you love." The Browns' participation in the environmental movement led them to recognize an opportunity to raise awareness of the natural environment through the publication of large-format photography. "The calendar is a perfect product to showcase this kind of creative work," says Wendover, who serves as BrownTrout's publisher and secretary/treasurer of its board of directors.
Among the first titles published by the Browns was a series featuring photographs of several state wilderness areas and the National Parks. The line quickly grew to include a title for each state and a selection of calendars for every region, including regional wildflowers, barns, coastal areas and wild lands. Reflecting back on the company's beginnings from the vantage point of two decades of success, company president Marc Brown offers an interesting description of what BrownTrout does and what gives it its unique personality: "In this crazy business, we turn the years as they pass into consumer products with little more permanence than the years themselves: ephemeral wall art and decorations; scenic asylum for those working in cubicles, as we used to say; and a means of self-definition by association with one or another theme, whether black cats or outhouses. In short, each product is an opportunity for individuals to identify with subjects external to themselves."
PLAYFUL IDENTITY The company, Marc says, is in many ways a projection of its founders' imaginations and creative impulses, and it employs various elements of their lives in its product composition. That theme is reflected even in the company's business identity, "Brown Trout" being a playful name Marc and Wendover called their son when he was just an infant.Now headquartered in San Francisco, BrownTrout opened its doors in Salt Lake City in 1986, publishing just three titles of 1987 calendars that first year: Wild & Scenic Idaho, Wild & Scenic Florida and Great Salt Lake City. Sticking to its original plan, it went on to produce annual calendars on all 50 states and many Canadian provinces, as well as numerous cities and other significant geographic areas, an assortment it continues to publish today. It began expanding into other areas, including calendars featuring photographs of animals, in 1991. That year saw the introduction of Desert Wildlife, Florida Wildlife and Rocky Mountain Wildlife, followed in 1992 with the rollout of "The Literate Beast" series of dog, cat and horse calendars. It expanded that series the following year, initiating a range of dog, cat and horse breed calendars that has grown into the largest, most successful and most consistently-performing selection of calendars in the world.
While the road to success has been a steady upward climb, it hasn't been without a few bumps. One that Mike, publisher and vice president, recalls was a difficulty communicating the venture's commercial potential to traditional financing sources. BrownTrout's product line grew rapidly-helped in part by excellent credit terms extended by offshore printers-but there is a strong seasonal aspect to the business, which creates unusual cash flow requirements. "Traditional lenders such as banks just weren't familiar with the cash flow patterns in this business," he says. "An early challenge was finding a lender who could grasp the nature of what we were doing and then building an excellent working relationship with that lender." Another challenge was the relative maturity and penetration of BrownTrout's primary product line in U.S. markets. Ultimately, it met that challenge by establishing affiliates in nine foreign countries-Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and New Zealand-thus gaining entry to new markets with greater untapped potential. It also mounted a campaign encouraging online retailers to develop e-commerce venues for calendars.
LESSONS LEARNED Like most entrepreneurs, the Browns made some mistakes along the way. Like most successful entrepreneurs, they also learned from them. "We've made a few missteps," Wendover admits, pointing to some celebrity licensing deals that failed to generate enough revenue to cover the guarantees as an example."Sometimes its difficult to learn that what you think should be successful simply does not work in the marketplace. For example, it was hard to learn the lesson that there are more people who want to buy a calendar with photographs of Dachshund puppies than those who want one with Edvard Munch paintings," she wryly observes. The most painful lesson BrownTrout's principals had to learn was also one of the most valuable. The company launched its own printing operation in 1998, an idea that made good business sense at the time. However, the on-demand advantages of an in-house printing plant were gradually eroded by faster turnaround times by offshore printers in the Far East. In July 2005, the partners came to grips with the fact that the printing operation could no longer be justified on a cost-effectiveness basis. "The cost of operating a printing plant in California made this difficult decision a necessary one," Wendover says. "The lesson we learned was that it is extremely important to keep monitoring the supply chain as it evolves." As they met and overcame various challenges, the Browns learned many more valuable lessons, including the importance of not overreacting. "Gradually, we learned that all problems are resolvable," Mike says. "As Napoleon said," adds Wendover, "'Fortune favors the bold,' and we try to be bold when appropriate."
|
