Big advice, small price

April 30, 2001: 6:23 a.m. ET

Entrepreneurs can thrive, and avoid mistakes, with a strong board of advisers
By Jane Applegate

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Gayle Martz worked for years to solve a problem for people who travel with their pets. As founder of Sherpa's Pet Trading Co., Martz not only designed stylish, lightweight, ventilated pet carriers, but lobbied hard to convince major airlines to allow small pets to ride in the passenger cabin.

"I saw people squishing their animals into hard plastic cases and came up with a great idea," said Martz, a former flight attendant and passionate handbag collector. She designed the first carry-on bag to transport her own dog, a Lhasa Apso named Sherpa. Now, the company manufactures several different pet totes for use around town or in the air.

When she needed to improve and expand operations at her New York-based company, she turned to Susan Stautberg, founder of PartnerCom Corp. A former journalist and publisher, Stautberg creates and manages advisory boards for big and small clients.

Stautberg has created boards for high profile corporate names such as Avon, Avis, Swissotel and Cigna. She's currently creating a special advisory board for the United Nations. For Martz, she recruited a group of high-profile professionals, all pet lovers, to help the company with its finances and to implement a public relations strategy.

Small companies benefit from board
Susan Shultz, author of "The Board Book, Making Your Corporate Board a Strategic Force in Your Company's Success," said having an advisory board can be extremely helpful to small business owners.


		Should you serve on an advisory board? Susan Stautberg offers four reasons to do it. 1. Build your network. 2. Associate with innovative group. Advisors chosen for brainpower, not position. 3. Establish relationships with decisionmakers at the company. 4. Prepares you to later serve on corporate board.

Board members, she explained, focus on strategic issues and don't get involved in the details of an operation.

"We tend to think of boards for the Fortune 500, but the real value is to smaller and family-owned businesses," said Shultz, president of SSA Executive Search International in Phoenix. "A good board is your best single strategic advantage. They can help you avoid making fatal mistakes."

Additionally, a strong board can help attract top-shelf employees as well as investors.

"Boards are a pivotal success factor for all companies, especially small ones," said Shultz.

Like minds is key
Stautberg, in helping Martz set up her board, strategically chose people who could share expertise in those particular areas where Martz needed help. To advise her on her public relations strategy, Stautberg recruited public relations veteran Lou Hammond, dog lover and founder of Lou Hammond and Associates in New York City.

"I wanted to support Gayle and what she does," said Hammond. "I'm a great dog lover -- I think dogs are better than humans."

Hammond, who has a miniature dachshund named Presto, suggested Martz send New York gossip columnist Cindy Adams a bright red Sherpa carrier for her dog. Even if Adams doesn't mention the bag in her column, she probably uses it to tote her dog around town. Hammond also provided Martz with an invaluable list of 75 journalists who cover dog-related topics. Hammond said she was a natural choice for Sherpa's advisory board, because promoting pet-related stories is one of her personal passions.

"When we opened a hotel with pet menus, we got the biggest (press) pickup in America," said Hammond.

Also on Sherpa's advisory board: Marsha Firestone, president of the Women Presidents' Organization, a national group for entrepreneurial women; Amy Kopelan, founder of Bedlam Entertainment, a conference and event planning firm; and Carolyn Chin, an experienced media and communications executive.

Martz's board will also help her navigate her next big step – marketing its bags to Europeans.

"The board has been a very good thing for me," said Martz, who recently hired an operations manager. "Having an advisory board makes you accountable."