ROBIN BOUCHER BENET, ENTREPRENEUR
Robin Benet is an extraordinary example of female entrepreneurship and grace in the face of diversity. She has had three very different business ventures in an economically challenged Bogotá, Columbia, yet has made substantial profits at each. Like Temple, she was told that she could accomplish any goal she set her mind to. Benet grew up in a traditionally-minded family, and her father had a strong influence on her personal development, and especially on her self-esteem. Ironically, although her father held traditional beliefs of women’s roles, he maintained that Benet and her mother were exempt: “I always believed myself to be equal to anyone, and certainly any male.”
In 1978, she started her first venture in Columbia, a clothing manufacturing company where she sold merchandise to major department stores in New York City. After two years, she felt unfulfilled, as she lacked a personal interest in, and passion for, children’s clothing. She promptly sold the business, which freed up her time and allowed her to pursue business ideas that better reflected her values.
Benet has a great appreciation for aesthetic beauty and the “art” of forming relationships through specialized communication. She formed a company with two women who celebrated relationships with beautiful gifts during the holidays. To keep start-up costs low, they convinced product manufacturers to give them product samples that they would later “dress up” as extraordinary gifts to be used for order-taking. An example of this was a beautiful wooden duck that opened to a bowl that they filled with pâté. Another was a box of stationary that they beautifully wrapped and personalized. This became one of Benet’s least favorite creations because the paper they purchased was never engraved. To her, it felt like a tragedy to miss this detail because she felt that it misrepresented her.
With such seasonal success, it seemed perfectly natural to Benet to launch a full time venture with these women that would fix the paper problem. Stylus Impresores became the company that would feed Benet’s desire to serve the specialized communication needs of the entertaining society:
“It took guts. We often went to the bad parts of town to conduct business. We had to take risks. Often the streets weren’t paved and our husbands were dismayed to find out later where their fearless wives had been. You can’t conceive of the fact that it won’t work. It’s all about attitude. You speak with authority, particularly when you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Benet attributes much of her success to her leadership style. She believes in leading by example and to manage by consensus and with dialog. She admits, “My approach in Bogotá was a bit Amazonian.” The business was led by three women with several men employed as craftsmen. The men, in fact, needed the women to strategize and sell the product as well as change the face of stationary to reflect a more feminine appeal. This was combined with extraordinary customer satisfaction that was inspired by, but not limited to, the approaches of American companies. For instance, they would hand-place tissue between every business card in a box and then gift wrap it with ribbon. In this manner, she made every customer feel unique and special:
“Take all of the things you have been exposed to and combine the best. The product appealed to me. You have to love the product. I didn’t care about children’s dresses, but I still get excited about stationary. It is art and a projection of who you are. Businesses I have been successful in are in line with that. I have long believed in the written word and that there is nothing you can’t solve with a beautifully written letter. Your letterhead and business card speak of you first. You cannot compromise the quality of that product. There is a real sense of caring.”
Benet attributes her low turnover rate to her management style: “I think men are more pragmatic, matter-of-fact, and less concerned with nurturing.” She believes that employees will be more content when they are well-informed contributors. In this way, one is creating a vested interest by allowing employees to “buy into” the plan. It is also critical for them to know that they make a large difference: “They won’t care unless you empower them. You can do this by giving employees the sense that they are really a team.”
Benet’s final piece of advice is, “Choose something you believe in. I also think this is more important for women than men.” Perhaps this is because men tend to see business in abstract terms; they don’t have to relate to their product as much, although they may have a greater ability to separate financial viability from philosophical needs. Benet continues, “If you can be dissuaded, you haven’t found the right thing.” Thus, for Benet, quality, customer service, and personal commitment all follow from an initial decision to choose a product or service that most closely reflects one’s passions and identity: “I don’t think you can successfully have a business selling widgets unless widgets really speak to you” (Benet, personal communication, February 3, 2005).
UPDATE: Robin Boucher Benet is now the managing director at the John Barrett Salon at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.
