From her string of business ventures, Chris Russo Blackwood has learned a thing or two about resilience over the years—lessons that are particularly useful to today’s entrepreneur who finds herself starting a business in the time of COVID-19.
Between taking out a large, “scary” loan to launch inRegister in 1989, selling the publication to Louisiana Business Inc. (The Network‘s parent company) in 2009 and eventually pivoting to retail after opening RussoRoss Boutique in 2011, Blackwood’s professional journey has crossed through various sectors and industries. But from all her experiences, one lesson cuts through the rest: Always have a contingency plan.
“You don’t know that your partner’s going to die eight years into your business venture, and you don’t know there’s going to be a global pandemic that puts your whole business into crisis-mode,” says Blackwood, also a true-crime author. “You never know. That’s why you’ve got to have an emergency plan and gear up on insurance.”
Like now, it was during an economic crisis that Blackwood, then a journalist, and her colleague, Wanda Horn, decided to leave their jobs at The Advocate, take out a loan and start inRegister, which would include the lighthearted, human interest features they longed to write. Predictably, the road wasn’t easy; the two women were infamously denied a loan by several banks because their husbands weren’t with them to sign the dotted line.
They were ultimately able to get a loan, but it came at a high price, which included a 13% interest rate and putting up a home as collateral. At some point down the road, a businessman took over their loan at 6% interest, but the costs of doing business remained expensive, so Blackwood and Horn prioritized money based on the four P’s—printing, paper, postage and people—and regularly took out side loans for costly equipment. It was a constant grind.
Then, tragedy struck when, in 1997, Horn passed away.
“An entrepreneur only thinks about all the possibilities that exist—they don’t think about that,” Blackwood recalls, noting a buy/sell agreement that allowed her to buy the business and continue moving inRegister forward.
Over the next 12 years, she continued to lead the publication to strong sales and a core readership. However, as journalism moved toward the digital era, Blackwood sold inRegister to LBI; this time, to eventually reinvent herself into a successful retailer.
Along with Susan Ross, with whom she was in a coffee group, Blackwood saw a niche market in local women who wanted fashionable, age-appropriate clothes at reasonable prices. In 2011, their business plan became a reality when they opened Russo Ross Boutique.
That came with its own set of challenges. But little did Ross and Blackwood know that, nine years later, a pandemic would disrupt the global retail sector, in some cases, irreparable ways.
“I’m back at the same place I was in 1989,” Blackwood says. “The supply chain is strained, our trade show in March was cancelled, and we haven’t gone to the others out of health concerns.”
As was the case 31 years ago, Blackwood again finds herself in the throes of a digital revolution within her chosen industry. Yet while virtual sales are currently dominating nationwide, they aren’t with Blackwood’s customer base, which prefers styling assistance, trying on their clothes and ordering garments in-person. What’s more, with much of the economy still shut down, her customers say they don’t have anything to dress up for.
Blackwood says she’s handling these newfound challenges the same way she’s handled those in the past: day by day.
Though they didn’t get rent relief, she and Ross have amassed a small nest egg, having secured Paycheck Protection Program funding and applied for additional aid through the state’s Main Street Lending Program. And when it comes to their future plans for the boutique, they’re getting creative.
Currently, the business partners are in talks with potential vendors, including jewelry designers and gift shops, who could partner with them to co-lease their Jefferson Highway space through at least Christmas—a move that would not only reduce the boutique’s rent, but also make room for another concept to fill the space where their diminished fall merchandise selection would’ve gone.
In turn, the co-lessee would get increased exposure from the 3,500 recipients of Russo Ross’ targeted emails, and showroom space. It’s these kinds of partnerships that Blackwood believes the future of retail will—and should—entail.
“We’ve all got to pull together,” she says. “This is the time to partner up and not be so competitive.”
You can reach Chris Russo Blackwood at Russo Ross Boutique.
