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By Marilyn Miller Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Monday, Sep 24, 2007
It always has been important for Rachel Daniel to make a difference. That's why, after 15 years in the corporate world, where she was always the only woman and/or only black in a team of 15 white men, she decided to branch out on her own.
Daniel said she gave up a lucrative job in marketing to start her own business, Synergy International Limited Inc., a full-service marketing and consulting company with a niche in customer experience management.
She chose the name ''Synergy,'' which means a combined or cooperative action or force, because she considers it a win-win situation. ''The sum of the whole is so much greater than its parts, we can do so much more together,'' said Daniel, chairman and chief customer experience officer of Synergy.
''It's hard to make changes in the corporate world without 25 meetings and 85 people signing off on it,'' she said. ''There is no bureaucracy to make decisions and implement solutions quickly. When a client wants something, I want to be able to get it done thoughtfully but efficiently.''
That's why she prefers keeping her company small.
''I really enjoy being small and responsive,'' Daniel said. ''We want to keep things personal. We want to continue to know all of our clients. It's all about building lifelong relationships that are profitable and positive.''
Synergy aims to help large and mid-size companies connect with both customers and employees.
The company, headquartered in downtown Cleveland, is now 5 years old. It recently expanded with the acquisition of Decision Point Marketing and Research Inc., a marketing research company in Fairlawn. Decision Point has worked for clients in Summit, Stark, Portage and Medina counties for 13 years.
''This is a very exciting time,'' Daniel said. ''We're combining the passion, creativity and research knowledge of two leading-edge companies. Now we are better positioned to help corporations build lasting relationships with their customers across the state of Ohio and around the globe.''
Synergy has three full-time employees, five senior consultants and 15 research associates. The acquisition will create two to three additional jobs, Daniel said. The company is looking for an Akron-area office.
Owned by women
Majority women-owned companies are growing at a rate nearly twice the U.S. average of all new business start-ups, and they have contributed $1.1 trillion in revenues to the economy while creating jobs for 7.2 million Americans, according to the Center for Women's Business Research.
''Between 1997 and 2006, the performance of majority women-owned firms outpaced the economy as a whole,'' said Marjorie Alfus, chair for the center, after releasing the latest report updating state and metropolitan area figures for women-owned businesses. ''Their growth in sales and employees was modest, 4.4 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, but surpassed that of all privately held firms, which had negative growth (declines of 1 percent in sales and 1.2 percent in employees).''
Synergy didn't make a profit for its first 21/2 years, according to Daniel, but she said it had a 30 percent profit margin in its third year and 40 percent last year.
Ohio ranks seventh in the top 10 states for most women-owned businesses, according to the Center.
California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania are the top six. New Jersey, Michigan and Georgia follow Ohio. The rankings are based on a combination of the number of companies, sales and employees.
The research institute also names the top 10 states with the fastest growth rates for majority women-owned companies as: Florida; Arizona; Hawaii; Georgia; New York; Virginia; New Hampshire/New Jersey (tied at seventh); Rhode Island and Nevada.
A little background
Daniel, 41, who grew up in Northeast Ohio, was born in California, but moved to the Cleveland area at age 3. She lives in Richfield with her husband, Jim Talton.
She said she always has had a passion for helping people and said marketing is a fun way to accomplish that. Her business provides companies information to connect with their consumers through focus groups, surveys, mock jury trials and mystery shopping programs. Other services include employee satisfaction surveys.
Daniel received an undergraduate degree in psychology and an MBA in finance from Cleveland State. She now is pursuing a degree at Case Western Reserve University in customer experience management with a focus on customer loyalty. ''I am continually learning. Nobody knows everything,'' she said.
One of her favorite tasks is what she calls the ''designing process,'' not with the Internet, but in research design, coming up with solutions to fix a problem or challenge and deciding what are the best questions to ask to gather the voice of the customer.
One of the most frequent questions she hears about her work is why she started ''another'' marketing business.
''This is a customer experience management firm. A big part of what we do is marketing and another part is research. There are all kinds of professional experts out there and I'm one of them, but my perspective and values are unique, no matter how many are similar.''
Daniel said her company is very customized and flexible. ''We take a very strategic and personalized approach to every project. We enjoy getting to know our clients. We enjoy the process, examining their needs and helping with the follow-through and determining what we can do next.''
Daniel comes from a strong family background. Her mother, a lawyer, had 17 brothers and sisters and 11 are lawyers. Her father was an insurance salesman. ''You could say marketing is a discipline that includes sales. I also had mentors,'' she said.
Daniel hopes to branch out to begin an executive search service for minorities and women within corporations, universities and municipalities. ''I've had several requests. It's amazing that in 2007, boardrooms across the country still don't reflect the makeup of society,'' she said.
She also envisions acquiring two or three more companies in the next five to 10 years to become a flagship company for a more global reach.
''You don't have to leave Northeast Ohio to serve the world; our reach is available through the Internet,'' she said.
Daniel believes women such as Oprah Winfrey and Rosa Parks built a legacy based on character and strength. ''There are challenges in the business world that exist for women and blacks, and I'm not silly enough to think it doesn't affect the ability to gather as many clients,'' she said. ''But we will continue to be successful because we do great work. As long as our customers are happy with us, despite the challenges we face, it just makes us stronger.''
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or 800-777-7232 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
It always has been important for Rachel Daniel to make a difference. That's why, after 15 years in the corporate world, where she was always the only woman and/or only black in a team of 15 white men, she decided to branch out on her own.
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