'Home Base' really home for her businesses
Americus resident’s firms started, run from house
By Brandy Nance
Friday, November 2, 2007
AMERICUS
Americus resident Melissa Rich’s lifelines are her organizational skills and her day planner. Her day planner travels with her everywhere, and her skills earned her the 2007 Kansas Woman Owned Business of the Year award last week from the Kansas Department of Commerce.
Rich received the award at ceremony Oct. 25 in Topeka. Her award was in the service-industry category.
One glance at Rich’s resume tells why she received the award. Rich runs home-based businesses and is in the process of publishing her own book. She is president and owner of Rich Enterprises, which she founded in 2000. In 2002, Rich founded BuySellWebsite. In 2004, she founded Rich CRM and in 2006, she started Rich Escrow Services.
All of the above ventures Rich manages from her home, she said. Her first business venture was Rich Enterprises (www.richworldwide.com). According to her Web site, Rich Enterprises is an outsourcing firm for companies. It is an opportunity for companies to outsource sales functions such as sales calls. Rich said seven to 10 independent contractor telemarketers usually make about 3,000 calls a week through Rich Enterprises.
“They are usually from the east coast, west coast or Texas, but they could be from anywhere,” Rich said.
Rich said Rich Enterprises is a pretty high intensity business and about 20 hours a week is spent making calls for an individual client.
Rich upgraded the Web site about six months ago. She did all the design and the work herself, she said.
“That (Rich Enterprises) is what I consider my bread and butter,” she said.
Rich CRM was established in 2004, Rich said. The purpose of Rich CRM is to provide customer service management to potential clients. This company leans more toward market research, Rich said.
Rich also does Web site appraisals, which is similar to real estate appraisal, through www.buysellwebsite.com.
“The (appraisals) generally range in value from $5,000 and I’ve done appraisals up to about $5 million,” Rich said. “I work with people literally all over the world that are looking to appraise their Web site.”
As an offshoot of her Web site appraisal business, Rich saw a need for a Web site escrow service and she founded Rich Escrow Services, www.richescrow.com. Basically, Rich said, she acts as an escrow service for Web sites that are changing hands. The company sends the money to Rich and she holds the funds until the Web site is transferred in its entirety to the new owner.
Rich also is the owner and president of www.LawrenceKansasApartments.com; vice-president of operations of Intrep Inc.; marketing assistant and appointment setter of Becker and Associates; and business consultant and manager for Thomas and Betts/Emery Fixtures.
Rich said despite all her businesses, she only works a normal work week of 40 hours. Sure, she has her busy times where she works more than that, she said, but not nearly as often as one would expect with her resume.
“It depends on what I’m working on,” she said. “If I have a new initiative I may work 60 hours a week.”
Rich has been so successful at her home-based businesses that she decided to write a book on the subject. The book, “Your Virtual Home Office Can Be a Reality,” is already completed. It just needs a publisher. The book came about after Rich taught a class at Flint Hills Technical College. She had to write her own textbook for the class. The book covers topics such as the advantages and disadvantages of working at home; analysis of each structure (employee, independent contractor, started a business, purchasing a franchise); evaluating opportunities; preparing to work from home and success stories.
“I tried to write the book pretty factually oriented,” Rich said, adding that there is a section in the book about scams as well.
Rich said she enjoys her home-based businesses.
“It’s not something that you get into and make a million dollars,” she said. “It’s a job and you have to treat it that way. Everything I’ve done I have enthusiasm for. I didn’t do it just for the purpose of making money.”
And that day planner truly does go everywhere.
“It makes grocery shopping very, very difficult,” she said, with a laugh.