06/15/2004
As paradoxical as it sounds, a souring economy spurred Patricia Alverson into small business.
A longtime radio advertising sales rep, she was doing well for a big company in Birmingham when the economy began to falter in 2000. Meanwhile, her husband James, a small-business owner, found himself having to cut staff and to put in extra hours to cover the growing gap. So Patricia stepped in and offered to lend a hand at his business, Alternative Process Services, Inc., which he founded in 1989.
"I told him, 'You don't have time to grow this business. If you need me to help you, I know I can get appointments. I know how to do that,' " she says. She didn't know anything about his industry -- providing industrial automation services -- however, so she swallowed hard when the first account he asked her to chase was a giant: Honda.
A year and a whole lot of networking later, Alternative Process Services got its first piece of business from Honda. Last year, the company did more than $1 million in business with the automaker.
"It's been a real adventure," Alverson says, noting that being married to the boss holds advantages, like ease in scheduling vacations, but also extraordinary challenges. "He fired me three times, and I quit once," she laughs, but notes that the experience has magnified their appreciation for each other and their respective skills.
Being in sales, Alverson always has been interested in belonging to worthwhile business organizations, where she can both network and lend support to the business community. In addition to joining NFIB, she has participated in the Business Council of Alabama, the legislative association Manufacture Alabama and that association's Partners Advisory Board, on which she serves as vice-chair.
"NFIB is one of the best ones around," she says. "Our small-business community is very well represented." Alverson notes that her experience with NFIB has been enhanced by State Director Rosemary Elebash, whose standing in the state raises the profile of small business and whose accessibility makes it easy for members to get involved and stay current on small-business issues.
"One thing I like about organizations like NFIB is they're developed to watch things, like tax issues, all the time," which gives members more time to focus on running their businesses, Alverson notes.
Alverson says she's in the fortunate position of having a lot of opportunity for growing her business -- "our state has become the Detroit of the South" -- but the inherent challenge is to not spread herself too thin, to keep her focus on building relationships with the customers who have the best long-term potential.
She notes that challenges are what make being a small businessperson alluring, however.
"I love the challenge of doing things that seem impossible, of having a dream and then getting myself there," she says. "I get to meet people, develop relationships and watch things unfold."
