MaryAnn Rivers was staring at a two-headed monster when she looked at the future of Entertainment Publications LLC.
On one flank was the problem that every business in southeastern Michigan has faced during the past couple of years, to greater and lesser degrees: the economy. Entertainment Publications produces, among other things, coupon books for purchase. But when the economy falters, consumers are less likely to spend money on nonessential expenses, which means fewer coupon books sold, and fewer coupons used from books that are sold.
On the other flank was the changing face of the market that Rivers’ company serves. Entertainment Publications has historically had a major presence in grassroots fundraising, supplying schools and community organizations with sales items. In recent years, some aspects of the company’s fundraising business have undergone a shift in focus.
“We have a gift wrap and products business that we sell to schools as a portfolio of products that we offer for fundraising,” says Rivers, the company’s president and CEO. “For many years, it was a highly profitable product. But if you think about gift wrap and a lot of those gift items, with Costco and some of the big-box stores being very competitive, where you can go in and buy 10 rolls of gift wrap that are fairly high quality for a fairly low price, the value proposition just isn’t there for consumers to pay the price that they need to pay in a fundraising environment. It wasn’t a highly profitable product anymore. We didn’t completely abandon it, but we did make some significant changes to the business model.”
For Rivers and all of the 700 employees at privately held Entertainment Publications, change has been the one constant, and the impetus for change has come from consumers, the marketplace and the economy itself.
Keeping her company nimble enough to react to change has caused Rivers to analyze herself as a leader and a communicator and look for other employees who could lead and communicate throughout the company.
It has been an ongoing task and has required Rivers and her leadership team to embrace change and thrive in an uncertain environment — then ask everyone down the ladder to do the same.
“Once you anticipate what the need is, it’s all about leading people through it quickly, being able to rally the troops and get them moving as fast as they need to, getting them to understand the critical nature of the situation and why it’s so important,” Rivers says.
