INITIAL SITUATION

Before anything else, Fran Merritt of Angelini Publishing, is an outstanding mom. Prior to having children, her life was deeply based in the music industry with a passion for singing and publishing art. With such a strong foundation, she garnered attention in the music industry, leading to opportunities to perform at unique venues across the country and perform her own solo shows. She had some success with publishing her own music but never quite felt like she was reaching the levels that she knew she could. She left the business to raise her children, and it wasn’t until the pandemic that she found her love for sharing her artistic abilities again. She decided to start a publishing company so she could create her own music, share her story, and publish content with her son on his YouTube channel.

Since Fran took an unconventional route, her path never came easy, facing many challenges along the way. Wanting to create something special, she knew it was always going to be difficult to find the time to balance being a mom, working a full-time job, and starting a business. The commitment to this journey was extremely difficult, there was no more free time for her to take some of the well-deserved relaxation. Through building this business from the ground up, Fran also lacked the support for this project that she deserved. On the business side, this solo journey was entirely new for her, so she experienced difficulties creating a budget and making financial projections for her company.

HOW THE SBDC HELPED

That’s when she connected with Assistant Director, Kevin Tacchino, via the Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator program. While she primarily connected with our center to learn more about starting a small business in the state of Pennsylvania, the wide range of SBDC services became of great use. Kevin helped her create financial projections and a budget to get a good idea of how much she may need to start her publishing. She figured out how to incorporate her unique journey into her business plan, created her LLC, and even got some social media assistance.

SUCCESS

She perfected her pitch for the Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator grant application with help from our workshops offered in partnership with the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. With her impressive application, she was awarded a $2,000 CEA grant! This business has allowed Fran to spend more time with her son to build a community and a portfolio of art, in which more creations are on the way. This journey has made her feel fulfilled, not only being a powerful business leader as woman but also by seeing the success of the decisions that she makes. She plans to show appreciation to this community and recapture some of her musical magic by recording a new album!