By Barbara Ellington, Gleaner Writer
Christine, Graeme, Carlene (wife) and Ian Randle. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
ONE OF the region's leading publishers, Ian Randle of Ian Randle Publishers (IRP), has stepped down from the daily running of his company to make room for children Graeme and Christine Randle. As he told The Sunday Gleaner in an interview, the transition is not a semi-retirement but will give him a chance to begin focusing on new areas of publishing.
And from all indications, the
handover is progressing smoothly. When The Sunday Gleaner visited the Cunningham Avenue headquarters of IRP, managing director Christine Randle was almost at the end of her weekly editorial staff meeting while Dad sat quietly observing, obviously proud of his protégé.
The decision to step aside was not arrived at lightly. As the elder Randle tells it, he has been in publishing for 34 years. In June 2003, he took a six-month sabbatical during which his daughter took over the reins. An attorney-at-law, she had previously worked as IRP's managing director for legal affairs but, she had over the years garnered vast experience in networking, research and reading manuscripts.
PULLING BACK
"In the first 20 years I focused on textbooks and I have done the academic and trade bit but I am now at an age (55), where I recognise the importance the electronic revolution generally has for business; I am not the one to take IRP there," Mr. Randle said candidly.
"My work is my life. During the six months off, I continued my daily routine. I still get up early and by 6:30 a.m., I have read all the papers, nothing changed except that the problems were no longer mine."
He further stressed that once you get to a certain age, the key people in any business are no longer your contemporaries, they are in the younger generation. "Christine and Graeme can bring contacts and relationships to IRP which I no longer have, I now have to pull back and I can guide them with my wisdom," he said.
His son Graeme, who is now a management trainee, in charge of Marketing and Finance, will focus on sales. His medium term goal is to drive IRP's expansion into US and other overseas markets. And Mr. Randle's wife Carlene, handles the company's finances. These sentiments might seem magnanimous but the trend is being set by entrepreneurs at the top of their game.
The April 23 edition of USA Today, in its cover story titled, "Has tech gotten top-heavy?" highlights the decision of Microsoft's Bill Gates, Dell's Michael Dell, Sun Microsystems' Scott McNealy, Oracle's Larry Ellison, Gateway's Ted Waitt and Apple's Steve Jobs all of whom founded or co-founded companies in the '70s and '80s, and are still working there today.
However, they have decided to relinquish some control of the daily grind to focus on other areas of development. According to the article, in Dell's case, "stepping down is a smart decision, it makes room for new ideas while allowing him to stay involved."
SCARCE TALENT POOL
Mr. Randle cited the criticism levelled at small businesses which are doomed to fail because there is no continuity. "The talent pool for professionals in this business is scarce; each time staff is needed, we have to recruit them fresh.
"Young graduates are not being attracted to the profession, so it is good for my young family members to come in and continue building the company." The publisher shares the views of the entrepreneurs featured in the USA Today article.
"The transition to my children was easy; if we accept it, many weak areas will now be strengthened. We will review practices that were formerly taken for granted and I will be freed up to focus on other areas of publishing as well as commissioning new works."
CHRISTINE RANDLE
Ms. Randle told The Sunday Gleaner, she is in the business for the long haul.
"I was not coerced to join the business by my parents; I have no regrets about coming on board," said the bubbly MD. Since coming on board, Ms. Randle has spearheaded the addition of the new website, improved the company's Internet business and seen an almost doubling of the web traffic as a result. Shipping can now be done directly from the site and books are retailed through Amazon.com.
In the past three months, IRP has acquired its own secure on-line outlet and a toll-free line through which customers can make orders from anywhere in the world. Delivery is guaranteed within 48 hours.
"We are a Jamaican company with an international focus. My long term vision is for IRP to become the premiere publishers of the Caribbean. Through strategic planning, we want to establish the IRP brand in the United Kingdom and North America. Mr. Randle added: "We want to provide all the facilities from concept to selling, in the future we hope to be in a situation where we can support full-time writers by providing advances for books up front."
GRAEME RANDLE
Fresh out of university, the younger, more reserved Mr. Randle wants to increase the company's sales and put in place a new marketing structure. Just one month on the job, he plans to move IRP from a small family business to a fully developed company.
"My vision is that our name will be recognised world-wide and our sales avenues will be diversified. As a member of the family, I am pushed harder and expected to do more so in the next three to six months, and, working with my team of two, I will be fine tuning the present marketing structure to meet the demands of an increasingly more competitive environment. Service is the number one determinant of a successful business," he said.
And, does he plan to embrace new technologies such as e-books and books on CDs?
"Absolutely not," stated the elder Randle. "This is not profitable. We will follow the e-revolution as far as it can take us but we will not go blindly into areas that do not benefit us."
BOOKS TO BE LAUNCHED IN 2004
The following is a short list of the over 50 books scheduled to be launched by IRP this year.
Fool-Fool is Leaving Labour in Vain Svannah, a new collection of short stories by Lorna Goodison
A Selection of Rastafarian Art, first published in German, now being reproduced in English
Gone is the Ancient Glory - Spanish Town, by James Robertson
Urban Development and Social Change - 1692-2002, by Colin Clarke
Kingston - Cultural and Literary History by David Hall, a light-hearted, modern look at Kingston through the eyes of travel writers, musicians.
The World's Finest - Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, by Norma Benghait. This book takes a look at the history, various estates, growing and harvesting coffee as well as recipes.
The Joys of Healthy Cooking in the Caribbean, by a Barbadian based group of writers. This book will feature recipes, advice on counting calories and information for persons interested in eating right.
