can’t afford to hire more staff until I expand. So, it falls on my shoulders. And to put in any more hours, I’m going to have to give something up. But I’m not willing to. So, where does that leave me? Fashion design is my passion…it’s a big part of my life…of me. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
“Exactly,” he said, satisfaction showing on his face.
“But giving my company to you serves no purpose. Sure it would take away the work load, but the company with it. So, how is that a solution?”
“You would still own it. Let me outline how it could work. I’ve put a great deal of thought into this. I won’t have you stressed out, and won’t allow you to work more hours.”
Natalie nearly blurted out her objection to his use of the words won’t allow , but she wasn’t in the mood to start a fight. She bit her tongue and let him continue.
“Clarke Luxury Bran ds will be the umbrella company and take over the operations of Natalie Baker Designs. I’ve done a similar thing many times with new enterprises. The difference is that this time I won’t take ownership. You’ll retain it.
Clarke will cover expenses, and without overhead your design company will grow faster. Any costs covered initially will be paid back on a schedule once expansion reaches a predetermined level. ”
Natalie thought she was following him, but wasn’t as used to business deals as he was. It made sense, but she couldn’t clearly see all the advantage s and disadvantages so quickly.
“But I’ll still do the design work, right?”
“Yes, and this is where is gets good,” Tanner continued with more excitement in his voice. “That’s all you’ll do is design. From a business viewpoint, it makes the most sense. I am a businessman, first and foremost.”
Natalie was still trying to envision how this was going to work in the real world, but couldn’t think of a specific question. She just looked at him, w aiting for the rest of his idea.
“In business, the smartest thing to do is to utilize staff efficiently. What that means is, if you assign someone a task that aligns with their talent, you see profitable results. Or, you have the best chance anyway. If you don’t leverage that way, it’s just not smart allocation of resources.”
“So, now I’m an allocation of resources?”
“No, you’re missing the point. Let me say it another way. You are a talented designer. I always thought so. The best thing would be for you to spend your available work time doing what you are best at….designing. And leave the other functions, like the operations, finance and so on, to those that excel there.
Just think how much you could create , if that’s all you had to do? It’s a travesty to eat up your time, and detract from your talent. Think of the wealth of fashions you could crank out, if you were undistracted.”
The concept hit Natalie like a breath of fresh air. It would shift everything and relieve the burden she’d been under. Tanner saw that she was starting to see the wisdom of his proposal.
“But what would I be giving up?”
“Nothing,” he said. “I can’t see you wearing yourself out like you have been. And I won’t tolerate leaving you behind when I travel. That’s just not an option .”
Natalie was silent. H e took that for reluctance, so plunged ahead with the remaining arguments, “I don’t want you to travel without me, and sooner or later, you’d have to. I won’t have you slaving at work. And, I know your family is important to you. How are you going to find time for them if your schedule continues to outpace your ability to handle it?”
The way he talked about family had deeper meaning than just allowing her to have time with them. She could hear it in his voice. Whenever he talked a bout it, his voice got softer. Or maybe she was imaging that. She couldn’t tell. He’d never had a family, not really. Sure, his father cared for him and before that, his mother had loved him. But,