INSIDE STORIES
CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN
 
Feeling like a million
February 19, 2007
 
Maureen Borzacchiello has hit the stratosphere.
 
Her company, Creative Display Solutions Inc., a 6-year-old Lynbrook company that specializes in custom graphics and displays, recently crossed the $1 million revenue line. That feat has vaulted her into rare company, indeed.
 
Less than 3 percent of the businesses owned by women generate $1 million or more in annual revenue, according to the Center for Women's Business Research in Washington, D.C. Creative Display reached that milestone on Dec. 22.
 
Borzacchiello, who founded the company, had been in training for the million-dollar marathon since 2005, when she was one of five local female entrepreneurs picked as winners of the Make Mine a $Million contest. That national competition is sponsored by the nonprofit microlender Count Me In and OPEN From American Express, its small-business division.
 
Her winnings included two free mentoring sessions, exposure for her business and eligibility for a $45,000 loan, which she later applied for and received.
 
She credits the mentoring with helping her to appreciate the art of strategizing. That skill enabled her, as president and chief executive, to pull back from the day-to-day operations of the business and focus on such things as branding and customer service. She said the company's staff of seven, which also includes her husband, Frank, Creative's chief operating officer, pulled together to make the million-dollar mark possible.
 
In fact, the company experienced spectacular growth last year, Borzacchiello said. Its revenue nearly tripled, to the $1 million. Its staff doubled. And because of the focus on customer service, 52 percent of Creative's revenue came from repeat and referral business.
 
"It just proves that if you ... focus your efforts on your vision and not just your day-to-day responsibilities, you can achieve whatever you want," she said.
 
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.