Executive suite: Sandy Tankoos, Port Washington
SANDY TANKOOS, 70, Roslyn Heights, retired business owner.
Best advice received: You have to do things that feel right to you. Sometimes, you are being pushed into a situation that doesn't feel right. Follow your instincts. Even if they aren't right to somebody else, they are right for you.
Advice to give: Focus on people as well as numbers. Everybody does number-crunching but people are also important -- your co-workers, your employees, the people you do business with. Your relationship with people is essential if you want to succeed. It doesn't cost anything to be polite. (Oct. 22, 2010) Credit: Craig Ruttle
After Sandy Tankoos, 70, sold her two court-reporting agencies in 2006, she had planned to do volunteer work full-time.
But she missed working.
In February, she launched an online news magazine aimed at the baby boom generation and older, at TOS50.com - The Other Side of 50. "I couldn't find one good site that had a little bit of everything - at least not for my age group," she says. She estimates the site gets 2,000 visitors a day and hopes to turn a profit by next year.
Tankoos is married and has three children and five grandchildren. She serves on the board of the Association of Reform Zionists of America.
What's it like trying to start a business in this economic climate?"For me, getting started in business, it hasn't especially been a negative given what I'm doing. There are people available [to hire] who would not normally have been available to me. I'm giving much better prices on the advertising for people."
What are your plans for growth?"I'm going to expand the Style and Beauty section. I am putting a store on."
How did you learn how to manage?"I was a mother. I think mothers are the best managers of all. They have to learn how to handle a lot of different bubbles: They handle their kids, their husband, their house, outside activities, whatever. Then when I started my [court-reporting] business, there were things I had to learn along the way."
What's your management style?"My management style is pretty loose, except for the fact that I really expect that people should do what I have hired them to do. I don't hesitate to fire people, because I hire them to do a job.
"But I'm very easy if it comes to things like mothers with children - I understand that. I'm very easy on vacations or having people have to come in late or leave early. I just want the work to get done, basically. So I was considered tough - on the other hand I had a very good reputation in the field."
What qualities do you look for in hiring?"I always think that temperament and disposition go a long way. I look for people skills.
"In my last job, very often I would make a personal interview the very last part of my interview. I would do a whole series of interviews over the phone and from those interviews, almost always decide who I wanted, but then just to make sure, do a personal interview at the end. Because if you do that, you're not blinded by what they're wearing, what their hair looks like."
What advice do you have for someone starting a business?In addition to securing enough financing, she says, "You should have a goal in mind, and you should not get sidetracked. There are a lot of things along the way that can pull you off. I'm getting calls all the time, would I join in with this, would I join in with that. No, right now I'm working on building my website."
NAME: Sandy Tankoos
TITLE: President
COMPANY: The Other Side of 50
BUSINESS: Online news magazine TOS50.com aimed at visitors 50 and older
LOCATION: Port Washington
TYPE: Private company
REVENUE: $100,000 this year (projected)
EMPLOYEES: 3
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