A new venture for the businesswoman

By KYLE PARKS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 26, 2000

Dale Donovan knows what some people will think: No, not another business magazine!

But she says her new Venture Woman magazine is different: It's aimed at female executives throughout the country.

"This niche isn't being served," said Donovan, who hosted a party for female real estate professionals Thursday in Ybor City. "The magazine is for women business owners, and there are 9-million of them around the country."

Donovan is one herself. She owns a commercial real estate company in Boca Raton and heard about Winter Haven-based RENI Publishing's plans to start the magazine. RENI also produces the Florida Real Estate Journal and Small Business Administration resource guides.

Her challenges as Venture Woman's publisher are steep. More than half of new magazines fail within their first year, and Working Woman magazine already has a claim on 633,572 businesswomen.

But Donovan says she doesn't need such lofty circulation figures. By targeting a high-income readership, the magazine hopes to get big-money advertisers. June's inaugural issue is light on ads, though Wells Fargo & Co. and FleetBoston Financial Corp. bought space.

Donovan hopes to sell 3,000 copies of the first issue; the long-range goal is 10,000, with profitability in two years.

Venture Woman's main focus -- and the topic Donovan thinks readers most want to hear about -- is getting access to money. "It's no secret that women have had more trouble getting capital," she said.

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