The Daily News

They’ve never met, but these business owners have found success virtually

WHOLE WORLD IN HER LAPTOP: Michelle Kempton is the co-owner of Cre8ive Minds. Kempton takes care of the consulting side of the business while her partner, Janet Murphy, work out of her office in Alberta, and is responsible for designing websites. The pair keep in touch with each other, and their clients, through their laptops.

It’s a small world after all for Michelle Kempton and Janet Murphy.

The collaborators of Cre8ive Minds, an online web and graphic design company, have worked as a team for more than a year, and they’ve only met briefly in person twice.

“We picked each other to work with, maybe that’s the difference.” said Kempton, who lives in Cow Bay. “When you’re in a work environment, you don’t always get to pick who you work with.”

Kempton decided to start her own home-based business after having twins two years ago.

“I had been doing web design on the side while I was working as a software programmer,” Kempton said. “My family are all entrepreneurs, so I always had it in me. I knew someday I would be in business for myself and it would make me the most happy.”

She needed logos for her new venture and a friend suggested his graphic designer sister for the job.

Originally from Dartmouth and now living in Alberta, Janet Murphy created designs for Kempton.

“I enjoyed working with her so much that I asked her if she wanted to work on a few projects with me and it just evolved,” Kempton said. “It just compliments so well. It’s the same as what large IT firms offer; they offer teams that have various abilities.”

“I don’t know if it’s because we’re Maritimers, but we have very similar personalities,” Murphy said.

With the ideal skill set and the flexibility of working with home while raising young families, Kempton and Murphy think they’ve created the perfect balance.

“It really benefited us both, the ability to share the load,” Murphy said. “My strength is the design aspect, her strength is the consulting, developing aspect.”

Communication skills are key. They e-mail regularly, communicate on instant messenger and co-ordinate over the phone everyday.

“It’s working out really well. It’s nice because we developed ourselves into this system where we’re stil independant, we still take on certain contracts alone,” Murphy said. “At the same time we’re doing so much work together that it’s really built up our portfolio and our expertise.

“A lot of it I would never be able to do without her and she would never be able to do without me.”

While the two have no plans yet to see each other soon, they look forward to meeting up as close friends.

“I know when we do we’re going to have a blast,” Kempton said. “We do get along really well and we joke that we hope we get along when we actually get to see each other.”

(lkeilty@hfxnews.ca)