Clad in a snake-skin jacket, Marianne Sturman is a petite bundle of energy running an Internet start-up. But, with a young child at home, the 36-year-old isn't keen on spending 80 hours a week in the office.
How appropriate that she, along with partner Natasja Fortuin, runs MoneyPenny, a company that allows Dutch women with children and work experience a new way to fit work around family demands.
MoneyPenny (named for the MI6 secretary in James Bond films) matches employers with at-home secretarial and administrative workers (they don't have to be women, actually) and provides an online space for swapping documents and other communication. In addition to assigning temporary workers for larger companies like Siemens and Ericsson, MoneyPenny also specializes in providing so-called virtual assistants for small companies and freelance professionals.
Virtual assistants are a widespread phenomenon in the US, but have emerged as a loose network of independent operators. MoneyPenny is possibly unique in bridging the gap between the temp agency and the independent virtual assistant. It's certainly new for women in Holland, where the concept of flex-time hasn't exactly thrived. "We don't have to advertise for workers. Women come to us because they are desperate for a flexible working arrangement," Sturman says.
A tight labor market doesn't hurt either. After six months and with no concerted promotional campaign, MoneyPenny is breaking even with about 50 people assigned to about 40 clients. They already have 500 more applicants, of which they expect to contract about half. MoneyPenny aims to build a database of 1,000 workers by the end of 2001.
Sturman and Fortuin hope soon to raise about Euro 1.4 million to fund expansion, but not from traditional venture capital. "We don't want to become a multinational," says Sturman. She's got a home life, after all.
