Business People-Vermont: Audiobooks Online, Larry and... -
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Published on: 7/7/2008
Last Visited: 8/24/2008
Larry and Sally Bohen caught the wave of an emerging market
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Before launching Audiobooks Online, Larry had worked for IBM for 28 years.A native of Springfield, he studied engineering for a while at the University of Vermont, decided engineering was not his thing and switched to business administration.
He never graduated.Along the way, Larry married â€" "a local girl," he says.He took a job with Business Systems of Vermont as inside stock manager, eventually moving into sales."Then we started having a family, and I recognized that I needed more benefits than I was able to get from Business Systems."
Larry was hired by IBM.He started on the production line, working his way up over the years to purchasing and eventually became the Burlington site's first contracts administrator.Unlike many IBM-ers, who joke that the initials really stand for I've Been Moved, Larry spent his entire career in Vermont.That was not Sally's experience.
Melody Zagami, Larry Bohen's business assistant, works with him in the "back office."
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Larry and Sally met at a couples' function with their respective spouses.
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"They offered a buyout in prob ably mid-'92 that I could have applied for," says Larry."I didn't think anything about it until December of '92.I saw a notice on one of the plant bulletin boards that said: ‘Notice: The buyout we currently have ends in December of 1992 and will be the last best buyout we ever offer.'"
Larry woke up.With 28 years on the job, he knew he qualified, "They accepted, and I left the company in early 1993."He left with a year's pay, giving him time to explore opportunities.
Larry hadn't been only a dedicated IBM employee those 28 years.He had scratched some itches.In 1972, having wanted to do something on his own, he bought a sheep farm in Westford and was a gentleman farmer on weekends.
Before that, to learn about land and farms as soon as they were on the market, he had become a real estate agent.He liked real estate, and since 1985, he and Sally have invested in condominiums in Winooski and South Burlington.In 1988, they bought the building at Church and Main streets in Burlington that houses Smokejacks Restaurant.
Larry decided to take advantage of the time his buyout afforded him to figure out what he wanted to do."I had dabbled in the futures markets, thought I might want to be a trader selling pork bellies and silver options; and I've made some money at it.Then in June of 1993, I was visiting Howard Schroeder, an elderly friend in Richmond who's since passed away, and he was listening to audiobooks."
Larry had thought about starting a mail order company for a long time, but was reluctant because of the need to print and mail catalogs.Having worked at IBM, he was computer literate, and was beginning to learn about the Internet and its potential.After the visit to Schroeder, he says, "I put two and two together â€" the seed of audiobooks and the Internet, and bingo!I didn't have to have a catalog."
An early challenge was getting the business up and running on the Internet."I didn't have any great programming experience," Larry says.He contracted with CyberMalls in Colchester to create a few pages on the Web with a listing of audiobooks and a phone number.
From the first, the Bohens knew they had to create a niche."One of the earliest challenges was, even though we had an online presence, there were a number of years until mainstream America trusted anybody online" says Larry.To instill trust, he joined the Better Business Bureau Online and put an 800 number and complete mailing address prominently on the opening page.
"One of the things about the audiobook business," he continues, "is that Amazon has enough money to brand their name in the minds of most consumers in the United States.
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"After I became a customer, Larry and I became friends," says Thomas.
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That customer contact is key, says Larry.
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Sally left the shoe store in 1998 to help Larry with the company.
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The "back office" is in a former den, where Larry works with Melody Zagami, who fields calls to the 800 number, processes orders, and writes, designs and e-mails the company's newsletter.
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Last fall, Audible.com, "the premier online retailer of digital downloadable audio content to consumers â€" like, a $40 million company based in New Jersey," says Larry, invited Audiobooks to become partners."Amazon.com is one of their partners, so we were proud to be asked," he says, adding that "Digital downloadable audiobooks represent the fastest growing portion of the audiobook market."
Plans are on the table for a building to handle the continued growth.Larry bought plans for a Monitor barn style of horse barn and had them customized by James Farrington, a local architect.
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"Sally and I believe we'll be in this business another few years at least," says Larry.
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We real ized we needed to hire some folks so we could go away even for a weekend," Larry says, trying to change the track of the conversation.
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