MICHAEL KAPLAN (left, with brother and partner Nicholas) reflects on lessons learned and looks ahead to future growth.

Michael Kaplan (MBA '02) had a great idea for a start-up: a fashionable apparel company catering to plus-size women. But when an investor pulled out before the first store opened, Kaplan realized he had made a classic entrepreneurial mistake. He let his quest for perfection get in the way of progress.

"We thought we could find the perfect location, get the right costs, the right cotenants, and the right demographics. You'd be surprised how hard it is to line up those four factors," says Kaplan, who cofounded Fashion To Figure in 2003 with his brother Nicholas. "It took nine months to find the right location. That's two full merchandise seasons, a significant delay, especially when someone has given you money for an investment. The clock is ticking on their return."

Ultimately, the Kaplans settled on a 3,500-square-foot shop in the Palisades Center mall in West Nyack, New York, and opened the flagship store last October. "We thought the plus-size market had evolved so much that every single nuance had to be perfect," says Kaplan. In hindsight, he learned that "start-ups are about speed to market. You get in there and learn and react quickly."

Kaplan grew up immersed in the plus-size retail world of the Lane Bryant chain, founded over a century ago by his great-grandmother Lena H. Bryant and owned and operated by his family until it was sold in the mid-1980s. Although the Lane Bryant brand continues to thrive, the Kaplans saw a need for more choice in color, styles, cut, and price. At Fashion To Figure (named so because "Gram used to say you should never ask women to conform their figures to fashion but rather bring fashion to the figure"), the Kaplans emphasize a shopping experience that includes spacious aisles, comfortable seating throughout the store, sophisticated climate control because their customers "tend to get warmer faster," larger dressing rooms and mirrors, and a sales staff trained as stylists to help customers put together outfits from more than 100 available brands and designers. "We meet our customers' demand for fashion and heightened self-image," says Kaplan.

The investor who walked away eventually came back to the table, a decision that appears to be paying off. The flagship store broke even after five months, and sales for the first year are projected to top $1 million. Kaplan is already planning to open two more stores in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut area, and he is optimistic about the prospect of Fashion To Figure becoming a national chain.

Going forward, he's taking the perfection lesson to heart. "I'm guilty of obsessing until I get the right solution, and sometimes it's not possible," concedes Kaplan. "Giving money back to an investor was a scary moment. Those were some sleepless nights, but it helped us to finally pull the trigger. I think the biggest thing I've learned is that it's not getting everything right as much as it's fixing the things you get wrong - fast."

- Margie Kelley