Networx Event Panel Presentation

Last night I was speaking in a panel presentation for Networx Events. My fellow panelists were Joshua Scacheri (Subfusco) and Kristen Devitt (KDPR). It was a lot of fun. Below are my answers to the questions:

Q1. What was the catalyst for taking your "idea" into "reality"?
A. There seemed to be a lot of clothing designers and not many shoe designers...at all. So it looked like there was room for me in the bath.

Q2. What is the key to STAYING in business - both personally and professionally?
A. Love the business. Love the product. Love the people. Love the work. Would you do it even if you got paid less than the minimum wage for 15 years? The answer should be yes.

Q3. What is the most rewarding aspect of running your own business?
A. Being able to make ideas a reality without having to convince a boss or navigate bureaucracy.

Q4. What aspect do you most dislike about running your own business?
A. Having no holidays and no one to pass the buck to.

Q5. What's the one thing you wish someone had told you before you started?
A. It's the Wild West. The law won't help you. Young designers are the prey of the market. I think most young designers spend much more than they make.

Q6. Are entrepreneurs born or made?
A. They are born to start...to take the plunge. From there, they are made..who can scale the learning curve of death quick enough?

Q7. Have there been any programs (eg grants or awards) which you have utilised to grow your business?
A. We were successful in getting a TCIF grant which we used to improve our web, stock and accounting systems...to improve enterprise culture.

Q8. What do you think was more difficult - STARTING or GROWING your business?
A. Starting was easy. I had nothing to lose no fear of failure. Growing it is a lot more difficult. The learning curve is steep. Motivation waxes and wanes. Heaps of retail stores ripped us off. Getting to each new level is a struggle...a worthwhile struggle.

Q9. Everyone is focused on the Global Financial Crisis at the moment - has this affected your business? Do you have a strategy to deal with it?
A. I think it has affected us. We need to boost the value of our shoes so customers get the absolute maximum value for their fashion dollar. A major part of that has been setting up our new workshop to improve every aspect of Vein Wear shoes.

Q10. How integral has "marketing" been to your business?
A. Marketing is everything. Price, people, place, product, positioning, communication, etc, the lot. So yeah, it's integral.

Q11. Did you have any prior skills in this area?
A. I read about one hundred books on the subject. I love marketing.

Q12. Do you use social networking sites or other new media to market your business?
A. We have a website, blog, use Facebook, Twitter, 2Threads, Fashionising, etc. So yes, we are involved in the online world. I think of us as just a community member. I like to contribute and I like to be involved.

Q13. You have had some close calls. Tell us about the hard times.
A. I've been ripped off a lot. Maybe I'm a sucker. Over the years I've probably lost about $250,000 from retail stores not paying for their shoes. I lost about $10,000 when my customs broker went bankrupt before passing on my duty and GST payment to the government. I've been hit by credit card fraud on our website. Recently I'm probably $50,000 out of pocket due to storm damage. I'd really like to have that $350k in my pocket, but it has gone to pay for my "street" education.

Q14. What do you think is the most important thing in business success (so many businesses fail, why hasn't yours)?
A. Why do most businesses fail? I can think of 4 good ones. (a) Under-capitalisation. You need mistake money. (b) Under-commitment. You have to turn up, open the doors, answer the phone and make the sacrifices day in...day out. (c) Miscalculation of market size...micro-niching. (d) Not understanding Price vs. Value.

Q15. What's more important - a creative idea behind your business or having good processes?
A. What's more important - the right side of your brain or the left? Living without either is pretty difficult.

Q16. How do you find inspiration ongoing?
A. I am just driven to be better...to improve...to be a better designer...to offer better products. I will learn something new, think of a way I can use that to improve something and then that becomes my new carrot. Then I repeat that process.

Q17. Are you continually thinking up new ideas? Do you think it's more important to keep coming up with new ideas or staying focused on what you are already doing and improving that?
A. I am ALWAYS thinking up new ideas! I am always expanding my experience. The ideas that survive, Darwin style, can then be revisited and improved until such time as they die or become obsolete. Everything I do seems to be at break-neck pace and can always be improved in subsequent iterations.

Q18. How do you determine if YOUR idea/business is a winner, especially in a crowded market?
A. You can't predict the future and there are no crystal balls. So just start small. Test it out. Grow organically...demand driven. That way you can't go wrong. The requirement is patience.

Q19. What key piece of advice might you have for other budding entrepreneurs?
A. Everyone is a person of integrity...until it costs them money.