Maryanne Shearer introduced a new generation to tea when she opened the first T2 store in Fitzroy in 1996, using her product development and visual merchandising skills to create a retail experience Australians hadn’t seen before.

Competing with a strong coffee culture and facing a market accustomed to supermarket tea bags, Shearer knew it wouldn’t be all smooth sailing, but she felt confident the market was ready for a new retail experience in the category – one that allowed them to smell, touch, taste and learn about teas.

She was spot on, and business took off.

Now, just 15 years on, Shearer’s teas enjoy cult-status amongst connoisseurs and modern drinkers alike, and she’s built a booming retail business at a time when many are folding. T2 has 29 stores, employs 300 staff and supplies tea to many leading cafes, restaurants and hotels.

What are the ingredients for well-brewed business? Shearer shares her insight with Dynamic Business.

Q. Can you tell me where the idea for T2 came from?

T2 was born from a passion for great design and love of experiential retail and of course a long-standing passion for tea!

Q. You must travel a lot when sourcing new teas, do you have any secrets for balancing work with family life and time for yourself when you’re on the road?

I find travelling a great time to devote myself to my business. I enjoy rummaging through stores, neighbourhoods, bookshops and so on – it’s endless! I love to discover newness, whether it’s a thing, taste or an experience.

My family love hearing about my travels and as a result they know a lot about the world and the incredible cultures they will one day experience for themselves.

Q. What’s been the hardest part about establishing T2? How have you managed this difficulty?

In the beginning it was convincing everyone that a retail tea concept was a viable business idea, then once we were trading and the idea took off it was understanding the importance of a healthy business and finding the balance between left and right brain priorities.

Finding an amazing group of people with different skills to my own has also been a huge challenge.

Q. What’s the most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur?

I love watching ideas come to life…it’s addictive!

Q. Looking back 10 years, is there anything you know now about business you wish you had back then?

I know now that you should never come to work for the money, you need to come to work for the experiences it brings.

Q. Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Follow your passion. If you don’t have any, you need to find some!

Innovation and passion are the essential ingredients to make an idea become reality.

Dynamic Business would like to wish Shearer good luck in the upcoming Veuve Clicquot Business Woman awards, with the winner to be announced on 8 March.

StartUp House was officially opened earlier this year by Stoner along with the NSW Government’s new trade office in San Francisco.

“The NSW Government is committed to growing our digital sector and this announcement will help Australian entrepreneurs get a foothold in the US market by providing a subsidy to access the co-working space and accommodation at StartUp House from May 2012,” Stoner said.

The 36,000 square foot facility that is StartUp House is a joint venture between Australian entrepreneurs Elias Bizannes and Bardia Houseman and New Zealander Stephen Weir. It offers premium office space and will house 210 desks, a cafe and hostel for early stage companies.

“Silicon Valley continues to be a leading hub for high-tech innovation in the United States and an important target point for NSW technology companies with global ambitions,” Stoner said.

“Helping NSW entrepreneurs link into key global technology centres like Silicon Valley will open access to critical markets, capital and mentoring beyond the opportunities available in Sydney.”

Using the skills she picked up at a high school work experience placement at her local vet, Taylor was driven to set up a business that provided an affordable service for dog owners that was missing in the pet industry.

Years later, while on her honeymoon, she realised she could expand her burgeoning grooming business by focusing on just one service- washing dogs- and she turned her business into a premium, mobile franchise.

“That’s where the idea of a trailer on the back of a car comes in,” she told Dynamic Business.

Aussie Pooch mobiles, was the world’s first premium dog wash and now services thousands of dogs a month. Its roving franchise operators allows dog owners the convenience of treating their canine best friend to a professional hydrobath and grooming session, on the familiar territory of their home turf.

International expansion came next for Taylor, and she has almost 200 franchisee operators around the globe, with 150 around Australia, and 50 more spread across the US, Malaysia, NZ, New Caledonia, and the UK. More than anything, she says, the root of her success comes down to the mobile nature of the franchise, which delivers convenience to her clients.

Her service has become so convenient that Taylor believes she’s single handedly created an industry that’s heavily relied upon, and produced a service now seen as essential for pet-owners – but it wasn’t always seen this way.

“You know, people weren’t actively seeking out a professional dog washer, let alone someone who would come to their homes and do it for them,” she said.

“It’s been so successful that it’s now a regular thing. Most dogs come back every two to four weeks for another appointment, and another wash.”

With over two decades of industry experience under her belt she says the core of her business success is the franchisee operators at a local level, who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and finish a job smelling of wet dog hair.

Work/life balance a reality

Taylor says the work/life balance available to Aussie Pooch Mobile franchisees- the flexible hours, outdoors activity and engaging with a variety of customers (both human and animal) – are big draw cards and are large contributors to the business’ huge growth.

Taylor says nowadays, franchises are much more common and easier to set up than they were two decades ago, and all franchise owners really need is a dedication to and a real passion about the business model. She points to the amount of support and business training available online as a huge leg-up for franchise owners, citing the Franchising Council of Australia’s website in particular and the education packages it provides online.

To people looking to start-up a successful franchise, she emphasises the importance of completing background research.

“You really have to do your homework- research into all areas of the business- not only the product, the service, but also research into marketing, your audience- try and do as much as possible,” Taylor added.

StyleRocks founder Pascale Helyar-Moray says when she discovered Shoes of Prey she knew she could do the same thing for online jewellery shopping. And now, fittingly, fellow female entrepreneur Fox is a brand ambassador for StyleRocks.

In a world-first, StyleRocks offers an exclusive approach to jewellery design and purchase that offers customers the ability to design their own jewellery online, exactly as they want it. Inspired by wanting to create jewellery perfect for the gift recipient, the revolutionary Australian website offers women’s and men’s rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings and cufflinks.

Customisation includes choosing the metal, the finish, plating, precious or semi-precious stones, as well as engraving options. Most items retail for between $100 and $400 and they’re all made in Australia with a three-week turnaround.

Helyar-Moray left her successful career in finance after giving birth to twins and decided to follow her dream and start her own business. StyleRocks’ online jewellery designer and website has been built by Blue Chilli, an Australian venture technology company.

CEO Helyar-Moray, who is working alongside an Australian jewellery wholesaler and has outsourced the technological side of the business to experts, says: “StyleRocks disrupts the traditional jewellery design and purchase model. Typically custom jewellery design involves liaising with a jeweller which is time consuming and expensive. By offering customers the ability to create their jewellery online at an affordable pricepoint, we are bringing jewellery customisation to the masses. Put simply, it’s Shoes of Prey for jewellery.”

Forrester Research predicts 2012 as being a year for significant online retail growth and points to the mass customisation trend as one of the reasons behind that growth. StyleRocks joins a number of other start-ups in the fashion and retail sectors in providing customisation to more customers.

Helyar-Moray adds: “StyleRocks has a number of specific audiences: the bridal market, women’s fashion and men’s fashion. It enables customers to recognise the relationship with their gift recipient and allows them to say they designed the jewellery themselves.”

Fox, who is also co-founder of the start-up Sneaking Duck, which allows people to buy glasses online, says: “Jewellery is one of the most personal items we own. To be able to create exactly the right piece, expressive of the occasion and my style, is a perfect fit.

In true entrepreneurial style, Brendon Levenson took a risk when he and wife Cristy established Jetts in 2007, debuting a new fitness club model into a mature market controlled by international giants like Fitness First. But he’d found a niche and the move paid off – many times over.

With just $150,000 in capital to kick things off, Levenson first introduced the 24/7, no contract fitness concept in Queensland – and it was a hit. Just five years on, Jetts has been named one of the fastest growing franchise systems in Australia by BRW and its footprint has grown to 155 clubs with 90,000 members, and Levenson wants to expand by another hundred clubs by 2013.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, the 31-year-old entrepreneur has his sights set on international growth, with expansion into Asia planned for 2012.

Levenson took on a Goliath of the fitness industry and won, and he shares the secret to building a thriving business with Dynamic Business and reveals the three traits every entrepreneur must have.

1.    What drove you to establish Jetts, when it meant you’d come up against major competitors like Fitness First?

Ironically it was the success of chains such as Fitness First that opened a gap in the market for the Jetts model and led to the quick success of our brand.

The big box chains that were dominating the space pre-Jetts were not entirely focused on the customer – lock-in contracts, high fees, pushy sales staff and low value propositions. Our research was clearly indicating that the Australian public were dissatisfied with the traditional gym approach, so we decided to look at what the big players were doing and do the exact opposite. We challenged the conventional thinking of the sector with a “less is more” approach and started our planning by putting the customer in the centre of the page and building our functions around that.

The focus was simply on providing outstanding value to our customers around the concept of freedom of choice, and the brand and model has blossomed from that point on.

2.    You kicked things off right around the GFC took hold – what lessons did you learn from this?

Richard Goyder from Wesfarmers was quoted in an annual pre-GFC address to shareholders on the concept of “logical incrementalisation” which was corporate speak for baby steps. Our approach at Jetts has always been to walk before we run and the GFC was testament to that philosophy and one we carry with us today.

The real lesson was that consumer sentiment can shift on a dime, so it’s important to always put your customers first and maintain an outstanding value proposition regardless of what your competitors or the rest of the market is doing.

3.    You’ve enjoyed some pretty rapid growth since 2007, what would you say your formula for success is?

Good growth is a consequence of focusing first on good quality. Too many organisations grow for growth’s sake and we have seen that mentality embraced with other fitness franchise systems both now and in the past. Our goal from day one was always to be the best operator in our space and as a consequence we have had significant year on year growth.

When you have great performance and a great team, you attract like-minded people and that foundation drives good quality, sustainable growth.

4.    Running a business means you’re often lacking sleep and having to make tough decisions – what gets you through the hard times?

Having a strong professional team that’s supported each other through what has been a monumental five years has really helped in the tough times.

Ironically, it’s the endless task and project list, 300 emails and phone calls per day that keep you going through the early stages of a start-up – you have no choice! Fortunately we have a structured head office team now that caters for most of the day to day and those relentless 20-hour days are now a beauty of the past.

Cristy my wife and co-founder has been my support rock by dishing out quick reality checks at home – regardless of what is going on at work the kids still need bathing and the bins still need to go out! Balancing home life with the world of a fast growing business is critical as it allows you to maintain a perspective of what is important at the end of the day.

5.    Can you give us a clue about what’s next for Jetts?

Right now, we’re focused on delivering world class standards across our network and building the foundations for a great company – that will keep us busy for a while.

Our goal is to expand on our existing network of 155 clubs to 250 by mid to late 2013 through organic growth in Australia and NZ, and further International expansion beyond NZ is also part of our mid-term strategy with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

We’re riding the innovation path with two exciting new projects that will add more value to our network over the next 18 months and expand our brand and customer reach. Our overriding strategy is simply to give more customers the freedom of choice to workout on their terms and we believe our brand is positioned perfectly to drive our cause.

6.    What three traits do you think an entrepreneur must have to be successful?

1.     The talent to wear many hats, particularly in the do or die start-up phase. The ability to self-educate whilst being willing and guided by others who have more experience is critical when tackling the endless list of first time tasks.

2.     The ability to take people on the ride. Finding good people is one thing, but opening the door wide enough so they can be part of the journey and have ownership, share in the emotions, successes and failures is what is going to develop them into outstanding achievers, regardless of their past experience.

3.     The desire and ability to listen. Entrepreneurs should be great at innovating and challenging the norm, and then even greater at surrounding themselves with better people and listening to their thoughts, ideas and feedback.

Do you plan to build a multi-million dollar business? If yes, that means you believe your business has huge market and revenue potential. But is that a proven fact or just your own speculation?

Did you know that one of the most common causes of business failure is the failure to clearly understand both your market and customer?

The point is that we as entrepreneurs should know exactly what and who we are dealing with. That includes everything about your target customer, your market condition and size, and whether you have strong competitive edge for your product/service. This research has to be done before developing a product, launching marketing campaign, speaking to potential investor, or even before deciding to open the business. Otherwise your business may become the victim.

Here are three significant marketing points you should take time to answer, honestly assess, deeply research, and re-strategise if necessary:

1. Do you target people who urgently need your product/service? Not just need it, but urgently need it?

If you sell headache medication to healthy people, do they need it? They might when they have migraine one day, but not for now. If your target market for handgun is young female, do they need to have one? Absolutely, in case someone tries to rob her when she’s walking on an empty street. But is having the product a priority for her? If I were a girl I would say, “I’d rather spend the money to shop at Myer.” Better to offer the gun to local gangsters, right?

The question shouldn’t be whether or not they need the product, but more of how ‘urgently’ they need it. Ideally we should target a group or industry that sees your product/services as a priority purchase. Ideally, they should want it now because they’re desperate to find a solution to their problem. As a result, they’ll also be more willing to pay higher price since they value your product more.

The lesson I learned from selling CRM software to different types of businesses is that the compelling need for the software is not big enough. The businesses I targeted could easily delay the purchase or choose the cheaper alternatives for their database, such as Excel spreadsheet, Outlook, or Google Docs. However, if I was targeting businesses that hire many sales consultants, record of all their sales processes from the lead generation to post selling activities, or have massive customer databases, they probably would have higher appreciation for the software.

It goes back to the basic principle of targeting the right niche market that needs your product/services the most. If you believe everyone needs your product/services, you have a big problem.

2. Is your target market big enough to generate the revenue forecast you desire?

If you want to earn $10 millions revenue in 5 years, and you try to secure 5 percent of the market, that means the market size must be at least $200 million. Where does the $200 million come from? Maybe there are 100,000 people or businesses in your marketplace and your price is $2,000 per product.

Before you set that price, you must know whether your targeted niche market is willing to pay $2,000 for one product. If they are willing, can they afford it? If they can afford it, you need to reconsider the first point in this article – is buying your product a priority for them? Lastly, don’t forget to research about where you can reach those people and their buying behavior.

Every entrepreneur must know their market back to front, especially its size, before they start developing product, open the business, or especially they seek to raise capital. In equity capital raising, Christopher Golis mentioned in his book Enterprise & Venture Capital if the potential market of the business is lower than $100 million, venture capitalist would pass the opportunity. So, having clear understanding about your market will help you decide what best actions to take in your business planning.

Begin by getting reliable data about your market from local libraries, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), or market research company like IBIS World, even though you might have to pay for the information. The other lesson I have learnt is that you shouldn’t hesitate to pay for good advice, knowledge and information, as it can save you significant amount of time and money. Isn’t it smarter to spend few bucks on reliable information than open a business or develop a product without knowing whether the market is big enough or in a good condition?

3. If you have a competitive advantage, how do you plan to protect it in order to stay ahead?

First question, if there 10 sushi shops next to each other on one street and you own one of them, why should people buy from you and not nine other shops? Is it because of the taste, the price, the special lunch package, or maybe the long established reputation?

Don’t just say what makes my business unique is “Our Good Customer Service”, because in today’s competitive environment, good service in only a minimum requirement to run good business. Have you ever heard anyone say, “We have awesome product but our service is just standard!”?

If you have a competitive advantage your customers appreciate, how will you make it sustainable? Can it be easily copied by new entrant or existing competitor? Do you leverage from patents, design rights, copyrights or trademarks? If yes, do you have a big enough litigation budget to protect it if someone copies it?

The best way to stay ahead of competition is to be constantly aware of your market (via competitive analysis, focus group, customer satisfaction survey) and continually innovating (eg. processes, distribution channel, technology, product and service offerings) in ways that are valued by the customers.

Remember these wise statements: “Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals” – David Ogilvy; and “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower” – Steve Jobs.

Edwin Lucas is the Business Development Director of Digital Office Builder, an Online Business development company in Melbourne. He has passion to educate small business owners to leverage from Online Technology and Capital Raising in order to grow their business smarter and faster. He is also passionate to influence Gen Y and Gen Z to have strong entrepreneurial mentality and mindset.

With redundancies hitting the headlines, I’ll bet there’s a number of Australians considering taking their career into their own hands by starting up a business.

A big round of applause to anyone planning to take the leap into entrepreneurship this year and some words of advice: explore your chosen industry’s potential, case out your competitors, invest in good technology, build a strong website and plan your growth path well.

Regardless of any economic uncertainty, the world is your oyster – just make sure you keep it fresh. By that I mean take the time to really think things through before stepping onto the roller coaster and undertake a full SWOT analysis of your situation (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – both internal and external).

Also ensure you know how long your contribution money will last, how you will fund your home life at the same time (presume no income for a number of months) and calculate how long it will be until you hit a cash flow positive state – then add a big buffer to that, just as you would to mortgage repayments. Consider the variables!

MYOB provides the following top five tips for starting a new business:

1.    Thoroughly investigate the market, costs (those you can control and those you can’t) and competition. Spend plenty of time speaking to other business owners and people who could be potential customers and promotional partners while scouring the internet and other relevant reading material for information.
2.    Get help from professionals such as an accountant and business coach. It pays to pay for good advice from experienced mentors both initially and right throughout your journey as a business owner.
3.    Make a detailed, honest assessment of your purpose, objectives, tools and business growth path. A comprehensive business plan that you set your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks to will give you structure and allow you to mark your goals in small steps against a timeline.
4.    Promote your wares via your own website, which is where local and distant customers and potential business affiliates are likely to first find you. You could access an easy website creation service or work directly with an expensive website designer; you should also consider setting up an e-commerce option if relevant. Just make sure you get the impact you need.
5.   Invest in reliable, suitable business management software. Using technology will save you time while managing all the essential aspects of your business such as your cashflow, stock, customer segmentation, sales conversion and more – in turn helping you reach the steps that lead you to the milestones in your business plan.

Most successful businesspeople follow a well-planned growth plan that ensures their IT, accounting files, marketing campaign activities and customer relationship management records are constantly updated while their customer and business partnerships are continually nurtured and their website is regularly refreshed. And they aren’t afraid to take calculated risks. Can you follow that path?

In a move praised by analysts, Woolworths said ending its 30-year ownership of the struggling subsidiary would help the company focus on a larger format position. The review also showed Woolworths plans to close up to 100 underperforming stores in the next two years, while underlining the fact that workers wouldn’t be culled, just redistributed.

“A divestment of Dick Smith will enable the Woolworths group to focus more investment on serving customers in its core business,” Woolworths chief executive Grant O’Brien said in a statement, which also stated the investment and attention given to the subsidiary had been “disproportionate relative to its position within the Woolworths group.”

Reuters reported that the move to cast off Dick Smith, which has faced stiff competition from rival chain JB Hi-Fi, helped send Woolworths shares up 2.5 percent in a flat broader market.

“The best thing chief executive Grant O’Brien can do is cut Dick Smith,” Morningstar’s equities researcher Peter Warnes said.

“It’s been a millstone for the company and is an absolute distraction.”

The review suggested that the future of the Dick Smith operation “could be better realised through new ownership,” and also noted that Woolworths had received several approaches for the electronics operation since announcing the review of the business in November. The company has hired firm Greenhill Caliburn to help advise the sale process.

O’Brien said, “Dick Smith is an iconic specialty consumer electronics brand, with a strong team and its own leading online presence. It has developed into a trusted technology retail and services hub, carrying world-leading brands with strong market share in several key categories. ”

He said the review, commenced in November last year, concluded that Woolworths’ main strengths were in larger format, multichannel, high volume retail segments with market-leading positions. Woolworths will retain consumer electronics as an important category, but believes that growth in the category would be better delivered through its discount chain, Big W.

The entrepreneur and founder of the electronics chain, Dick Smith, told the Sydney Morning Herald he understood why Woolworths made the move.

“I think this is a sign of extreme capitalism coming to the limits of growth. I think they’re doing a sensible thing and they’ve owned Dick Smith for 30 years and made a fortune out of it, but once the growth is gone which I think it has in that field, I can understand them selling it.”

The ‘Buy Australian’ campaigner told AAP he doesn’t want to see the chain in foreign hands, but can’t see any alternative.

“That’s basically the only place they’ll be able to sell [Dick Smith Electronics]. I can’t see how you can get growth in that industry,” Smith said.

“Everyone will just buy the products from overseas. You don’t have to pay cash, GST.  The labour costs overseas are so much cheaper I just can’t see how you’ll be able to get any growth at all… Presumably that’s why they’re selling it,” he added.

The review also pointed to $300m in restructuring provisions the company will figure into the first half of their 2012 figures.

Zac Altman is positioning his Taxi Pro booking application as a serious competitor to multinational businesses in taxi industry, including Cabcharge.

His application allows users to book taxis through multiple networks, including Taxis Combined, Premier Cabs and Legion Cabs, and has attracted 40,000 users already – just through word of mouth.

“Taxi Pro allows users to book taxis, plain and simple. Users don’t need excess features like a taxi whistle or data-heavy maps. They just want to get a taxi and that’s what I care about,” Altman said.

Altman said a number of other start-ups are trying to making booking a taxi easier by competing with the networks, which requires a complicated relationship between the taxi driver and the app – meaning they often fail to deliver. His app directly connects with networks to give users a reliable booking experience, while giving taxi companies enough control to fulfill bookings.

“You can buy users with advertising but to keep them, you need to provide a great experience. Users keep coming back to Taxi Pro because I provide the best experience,” he added.

Released in December last year, Altman’s app placed second in Optus’ Unleash Your App competition and he’s already fielded offers for the sale of the app.

Purchase offers have been declined so far, with Altman preferring to continue building the app’s capabilities and user numbers. At present, Taxi Pro can be used by consumers in Sydney and Adelaide, with access to networks in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth to arrive in the coming months.

The app can be downloaded from the Apple App store and on the Android Market.

After nine years in the modelling business, Taryn Williams had seen it all – the good, the bad and the ugly. She’d enjoyed great personal success but worked long hours for little or no pay and had no union or professional body to turn to for help.

So, in 2007 she established her own agency, WINK, which delivers safe and steady working conditions to models, promotional and experiential marketing talent – something many agencies in the industry haven’t managed to achieve.

Just four years on and Williams represents over 300 models and boasts Qantas, Vodafone, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Sportsgirl and Woolworths as clients. And the best part? Everyone gets paid.

Now the 26-year-old has her sights on the Melbourne market, planning to expand her growing business there in the near future.

What’s the biggest challenge this young entrepreneur has faced as a business owner in the modelling world? Williams shares her insights on running a business in the cutthroat industry with Dynamic Business.

Why do you consider yourself to be an entrepreneur? Are there any entrepreneurs in the modelling industry you look up to?

I’ve always been self employed – whether as a model, promotional ambassador, event manager, or photographic producer, so taking that next step to start my own business has always felt natural to me.

I really admire Shelley Barrett from Model Co. Shelley is a former model agent, and I admire that she’s built Model Co into such a successful, international, well respected brand. The fact that she is a woman, and gorgeous, and has used this along with her business skills to build a brand that women love.

How important was it to you to do things differently to other agencies? Has it been easy to achieve the changes you wanted to?

It was the main reason I started the business, so a very important factor to me. I felt, and still do feel, models and promotional talent deserve the same basic conditions that would be given to any other employee – being paid on time being a key factor.

It’s been easy to achieve as it really works best for all involved – our talent are paid on time and treated well so they are happy to go to work and give 110 percent for our clients, and this means our clients get the absolutely best talent who are excited to be going to work.

Do you think a successful entrepreneur is shaped by their experiences, or just lucky enough to have a great business idea?

I was definitely shaped by my experiences in the industry. From experiencing firsthand the problems in the modeling industry, it spurred me to do it better with WINK.

Having a great business idea and clear plan is of course really important too!

What do you enjoy most about being an entrepreneur?

The challenge! I love that all my hard work and effort directly determines how the business grows. I love seeing the business evolve, grow, and getting feedback from my models and clients about how happy they are. It really makes it all worthwhile.

Any advice for young aspiring entrepreneurs, that you wish someone had given you when you started your business?

Get a good accountant! Actually, on a broader note, to hire people to do the things you’re not skilled at – such as accounting, book keeping, PR etc. It might seem like something worth saving costs on at the time, but it frees you up to do what you are good at – in my case, managing models and keeping my clients happy.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it?

Personally – learning to delegate. I always want to know everything about every job, model, client, event, see every invoice, etc, right down to what kind of shoes the models need to bring.

I’m learning to task delegate and let others take control of things I don’t need to be across, and accept that the world won’t fall apart!