Dynamic Business

From economics to fashion, then to hotels and restaurants, Judith Crawley knows how to stay ahead of the competition. Crawley, still bulk buying hotels for J & J O’Brien, has a thing or two to share.

On the way to a serious career some people don’t get round to having a life. But fun, variety, and romance have been crucial factors in Judith Crawley’s serious career success.

The Sydney-based, Austrian-born entrepreneur started off with an economics degree but decided to combine budgets with the more glamorous world of fashion. Working as a fashion buyer for a major company in Vienna, Crawley spent her twenties travelling the world and attending fashion shows. That’s not to say her job wasn’t a challenge. Being a young woman, doing such serious buying, meant she constantly had to prove herself, which she did until fate stepped in.

Crawley was on a trip to Manila when she met her husband, Christopher Crawley. They fell in love, and as Crawley was leaving for the next leg of her buying trip in Asia she told Christopher if he wanted to be with her, he’d have to come and get her. It took him only a month to return to Europe and bring Crawley back to Australia in 1988, where she’d never stepped foot before.

“So when I came here, the first thing I had to do was get to know the customs, the country and the people, and I learned as much as I could, including improving on my language,” she explains of this erratic, yet romantic time in her life.

Plans to get back into fashion fell through because, as Crawley says, 20 years ago fashion was very different in Australia than it is today. Christopher was managing director and co-founder of J & J O’Brien Hoteliers Group, which owned and operated a handful of hotels in Sydney’s CBD. Stemming from her buying experience, Crawley saw an opportunity for the group to take advantage of bulk buying. “So I said to my husband, my partner at the time, ‘if I can buy garments then I can buy anything, so give me a go’.

“And I’m still here,” she says proudly. “So I must have done something right but Christopher would have been the first to sack me if I wasn’t doing the right thing,” she laughs.

J & J O’Brien was established in the early 80s, with Crawley joining the company in 1990. The directors at the time owned a number of venues, and Crawley recognised the potential for those to work together rather than independently. “It was just the simple principle of bulk buying,” she explains, which hadn’t really been embraced 17 years ago.

While bulk-buying beverages was the starting point, Crawley rolled this out throughout the whole business. “We did bulk buying for food, any service contracts and everything from the tablecloths right through to the glassware.”

While this is obvious economy of scale today, Crawley says there weren’t big groups around back then, so it was a bit of a breakthrough at the time. “It was challenging because in those days the computer system wasn’t as sophisticated as it is today, in fact it wasn’t even around, so there was a lot of resistance from the suppliers because they didn’t really understand the benefits the group could provide them with, and vice versa. So it was very challenging, but rewarding and interesting.”

Another major challenge for Crawley was adapting to family life. In the move to Australia, she took on two teenage stepdaughters, creating an instant family she had little experience catering for. A self-confessed ‘dud’ in the kitchen, she says one of her biggest challenges was getting a decent, cooked meal on the table every night. “I definitely had lots of help from the likes of Maggi, but we made it and we’re all healthy people,” she laughs.

Her lack of culinary skills wasn’t reflected in her entrepreneurial endeavours, with Crawley’s buying activities proving a boon for the business. She naturally climbed to the role of purchasing and marketing director of J & J O’Brien in 1997—where she continues today—and has since implemented many campaigns to keep its venues ahead in the highly competitive restaurant and hotel market in Sydney. She recalls a promotion in the 90s where they gave away three BMWs, and cross-promoted the campaign through the venues—again, utilising the strength of the group to connect its venues and patrons.

Meeting Market Trends

The Crawleys are now the sole co-directors of J & J O’Brien, with six prominent Sydney venues under its charge: Jackson’s on George, the Marlborough Hotel, Jordans seafood restaurant, Cohibar, Watershed Hotel, and Blue Diamond Charters.

The business is a dynamic mix of old and new, with the group having to make commercial decisions to let some venues go over the years, and add new ones when the time was right. “You have to go with the times,” says Crawley about meeting trends in the market. “You try and get your emotions involved as much as you can because this is your life, it’s your passion, but commercial decisions have to take priority.”

Crawley believes maintaining successful venues in the cutthroat Sydney hotel and restaurant market involves several survival factors: “You must believe in yourself, but at the same time you can’t be carried away with yourself. You have to know who and what you are, and at any given time you have to make the most out of the circumstances you’re in. You have to be dedicated and you have to have passion and a vision. Don’t try to do things you have no idea about. Be prepared to learn, learn, learn.”

With Jackson’s on George celebrating its 21st birthday this year, Crawley describes this as one their biggest strengths and weaknesses. “Your strength is you’ve been there for 20 years, but it can be your weakness as well because some young people might not want to go to the same pub their father used to go to.

“Jackson’s is a unique venue and 20 years ago it was one of a kind—being on four levels offering all that entertainment and the authentic Australian pub atmosphere. I think we’re still here after 20 years because we don’t want to be what we’re not. We have a great team who are dedicated to the business. Our GM has been with us for the whole 21 years, so his knowledge and expertise is what’s helping make Jackson’s what it is.

“But you can’t rest on your laurels, you have to move with the times. You have to realise you’re not the latest and the greatest, you have to know your competition, you have to respect your competition and you have to really work in line with that to give the best of what you can to your target market. You don’t try and reach markets just because others are. You have to concentrate on what you have and the most you can achieve from that.”

While Crawley still oversees all the purchasing for the group—“I still know exactly how much we pay for a bottle of Johnny Walker or a glass of champagne or a tablecloth”—she now has a dedicated staff member to help her do that. Her primary focus is now more around marketing the venues. “Twenty years ago marketing existed but it wasn’t as sophisticated as it is today. So in a tough market like this you really have to be much smarter. I feel sometimes I’ve never worked as hard as I do now, in the way that I have to work smarter. You have to realise opportunities and take them.”

Living and breathing the business she co-directs with her husband can also present challenges for Crawley. “Balance is important but I’m fortunate because I have a very wonderful and loving husband who helps me find and keep that balance. I think you have to be flexible and adjust, and just make the most of what is given to you.”

Asked if there’s any rule at home around keeping business talk to a minimum, Crawley says rules don’t work in her house, especially since Christopher is a lawyer by profession, “and you never argue with a lawyer”, she laughs.

“So we do talk a lot about business. We can even talk about it at very inappropriate times like 3am. But that’s what happens when the business is yours and it’s your life—there’s no boundaries, and no clock has to be involved.”

Looking ahead, Crawley admits that while there are always plans to grow the business, timing is everything. “You always have to get the timing and the offer right, with a hope to grow in the future.”

Crawley’s Tips for Success

1. Don’t be a copycat. You can’t copy anything that’s already done. You have to be original, but don’t try to be something you’re not.

2. Always learn. Don’t be afraid to listen to someone younger than you. They might say something that’s very important and can help.

3. Be open-minded and be ready to change and grow with the business.

4. Earn, don’t demand respect from staff, suppliers, and competitors.

5. Have good people you can work with.

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