Hi Jane Hyde here. It’s great to read about yourself on WorksWonders and then realise just how epic the journey has been from a humble beginning. Without the help and guidance from Ange (Bensemann), the journey may not have reached its pinnacle for us.
Looking back, it would be reasonable to ask “how did we come up with an idea and then turn it into reality – what were some of our challenges?”...
Winton (the husband) came home from work complaining about his boss three times in two weeks, this was out of sorts for him as Winton is such an easy going guy. I suggested he leave and work for himself. Sounded good at the time but we soon realised there were many challenges to overcome.
A marketing plan outlining our strategy was developed to get us underway and keep us on track (thanks Ange for saving me). This was the most critical point in setting up the business along with keeping my job as this provided a steady income for us. At this stage I was feeling great until someone said to me “you’re brave, setting up a business in a recession!” Just as well I am a very driven individual with a passion for completing what I start.
Brainstorming was on top of our agenda to sort out a company name. What we did was thoroughly research existing businesses in the same field through the company’s office, internet, yellow pages etc. We looked at how we could link ourselves to the industry leaders. The company name we came up with was a huge success - TranzSkills.
Our next thoughts were to set up a brand. Fortunately for me, I was working in the communications and marketing area at my job so this did not prove too hard a task to develop. Winton left me alone to get on with this side of the business. The challenge I had was getting feedback on my ideas. Having Ange as my work mentor, gave me the perfect platform to discuss my business ideas. Ange was instrumental in steering me in the right direction through gentle persuasion most of the time.
It is important to note, designing is a job for a designer, too many people waste their time and energy on trying to do this themselves. From my experience, the time I saved engaging a professional designer (thanks Jane Comben for the fabulous brand we developed, it is still going strong) meant I could focus on other tasks on hand. The challenge to find a suitable premise within our desired area and budget took a lot of planning as we lived an hour from the location. We utilised the internet and yellow pages ensuring to setup viewings all on the same day if possible. Negotiating the price came easy as there were so many empty buildings at the time, it was a buyers’ market.
Overall, our budget was small to set up. We managed and grew the business over the next 12 months to the stage where we had to consider having staff. This was our biggest challenge since our initial setup. This is where having a business/marketing plan proved its worth over and over. We always reviewed this to make sure we were keeping on track. Rather than engage staff and take on the added pressure, we decided to engage contractors to pick up the slack for us. Eventually our business grew to where I was able to finish my job and work 100 per cent within the company. Another big tick for me, working from home for myself, a very satisfying feeling.
Keeping in mind all the hard work we put into setting up and growing our business, when an opportunity came up three years later to better ourselves, we decided to take the plunge again. Selling a business in a recession! I didn’t consult my mentor as I have grown with confidence and felt I could do alone.
I put a sales plan together and approached a number of what I considered potential buyers. It didn’t too long to find an interested buyer and settle on a price. The challenge in amongst all of this was to actually value the business. I did seek professional help and yes again this proved valuable. There were knock backs in the process but the secret to success is to get back up and not be put off by anyone.
Where to from here? We have settled nicely into Australia, my desire to experience more of the world is stronger than ever but this is another blog. We are happy to have a better work life balance at the present before I start our next plan. I wonder where I will take us next time.
Thanks Jane for this great guest post. Anyone thinking of setting up their own business can get a good head start by checking out www.business.govt.nz.
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