Get down to business – the female start-up environment

Starting a small business is no easy feat, but bracing yourself through the turbulence to grow can be even more challenging, according to the all-female powerhouse on our second Get Down to Business Panel. Hosted by Peter Switzer, and designed to fuel small business optimism to help business owners take their businesses to the next level, read the wisdom of Susannah George (CEO, Urban List), Hannah Vasicek (CEO, Francesca Jewellery) and Brydie Stewart (CEO, Mary Maker Studio).

From childhood hobbies to the desire for a career change, our panellists reveal that inspiration for a small business venture can come from anywhere. While the leap of faith to spawn something new may take a little (or a lot) of courage, it is this journey and the challenges that are encountered along the way that all contribute to refinement and future business success. While their business ventures may be polar opposites, Susannah, Hannah and Brydie are all united in their experiences to get to where they are today, sharing a number of pearls of wisdom for budding entrepreneurs, including:

• Don’t be afraid to engage with your competitors and exchange experiences – you’ll come to realise that you’re all running the same race, and supporting each other drives greatness
• Failure is inevitable, however the learnings that come off the back of it will help you iterate and improve your business and its offering if you remain committed to the cause
• If you’re contemplating a new venture, go all in

Born from a desire to know the best places to eat and drink while travelling the world, Susannah, who comes from a long line of small business owners, embarked on her journey to develop what is now internationally known as Urban List. Fast forward a decade, Susannah has built one of the most referenced networks online, generating over 30,000 recommendations an hour, on demand. While Urban List appears to be an overnight success, Susannah has shared a variety of learnings to help steer aspiring small business owners on the right path, including:

• Embracing the ability to scale your business at pace by investing in a decentralised workforce, tapping into the expertise of skilled workers to operate a 24/7 model and cater to the demand of consumers
• Unifying employees through visibility of business goals and values, driving everyone to achieve the same objectives
• Capitalising on the power of first-party data and social media to build a robust, customisable business that adapts to suit the needs and behaviours of avid users.

From humble beginnings selling at a weekend market in Hobart, Tasmania, and born from a passion that began at the tender age of 12, Hannah has now grown her business into an international jewellery brand. Most would have just one question to ask, “how?”. According to Hannah, founder and CEO of Francesca Jewellery, it has been a ‘slow burn’ of persistence, overcoming and learning from failures and growing. With a burning desire to keep growing, Hannah has shared some invaluable insights with us:

• While a physical brick-and-mortar store is a starting point, the internet has opened doors to the extraordinary, propelling the business into an international market from the comforts of home
• Finding avenues to give back as a business creates invaluable opportunities, not only to extend your impact, but also to enrich the lives of others, whether it’s providing jobs or delivering resources that open doors for others
• Admitting where your skills may not extend is ok, and seeking out professionals who can fill the gaps, for example a remote CFO, can provide an outside perspective to your business that you would not otherwise have uncovered.

As a self-confessed ‘crushed creative’ Brydie sought to capitalise on her love of macrame art and cultivate a community of avid crafters that has grown exponentially since the pandemic hit. Fielding the challenges of operating a small business, managing a global supply chain and marketing the business to a far-reaching audience has forced Brydie to grow as a small business owner in a relatively short period. With a focus on sustaining growth and diversifying her business, Brydie has shared a few strategic tips for small business owners:

• Don’t take the community you attract on social media or through other avenues for granted. There is power in uniting customers in a shared passion and creating a space for people to navigate to, driving affinities and repeat business based on authentic connection
• Invest time in analysing the data that you have available to you, such as Google Analytics and e-commerce data, to aid you in fine-tuning your supply chain and identifying new verticals to broaden your business offering
• Ensure you have a backup plan in the event your suppliers or supply chain face uncertainty of their own, allowing your business to divert to plan B and remain unaffected if issues transpire

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