The Accidental Entrepreneur

by Allis, Janine;

  Jeff, as program director at Austereo, was used to securing celebrities for promotions and programs, and so was also used to dealing with some of the very high egos that exist in radio. In other words, he should have known better. When I was on David Bowie's boat, I learned very early exactly how delicate the artist ego is. Once I said to David that I loved him in the 1983 movie The Hunger, telling him the make-up was amazing. He quickly turned, looked pointedly at me and said, ‘It was, in fact, the acting that was convincing'. As he turned away, I realised what a career-limiting comment was.

  Seeming to have no idea that he had just insulted our generous hostess, Jeff continued to open his mouth and insert his foot. He candidly said he had not even seen her new movie Clueless. Alicia's mother turned to Jeff and politely, but in an ice-cold voice, said, ‘You would not like it', and turned away. Needless to say, our discussion on the way home was not pleasant. Over time Jeff apologised for this night. And, like all understanding spouses, I bring this story up as much as possible, ensuring his punishment continues well into our marriage.

  Another story I like to bring up is one that displays the ‘whatever it takes' attitude Jeff had during his radio days. While he was working for Austereo's Fox FM, everyone there was at war with the rival station Triple M — it was a ratings war, and, in their minds, it truly was rate or die. Jeff and his colleague Sean had heard that Triple M was launching its new major promotion for the year and that all the top advertising agencies had been invited to the launch. Triple M was throwing a massive party with no expense spared, and with all the personalities, glitz and glamour that only the 1990s could provide.

  Jeff and Sean knew they had to find out what Triple M was launching, so they asked a make-up artist at Channel 7 to make them look like advertising executives. Then, with their new moustaches (it was the 1990s), baggy suits and ponytails down their backs, they attended the launch party. Jeff recalls shaking hands and talking to arch enemies, all while trying to keep a straight face. As soon as Triple M completed the presentation, Sean and Jeff snuck out through the back door, giggling like schoolgirls, drove to the Fox FM offices and formulated a plan to ruin Triple M's launch.

  The Triple M promotion was based on a space theme, so Jeff and Sean worked through the night and created a promotion that was based around a sex in space theme. They then launched the promotion prior to Triple M, meaning Triple M would look like a copycat if it went ahead with its promotion. The cost of Triple M's launch party was in vain, and the potential spend that it was hoping to receive never materialised. Needless to say, Jeff was not that popular when Triple M acquired Austereo. It could have been a career limiting move, but he prevailed and ended up running both the Triple M and Austereo programming for the entire country.

  Over the first few years of our relationship, whenever people from Jeff's past told me they knew Jeff from his work in radio, I would hold my breath. What they said next could be really, really good or really, really bad. Either way, there was a general respect for this amazing man, who did achieve the unachievable in radio (more on this later).

  Aside from a few hiccups and stories such as these, our relationship went from strength to strength, and Jeff and I had decided we would be together forever. However, I was still ‘patiently' waiting for him to pop the question. Even fate sometimes needs a little nudge, so for several weeks I took Jeff to every romantic spot I could think of. Finally, it was the Yarra Valley and Domaine Chandon (Moët & Chandon's Australian winery) that did it. This was my final ditch effort to ‘set the scene'. I made sure he had a couple of courage drinks and then we went for a quiet walk, through the vineyard and down to the beautiful, blue lake at the bottom of the hill. We all sat to look at the white swans in the distance: Samuel, Jeff and me. Just when I was giving up all hope of him asking me and running out of ideas for romantic rendezvous, I turned to see Jeff on one knee. My heart jumped up into my throat as he asked me to marry him. He had with him a beautiful engagement ring to seal the deal (so had obviously cottoned on to my machinations). Once I said yes (surprise, surprise), Jeff turned to Samuel and asked him if he could be his dad and gave Samuel a ring. Jeff is a true romantic. I will always remember that day, even if I did ‘help' to set the scene.

  Things had moved quickly with Jeff. He had moved in with me six weeks after our first date, we were engaged after four months, married after eight months and I was pregnant with our son Oliver after 12 months.

  Dormant DNA

  Having learned an enormous amount at UIP about the power of PR, I left after two years to have our son, Oliver, and freelance. Six weeks after Oliver was born, I was doing the publicity to launch Triple M's new rock, sport and comedy format. (Triple M had bought Austereo Radio Network and the new format was Jeff's strategy to revive the failing station. Luckily they forgave him for his earlier indiscretion.) At the same time, I set up the marketing and publicity for a comedian who was touring with Stealth Productions — a business Jeff ran with his mate Sean. When I found Jeff, he unleashed that elusive entrepreneurial spirit within me; I never went back to work for someone else again.

  Releasing Janine's tenacity

  According to Jeff, when they first married, Janine played the wonderful wife — happy to play second fiddle to Jeff's meteoric executive rise in the radio world. Janine was building their home, raising their boys, playing her netball and being a great wife. The family had fun — picnics and all the normal young Aussie-family things, complete with a Magna station wagon, dog, cat and a house renovation.

  Then, Jeff says, ‘I ruined everything by trying to cash in on my wife's expertise in PR. In my little radio world we had just relaunched Triple M in Melbourne. I was given the task of resurrecting a station that was rock bottom of the ratings. I had hired every big name I could think of to launch a brand-new rock, sport and comedy format; for me, it was a make or break career move. The first rule I knew — surround yourself with the best. We had a great team on the air and now we just needed to get the word out. I thought, Hmmm … I'm married to the best PR person around (with a high care factor of me succeeding). Sure, she has just had a baby six weeks ago, but I'm sure she'll be fine.

  ‘Janine took the role with great relish and the station was everywhere — seriously. It was in the press and magazines for seven months — it was the most successful rebirth of a station in history. She showed me that real tenacity she became famous for. And now the beast was off the leash! Some women like to be stay-at-home mums, some work, some like both; there is no right or wrong. Janine needs the mix, and is a great and devoted mum when she is home. But to lock her in a house all day with toddlers? Not a chance.'

  It was also during this time that Jeff and I tried our first joint business venture — a novelty book called Love Cheques. We had spotted a similar book in the United States, and we hoped we could convert the concept, put our own local slant on it and bang! Have the next big thing on our hands.

  The book contained cheques that you used as little gifts — an IOU message, that kind of thing. I thought Love Cheques would be the beginning and we would have Kid Cheques, Mum Cheques, Dad Cheques and so on. Love Cheques did okay, but the series I had dreamed of never materialised. We also published a book called The Asian Mind Game, by Chin-Ning Chu. We thought this was going to be another winner but, after a book tour and launch, there was very little to show for all our efforts. With two ventures under our belt and no money, we decided that publishing was not for us. We learned a lot and that's one thing Jeff and I have never been afraid of. So what if we've never tried it before? We'll learn.

  Failure is a breeding ground for success

  In 1999 we embarked on a joint venture with my ex-accountant, and I travelled to the United States to scope out the juice bar trend. I loved the category, was a big home-juicer and saw a huge opportunity for the concept in Australia.

  Opening the first store in this joint venture was really exciting and I worked very hard on the launch, getting hands-on with every facet of the produc
t and the business and learning along the way. But after many frustrating months we learned rule number one of business the hard way: the right partners are critical.

  Jeff and I made the decision to sell our share in this venture and strike out on our own. Less than eight hours later, Boost was created.

  It was the year 2000 and the GST had just been introduced; we were off and running. I started by purchasing a copy of QuickBooks, an off-the-shelf accounting package, and I then arranged to get a QuickBooks expert into my home to teach me how to use the bloody thing. I had no real idea about accounting, but I was determined to know all the technical aspects, so I would know my business inside and out.

  After our ill-fated partnership, we were anxious to start again and not repeat any of the same mistakes — we would have full control over all decisions, including the site for the store. Jeff's ‘real job' as program director for Austereo Radio Network took him interstate two nights a week. This enabled him to scope out possible sites in other states, and he found a site he wanted to explore on King William Street in the CBD of Adelaide. It was an old building that was heritage-listed. He convinced his father, who lived in Adelaide, to sit at a table in front of the potential store and count the number of people who walked by and record specific details; he then broke this information into categories: men, women and age group. Happy with the flow, Jeff soon signed the lease and then called me with the news. This single act of signing a lease in a state that I did not live in truly shows the naivety that we had in starting a business. It ended up being an advantage — having the business in a different state forced me to work on the business instead of in it. But to be honest, I was so thrilled to get started and create Boost the way I knew it should be done that Jeff could have signed a lease on Mars.

  What I learned from my adventures …

  Here are some of the lessons I learned in the early years with Jeff:

  Your choice of partner is one of the biggest decisions you'll ever make — it can make or break your life and your business. Make sure you get it right!

  You can overlook the fact that skills are transferable; instead, think laterally about how to apply your expertise and experience.

  One of the great shames in business is when budding entrepreneurs give up when they do not immediately succeed. The shame is not in their failure; it is in the fact that, had they kept trying, they would have learned so much and their next venture might have been a success.

  In life we are all on a learning curve; it's all about learning from the past and improving as a person.

  4

  THE POWER OF TEAM

  In my early years of business, my tips and lessons were all about hard work and dedication, and hiring the right people. But over time and after speaking to so many young entrepreneurs, and highly successful people, my number one lesson has changed to this: simply marry well or choose the right partner. In coming to this realisation, I look at my own journey and the support I had from my husband to be the best I could be. When I doubted myself, he was there to reassure me. When I came home stressed out of my mind, he was there to put it all in perspective. When we sold our family home, he was there to say we would make it work. He has always been there, supporting me and helping make me the best I could be. Without this support, we could not have achieved what we have. To have Jeff's honest feedback helps create the businesswoman that I am today.

  But imagine the reverse: a partner who puts you down and says that it cannot be done; who says you're not capable because you have no proof that you can do it; who leaves you living in fear of losing everything. There is no way you could achieve or be the best you can be in this situation. Your greatest joy comes from hanging out with and marrying your best friend but the worst pain and stress comes from choosing the wrong partner. I have seen amazing men and women wanting to fulfil their passion but who have a constant battle with partners who may be well-meaning, but in the end stop the dreams. So this is my number one advice to my children. Pick your partner well.

  Jeff and I are living proof of the power of a winning team. As a partnership, we're unstoppable. We complement each other's strengths and weaknesses and together we can achieve things that neither one of us would have achieved alone.

  This is why it's so important to get the right team on board if you want to succeed in business. The right people are critical to the success of any business and, of course, this starts with you! But it will ultimately flow through to every choice you make about every person you bring into your business.

  How do you find the right people? What do they look like? If I've discovered anything along my journey, I have learned that the most important thing employees can have is the right cultural fit. They have to fit in with your team. They must understand what it is that you're trying to do.

  Secondly, they must have the right core fit. This is their attitudes: work ethic, ambition, self-motivation, passion, honesty and whether they're team players. Everything else is just mechanics — everything else you can teach them.

  If you don't get the right cultural fit for the business, it just won't work. Unfortunately, in an interview situation, people will often tell you whatever they think you want to hear. It can be incredibly difficult to break down barriers to really get to the essence of the person.

  Picking the right bunch

  So, how do you sort the wheat from the chaff? We generally know within the first 60 seconds of an interview whether a person is going to fit in at Boost.

  When choosing your team, it's important to ask the right questions. The culture at Boost and Retail Zoo is energetic, honest, passionate, sometimes funky, fun and always high performance. You can't fake those traits, so we don't need to ask an enormous number of questions to ascertain whether people will fit in — they either have it or they don't.

  We have a rigorous selection process for employment at Boost's support centre and the ‘cultural fit' interview is the last part of the process. Within this interview, we have specific questions that we ask candidates to answer and we look for specific traits within these answers. The following are the questions we ask; underneath are some of the traits we are looking for within their answers.

  Q: What do you know about Boost?

  We want to employ staff who frequent our stores and are familiar with the concept. It's important to employ people who are attracted to our philosophies. You can't work at your optimum level if you're working for a company that doesn't fit with your own beliefs, or a business that produces something you're not passionate about.

  Q: What is your ideal working environment?

  The Boost workplace is fast-paced, dynamic and vibrant. Staff need to be comfortable working in offices featuring more colours than Play School and being around people who are, for the most part, bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm. If you work best in a library-style setting, where there's no buzz and no fun, you're not going to be comfortable or productive working at Boost.

  Q: Why do you want to work for Boost?

  We look for enthusiasm for Boost as a company, for someone ready to fully endorse the product range. Obviously, this relates back to the first question — you'd find it difficult to answer if you know nothing about us.

  Q: Our slogan is ‘Love Life', and we live by the values of honesty, integrity and passion. How do these philosophies apply to you and your current lifestyle?

  It's difficult to lie about your way of life. While you might be able to fake enthusiasm enough to answer the previous questions, it's much harder to answer this one without revealing a little of your true nature. This is another way in which we determine whether the values at Boost align with the candidate's values.

  While several of the preceding questions might seem to be asking the same thing, it's important that we throw all of them in during an interview. It's a very old trick to ask the same question in different ways, and it's up to the potential employee to answer these questions consistently.

  We look for people who fit the Boost cult
ure, but it's also fair to say that the majority of employees in our head office are ambitious and self-motivated. This isn't a coincidence. At Boost, we're achieving twice as much as other franchisors in half the time; to keep up in this fast-paced environment, our employees regard their role as more than just a job. It may come as no surprise that many of our staff members are triathletes or are passionate about a particular sport; high achievers are drawn to Boost.

  To keep attracting high achievers, we make sure that each candidate's core fit matches ours. We look for passion, ambition, self-motivation and drive. You can tell how much potential employees have of each of these traits by asking them about their ‘achievements' in past roles, or in their personal life.

  When recruiting for our stores, we always keep in mind that our customers are the most important people in our Boost world and that we believe we can create a customer experience like no other — and we know carefully choosing our in-store staff is the way to achieve this. We do not hire through traditional means, but, instead, mostly use an audition process. This is where we get about 100 young people in a room and we play games and do activities. People tend to relax and forget that they are going for a job when they are having fun, and this gives us a chance to see the true person. We are not just looking for fun, outgoing personalities; we are also looking for problem solvers and people with analytical skills — because the best teams are the ones that have a balance of personalities, not all one type.