Hi, I am Helen Gaffney, and I want to tell you my past business story other than my accounting knowledge.
I want you to see that I have been to the bottom and back up again. That I understand the lows and the highs of small business because I have been there. I am not just an accountant that only knows the theory. Or is good at saying what should be done and have never experienced it.
I get you; I know how it feels.
In 2005, we started a camper trailer hire business. In 2008, we decided to buy a camper trailer manufacturing business. We want to grow our footprint in that industry. The day the contract went through was the day the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) hit. The business had two canvas sewers, three welding staff and one general helper. In the week that led up to the sale, one of the canvas sewers moved to another state. The other canvas sewer after nine years gave notice the day we walked in the door. So, that was a great start.
Our skills when we started:
- accountant
- dress and pattern maker
- avid camper
- owned a camper trailer for eight years
- camping since birth
- computer programmer
- technical drawer
- naive trust of people
- a serious case of self-belief.
We were given a technical drawings manual that was about three years out of date, the parts list, trailer specifications etc which was all on paper, some of it was laminated for grease protection, a hazard of the work environment.
I took the opening shift of 6:00 AM till school pickup. My husband took the shift starting after school drop off to five plus PM. And we worked six plus days of the week due to the hire side of the business. We broke up the responsibilities around the different sections of the business. My husband dealt with mostly the trailer building side: welding, painting, and fit out. And I looked after the accounts and the tent side of the business.
Our first job was to find a new canvas sewer. Apparently a highly recommended canvas sewer came knocking at our door, but guess what? Yes, he did know how to make tents, etc. But he was also particularly good at delegating to the general helper, who did not have the skills. We pulled him up on it a couple of times, but he went back to his way very quickly when we weren’t in sight.
So definitely not the right person on the bus for our business. The amount of canvas that we found under the cutting table that was rolled up neatly. They could not be used for a tent because it was cut wrong, was sickening. It was a huge waste of money and resources.
At that point both were let go. At the same time we had an upholstery sewer came looking for a job. He became the best sewer we ever had. He fitted into the team, company ethos and always had a smile on his face.
There were no patterns for tents, so no consistency. So, we set about measuring up what was in the showroom and coming up with a set of drawings and templates for the doors, windows and the end panel shape and brought in consistency which shortened up the calculation and fitting process when the roof was attached to the walls.
This also meant that when it came to designing a new version of the tent, as in changing from a side fold tent to rear fold tent we had the base tent formulated and it was an extremely easy adjustment, no big deal.
Our next job was to move the business out of the paper-based business and into some sort of system. So, we could analyze what we were actually selling not just have a gut feeling about it. So, we started building an Access database to collate all the materials that we would need in each stage of the building process, depending on what variation of the trailers and accessories that were added. This system also allocated the VIN numbers to the trailer for registration and produce the working documents for the staff to physically build the trailers.
I learned a lot about steel while we had that business. We were able to run a series of reports to help with the ordering process for the month. We even set it up to create order forms in the format that matched the suppliers’ requirements. This also saved time and stopped any duplication of purchasing and additional freight costs. The downside to our business was that our skills in selling and marketing were quite weak. We were a custom built, high quality, built to last camper trailer manufacturing business, but were selling based on price and trying to match to our substandard competitors.
Now that I look back, we really did not express our uniqueness. We gave too many choices or a list of options that confused and overwhelmed the customers and made it all too hard, so they went somewhere else to buy.
The things I am learning now from my marketing mentors is that we should have been defining our questions better based on the towing capacity of their car, size of family and type of camping they were looking at doing. Also, if they were looking at camping on the cheap, then their priorities were not about looking at how easy it was to set up and the many conveniences and luxuries that could be built into make their getaway relaxing. So therefore, they were not our ideal customer.
By December 2010, we had learned a massive amount and lost a lot of money but we were finally turning the tanker around, as I like to call a business. It does not change fast. We were getting better at selling, our pipeline was filling up, so 2011 was looking fairly good. Then the rain began to fall, and Queensland started flooding. I think we got to 75% of Queensland was underwater. The potential sales pipeline dried up in an instant and the whole economy of Queensland collapsed. For the next three months we tried every show or advertising method we could but got very little.
We were at the end of our resources, mentally, physically, and financially.
So, we closed the doors, sold off all the equipment and walked away with a huge debt.
Someone asked me recently if I would tell someone to close their business.
It really comes down to whether they have done everything in their power to change things, like what I suggest in Thriving Blueprint course. It also comes down to where they have drawn a line in the sand for them.
What I mean by that is what level of risk are you willing to take?
How much debt are you able to handle and still be able to breathe without hyperventilating?
What impact will you allow for the business to have on your health, both mental and physical.
How much impact will the business have on your family and friends?
You need to draw that line in the sand.