Most small businesses (including those that grow to become very large ones) start with a passion for a product, a vision for an improvement, to disrupt the status quo, perhaps to create a better world.
All of these were sparks that fired Helen McNall’s business, Wellbeing for Dogs, which creates nutritionally-balanced canine food supplements, born of a passion for caring for and looking after domestic dogs.
Hers is business journey that has seen her learn a lot about the realities, challenges and sometimes-brutal bad luck that can hit any business, often at the most inconvenient moment.
“Running your own business is wonderful, but there are aspects of any business you should plan for, including the unforeseen, and I’ve learned a lot over the past 12 years,” she says.
Helen’s investment plans unravelled with the onset of the global financial crisis, her expansion into Japan was planned for the week after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and two of her three specialist food manufacturers folded.
Today, she describes herself as “stronger and wiser.” Here, she shares some of her business lessons.
Be clear about why you are starting a business.
I think we all start businesses for one of three reasons: as a passion, to reflect or support a lifestyle, or because we are serial entrepreneurs. Each of these reasons is valid - but you need to be clear about which applies to you. It will influence how you think, how you plan, and sets a context for the risk you’re willing to take, and how you define success.
Plan for everything, including the unpredictable and the unlikely.
I could argue that I had two or three pieces of colossal bad luck! But, if I’m honest, I should have, and certainly could have, prepared plans that addressed the possibility of failing to expand into the Japanese market, or failing to get investment. Both were always possibilities even if the triggers weren’t. And I didn’t.
My advice is, focus on your objectives, consider what might derail them, and plan alternative strategies that will get you back on track. If you can’t find these, reconsider your original objectives - better to do so at the planning stage than in-market!
Allow your instinct to influence your thinking and decisions.
When I started my first business I outsourced the manufacture of the food to three specialist kitchens. At the time I had instinctive reservations about all three, although those instincts were vague. Subsequently, two went out of business and the third sued me.
My advice is not to ignore your instinct. The moment that doubt appears, use it to test your financial plans, to test the business partnerships you’re seeking to create, event to the details in the contracts you might be drawing up. And, of course, have a second plan in place!
Ensure you are financially literate.
This connects with your passion - which can sometime cloud the financial realities of your idea and your business. I bet my house on my early business, which was a mistake. Financial literacy is so important, and it unfortunately remains the case that women often get less training in finance. Our needs are often also very different from those of men, and building a business with other commitments, around families for example (and I am a single mother) can only make things more-complex.
My advice is ensure you are financially literate. In the early planning phase, any uncertainty about finances can in fact be a plus: use that uncertainty to ask the right questions and ensure that you understand the answers. If you need to, get professional training, however rudimentary. Then you can also challenge your accountant!
Be balanced: let your passion drive you, but don’t let it blind you to hard decisions
When I started my business I was driven by what I sought to achieve. Nothing was going to stop me, and I believed that I could manage my way through any obstacle. That proved not to be the case! And while two events - the GFC and the 2011 tsunami - were completely unpredictable, I could have foreseen other events that affected my business badly.
My advice is always to consider the alternatives: what will you do if you don’t get paid, or if someone takes legal action against you, or steals your idea?. Do you have alternative suppliers? Always protect your investments - in your brand, your finances and your reputation - as well as your vision. Never let your vision cloud your judgment.
Ensure you have support - expertise, finances, mentors all play important parts in successful business.
When I started my business I hooked up with a specialist vet, Barbara Fougere, who advised us, guided parts of the product development. and was enormously supportive of the vision. Barbara was in fact a contact of Imalia's CEO Carole-Anne Priest, which added weight to the trust I was able to place in her. Being able to tap her expertise helped turn a good idea into something that would stand market scrutiny, and which could be turned into an actual product that people could buy.
And Carole-Anne acted as a personal mentor too. Sharing ideas is great, but addressing and resolving doubts or concerns is better. My advice is, don’t try to create a new business in isolation. Never be too proud or two nervous to ask for advice.
Helen McNall’s business today is in good shape, built on a foundation of lessons learned, advice sought and taken, and, for her, a lifelong love of dogs and their wellbeing. More at http://www.wellbeingfordogs.com.au/.