“Almost every Australian company dreams of one day exporting its consumer products, inventions and ideas to the US retail mass market. How could you not dream about it? I do. The US retail mass market can take you from little league to major league, outstripping your sales in Australia many times… if you can crack it! But how do you crack it? Unfortunately, it seems that the majority of CEOs or Sales Managers from Australia think it’s easy. It’s not.” Read on

Chad Hetherington Australian Anthill

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“The burgeoning social media landscape has brought with it frightening new possibilities for brand-trashing on a global scale – people using Twitter or blogs to spread derogatory remarks about your company; a disgruntled employee posting an “insiders” video on YouTube. You have no idea how it all started, and even less of an idea about how to stop it. So what are the rules for handling crises in the age of social media? How can companies resurrect their reputations in the face of malicious postings? What do you do if someone posts a negative comment in Twitter? Here are some steps to consider.” Read on

Graham White The Punch

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“Paragraph upon paragraph of text, large picture files, heavy-handed Flash animations, generic stock-photo images and static content. These are some of the common mistakes businesses make when establishing an online presence. The web is known for fast-paced change, so it’s absolutely crucial that your business website meets a customer’s expectations.” Read on

Julia Talevski The Sydney Morning Herald, Executive Style

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Money Matters for Small Business is a new online financial course for small business operators. The course can be accessed from any PC or MAC and provides one-on-one learning and also access to an e-coach.

The program was devised by Swinburne University and is supported by AusIndustry. It aims to provide participants with tools to enhance their financial management skills.

The modules are Organising your Business for Financial Success, Managing Cash Flow, Managing Business Growth, Understanding Business Taxation Matters and Importing and Exporting.

Participants can enrol to do one module or all five. Modules cost $95.00 each. For more information and to enroll visit here.

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AGDA Tasmania are presenting a breakfast with Melbourne artist and textile designer Beci Orpin and Hobart-based group Crafternoon.

Beci Orpin is an artist and designer based in Melbourne, Australia. She is well known for her whimsical, intricate creations and feminine dreamscapes. After graduating from BA textile design at RMIT in 1997, Beci went on to work freelance, designing textiles and graphics for a wide range of clients including Burton Snowboards, Built by Wendy, Mercedes Benz, Bloom Cosmetics, Time Warner, Universal Music and Dark Horse comics. This year she is launching a new accessories, homewares and stationary brand under her own name. Beci also frequently creates and exhibits artwork in many different mediums. She has been involved in over 35 shows in galleries in Australia, UK, Japan, Spain and US.

Crafternoon is a group for crafty, artsy and designy types in Hobart. They meet roughly once a month (sometimes more) at varying locations to craft, chat, share, drink tea or sometimes beer, bake and generally be friendly. They’ve been known to have exhibitions, do community work and help out with the ODD + EVEN market.

The Breakie with Beci event will have two parts. Firstly, a breakfast and presentation by Beci. Then in conjunction with the Crafternoon and other special guests, participants can join in on a selection of fun hands-on demo craft workshops and a Q and A with Beci.

The breakfast will be held 10 October 2009 from 10:00am to 12:00pm.

Bookings for the event are strictly pre-sale and allocated on a first-in basis so RSVP now to secure your seat. RSVP by Friday 2nd October by emailing tas@agda.com.au.

It will take place at the Riverview Room, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Hobart and will cost $30.00 AGDA members and $40.00 non-members.

For more information visit here.

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“A strong business plan is essentially the cornerstone of your business, and yet many entrepreneurs drag their feet when it comes to writing one— possibly because it involves a good deal of work and may bring back childhood memories of writing a tedious book report on summer vacation. But it’s critical that you not only organise your thoughts on how you intend to run your business but also formalise your plan in writing. Here’s why…” Read on

Colleen DeBaise The Wall Street Journal, Small Business

Tags: Business plans

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“Entrepreneurs have their exits as well as their entrances, and if they know what’s good for them, they plan as well for the one as for the other. Growing Business explores some of the issues you’ll need to consider before selling up.” Read on

John O’Hanlon GB Magazine

Tags: Exit strategies

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“Aspiring entrepreneurs must constantly navigate the tension between doing what they love and the realities of the market. Sometimes those interests align: Bill Gates and Paul Allen loved to write software, and happened to be doing it at the dawn of a multibillion-dollar industry. But more often, entrepreneurs walk a high wire between pursuing passion and the market opportunity where they have the greatest chance to succeed.” Read on

John Tozzi BusinessWeek

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“Sometimes — and perhaps especially in tough times — professional designers are faced with going it alone, hanging out their shingle and hoping to attract the most interesting clients (and projects) possible. And in an age when “You are your own brand,” there is great temptation to, um, make yourself appear a little bigger than you are. Now, I’m not saying you should actively misrepresent yourself out there, but if you really are convinced that size matters, well, knock yourself out.” Read on

Allan Chochinov Core77

Tags: Branding, Marketing positioning

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“It’s not enough to come up with ideas; these days, even names can be contentious. Designers are turning to legal action to protect their intellectual property – but it’s not an automatic fix. In July, Sydney designer Katie Perry had a firsthand experience when she came up against a claim by pop singer Katy Perry through her US lawyers. The local fashion designer had trademarked her name locally, but this didn’t deter the other party.” Read on

Julianne Dowling Small Business, The Sydney Morning Herald

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“It can be stimulating and inspiring to work with other creative people on new projects, so it’s worth thinking about what makes creative collaborations work well… Collaborations work best when people with complementary skills come together to work on a project – for example a writer and illustrator. If the project is to be a commercial success as well as a creative achievement, then other so-called ‘non-creative’ people might be needed too.” Read on

David Parrish Creative Choices

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“Is it idealistic to plan for a green career? Whether your working day is spent at home, in an office, studio, or on the road, there are steps you can take to ensure you’re being as environmentally conscious as possible. You don’t necessarily have to be a visual artist using recycled materials. Whichever creative sector you’re in, think how you can stand out as a green role model. Here are some considerations you may want to take on board. Hopefully they’ll inspire you and give you something to talk about with your friends and colleagues.” Read on

Momtaz Begum-Hossain Creative Choices

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“I have started nine businesses. I can tell you this from experience: If everyone who starts a business had to get a sign-off from the general population, no one would start a business… Getting advice about whether to start a particular business is tricky. Whom do you ask? I would ask business owners. They understand the risks, the opportunities, the potential problems and the things you need to watch out for. Perhaps you can learn from their mistakes.” Read on

Jay Goltz NYtimes.com

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A message from ADU…

For those of you who don’t know us yet, the ADU is a magazine and archive about design-led business and creativity, published online to encourage the formation of a new community — one that is confident and successful in business, adventurous and free-thinking, informed and generous with knowledge, and able to reflect with intelligence on the impact of its work. 

ADU is an online space positioned between thinking and action, a place of possibilities that we have created to instigate and support a type of entrepreneurship that can enable change, or the creation of broader opportunities.

We are an independent yet strongly collaborative voice within the design sector, with a network that seeks and connects creative entrepreneurs from across the country to the resources they need. ADU is also a place for dialogue and discussion. As we reveal what is going on behind the scenes of the Australian design industry so we can deliver insights, and stories on the people we think deserve a closer look. 

With the growing role of the creative entrepreneur in business, it’s interesting to note the role Australians are playing in this sector. But what exactly is a creative entrepreneur? 

In this issue we launch the first series of continuing profiles on Australian creative businesses who we feel are defining the term creative entrepreneur. We look at people who are running both large and small enterprises, that are linked by intelligent thinking and creative endeavours, that more often than not, defy the odds of the traditional corporate model.

We all know what an entrepreneur is, there’s a long history of Australian entrepreneurs, both good and bad, and although business is what they do, creativity often isn’t.  

If you check with Wikipedia, creative entrepreneurs are people working in the creative industries who invest in intellectual capital, developing a business around their own creative talent or others. Both Madonna and Richard Branson make their list.

So how does today’s creative entrepreneur translate locally, who are the creative entrepreneurs Australia is fostering and how important is their role to Australian business, to government, and to the way the we are seen to the rest of the world?

For us the creative entrepreneurs worth celebrating are the individuals and groups doing things in a non-conformist way. People linking entrepreneurial skills with creative and social innovation – with the ultimate goal to link interest, motivation and need in a system that can create outcomes.

With the growing status of the design festival as a marker of regional success, or innovation, it’s not hard to conclude that through their activation of ideas about the businesses of the future, creative entrepreneurs play an increasingly important role in developing the cultural offering that governments use as a way to build identity and goodwill.

On top of this, creative entrepreneurs are increasingly playing a role as catalysts for a change in thinking about designing and sustainability, they create platforms for ideas to be shared openly and across business and design sectors, they help countries to share knowledge, they connect with the community, and they foster new businesses that can retain skills, build possibility, or apply their ideas in the creation of improved social conditions.

Over the coming months we will continue to seek out and articulate how creativity is adding value to business, and society. We will tap into the minds of creative individuals, designers and businesses to access their opinions, their practical tools, to share their dreams and help them lead by example.

We hope you will join us.

Heidi Dokulil & Ewan McEoin

To stay up to date with the ADU make sure you subscribe below – its free!

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This year Australia found itself in the middle of design market frenzy with new craft and design marketplaces popping up all over the country or established markets setting up their events in new cities. Leading up to Christmas this year there are close to thirty craft and design markets being held across Australia. But design markets are not necessarily the right step for all designers.    

Here we speak with market organisers and designers across Australia to assess the pros and cons of market retailing.

The marketplace
When Melbourne-based designer Andrew Ashton of Pip and Co. first proposed holding a market focused on Australian design in 2003, the response he received was lukewarm.

‘I was doing the marketing for Swinburne University at the time and I suggested they do a design market. It was enthusiastically taken up by some of the management team but most thought it was just too daggy.’

A few months later Andrew took the concept to the inaugural State of Design festival in Victoria, and now six years on, the Melbourne Design Market is one of that state’s biggest and most popular annual design events drawing a crowd of over 15,000 in one day.

The continued success of the Melbourne Design Market and other boutique design events, including Magnolia Square, the Young Blood Designers Market and The Finders Keepers in Sydney, have strongly contributed to the shift in the perception of design and craft in Australia. For the general consumer emerging and established designers and makers have developed a unified presence and a growing competitive edge alongside their international peers.

Going to market

There are many reasons markets have become an attractive arena for design businesses in Australia and around the world. Young designers establishing their careers often use markets to launch their brand, build a profile and provide a stepping-stone into wholesaling. For more established design businesses, markets often form a core part of their marketing strategy – while helping to maintain and promote their brands and products, they also allow designers to directly widen their network in a different city, maybe in another country.

However apart from the obvious advantages of brand presence and reach, it is the financial benefit that has become the number one motivation for most Australian designers showing and selling their work at markets.

The market platform provides designers who wholesale their product the opportunity to sell directly to consumers and receive the bonus of the retail sale. According to Nic MacIsaac of founder of Melbourne’s Magnolia Square, stallholder profits sometimes vastly outweighing the cost of participation. The current cost of a small stand at her event is $690.00 for three days. ‘Some participants do $15,000 worth of sales, that is not all of them, but some do extraordinarily well.’

Sarah Thornton who launched The Finders Keepers market with Brooke Johnston in Sydney in 2007, says that in her experience design markets that are curated, held less frequently and promoted as special events, create an environment where designers can sell their products with a much higher price tag. This approach works well particularly well for collections that are handmade or limited in production and therefore not as viable for the traditional wholesale approach.

Matthew Butler, designer and co-founder of Zaishu, regularly participates in design markets around Australia. He claims that 50% of their annual sales would come from design markets and the rest from wholesaling. ‘We can mark these events in our calendar to budget our year because we know that taking part in a design market will lead to some revenue for us.’

Western Australian designer and retailer Johann Kim of Pigeonhole agrees. ‘Markets are a great way to get a ‘quick cash injection into the business. For us, markets are about generating cash upfront and sales. While we don’t build our business on markets, we use them to supplement our cash flow and take pressure off our shops and wholesale. That allows us to invest in new projects and equipment.’

Kim says he also sees markets as an opportunity to test run new products and gain insights into pricing, sizing, and colour, and a great way to get direct feedback from your audience. Research is an important part of markets and designers should take advantage of the opportunity they present to interact with customers and conduct research and development.

‘The coalface of a market is that you produce products and success is decided upon by how much you sell and manage to engage customers’, remarks Andrew Ashton. ‘It doesn’t matter how much energy you put into an object, if it doesn’t appeal to the audience, you just don’t sell it.’

While the financial benefits and the research advantages stand out, on the other side there is also the community spirit of the design market. They provide a good opportunity to get to know other designers, share experiences and knowledge and get involved in the frenetic marketplace atmosphere.

Which market and when?

With the blossoming of the Australian design market culture choosing which event to take part in and when can be difficult. But making the right decision is also essential as costs can be prohibitive particularly when interstate or international travel is involved.

Word of mouth appears to be the primary means by which most design businesses gather information about markets.

‘We stick to the ones we know work and monitor some events for their first year and then won’t participate until we speak to one of the stallholders about their experience,’ says Butler.

‘You need to really look at the demographics of the market and consider what your product is and the age group of those attending.’ ‘’For example, our product retails for over $300.00 so younger customers or designers attending an event like This is not a Design Market may be interested in design but not looking to spend that much money.’’

Jane Barwick of jewellery label in-sync designs says scheduling a market attendance to occur at particular times of the year or to coincide with the launch of a new product is worthwhile. ‘Markets held pre-Christmas or during design weeks tend to have better results than those held in other periods.’

Barwick also says designers should be choosy about what market they participate in. She recommends analysing an event’s website to get a sense of the focus of the event and the atmosphere organisers are trying to create. By looking at past participants you can also decide whether they appear to have a similar audience to that of your own brand or products.

However, it is important to recognise that while some events may feature some of the same stallholders, as is the case with Magnolia Square and The Finders Keepers, that doesn’t mean their markets have the same demographic. The location of the market and the way the event is publicised can have a huge impact on the type of audience attending.

‘We’ve really carved out a very niche little market segment at Magnolia Square and we really understand who our customer is,’ says MacIssac. ‘The women who absolutely flock to our events have young children and a high disposable income. They want something beautiful for their children in the way of clothes, interiors, furnishings, and also look for things for themselves. They are not necessarily people who will go and seek something out like the people at The Finders Keepers or other design markets.’

Applying

The markets that tend to get the best wrap are those that are curated and select designers through a competitive process of application. If organisers feel your product will not sell at their market then you are unlikely to be approved. But there are other reasons why organisers might say no to your application. Both Nic MacIsaac and Sarah Thornton say that they are put off by applications that are badly presented.

‘Design is all about visuals. It is so important and we are really turned off by people that send us uncropped or blurry digital photos or put no effort into their applications,’ says Thornton.

Thornton says that they assess applications as a retailer might, judging applicants on the basis of their whole offering including the designers ambitions, price, material, packaging, product uniqueness and over all quality.

‘If we have seen a range already in stores or at other design markets, or if it is a rip off of something else, then that is a no no for us. We want to be different and unique and want to offer something that people haven’t seen before.’

If you reapply to an event that you have participated in before, don’t take it too personally if you are not accepted again as many market organisers have a policy of trying to mix up their stallholders to keep events fresh for customers. If you want to be a repeat stallholder at a design market, reapply with a new product or range because consumers and organisers don’t want to see the same products time and time again.

You have been selected, now what?

You have been accepted into your first design market so how do you make your experience a success?

While most market stallholders measure their success of the experience in financial terms, if you don’t sell as much product as hoped you shouldn’t see participation as a failed exercise.

There are many factors that can affect sales and instead of packing up your product and never venturing into market territory again you should speak to organisers and other stallholders to gain a sense of what went wrong. Factors such as the competition, your pricing, inappropriate clientele, the positioning and merchandising of your stall, even the weather can dramatically impact your experience.

It can be worth trying the same market again as sometimes it takes consumers a couple of times to see a product before they will commit to buy. However, if you have weighed everything up and you need to try something new, don’t hesitate.

By Madeleine Hinchy.

Images courtesy of The Finders Keepers, Zaishu and Powerhouse Museum.

Some Rights Reserved. View ADU Creative Commons license here.

For more information and a list of markets happening between September and December 2009 download  ADU market summary and checklist.

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From failed dot-com venture to international success story, Knog is a Melbourne-based design brand that launched in 2002 to produce bicycle accessories now sold in over 46 countries. Here Peter Salhani speaks with Hugo Davidson about the rise and rise of Knog.

Knog is short for “Knoggin”, an affectionate Aussie name for the top of one’s head. Knog is also the Australian success story of an industrial design company producing cycling accessories for a worldwide audience.

Hugo Davidson and Malcolm McKechnie set up Knog in 2002 as a project under the umbrella of Catalyst – the industrial design consultancy they run from Richmond, Victoria. Davidson is an industrial designer, McKechnie a product engineer.

After a failed dot-com project that used venture capital to develop technology and schedule advertising in front of supermarket shelves left Catalyst with a mountain of debt and a reduced but highly specialised staff, the pair had to do something to recoup their losses. The dot-com venture had taken Catalyst too far from its core of being creatively driven to investor-focused, so with Knog they were determined to reduce the stakeholders and grow the business organically, by securing overseas distributorships which allowed them to concentrate on their passion.

“We wanted to develop a business or a brand that we could add value to specifically through product design – one that didn’t have major benchmarks already in place,” says Davidson. “One of the guys working with us had raced in a former life and we all thought bicycles would be an exciting area to work in. There are a lot of players in the field, but they marketed mostly generic Chinese product, so it was very easy to make a difference.”

Knog began with a few prototypes and found an Australian distributor to test the waters. “An hour after they saw the first samples, they placed an order for 5,000 units and we were on our way,” Davidson recalls. Five months later he and McKechnie launched Knog at a trade show in Taipei and picked up 16 distributors.

Designed in Melbourne, Knog product is made in China, with exclusive distribution agreements delivering product to more than 46 countries. “We originally looked at manufacturing it here but found that most distributors wanted to buy from one port. China was the most logical, so we now manufacture through about 20 different factories in China,” says Davidson.

Product development is a key driver. Knog product is designed inhouse in their Melbourne studio- they don’t work with external designers – instead, they recruit across the disciplines from product and electrical engineering to web and graphic design. In the studio they cover every aspect from design and rapid prototyping down to the most minute aspects of product testing.

Project teams of designers and engineers from different backgrounds are switched across product groups for cross-pollination of ideas. Designers also time spend working at the Knog shop on Chapel Street, Melbourne, where they experience first-hand customer feedback as well as how the product looks in a retail environment.

The company does pricing research, to stay competitive, but has deliberately steered clear of consumer research on product. “If we asked people what they wanted products to look like, they’d probably expect something similar to what’s already there. We’d be one of the few brands in the market that didn’t originate from within the cycling industry, so our product is perceived as being a fresh alternative to 95 per cent of what’s out there.”

An approach that has paid off for Knog. In the 2009 financial year – in the midst of the global recession – Knog’s growth “slowed to 130%; the year before it was 280%. Backed up by distribution of new categories of products each year, then it’s very hard for the Knog model not to grow given the right pricing and the right marketing.

While Knog is on one hand a brand of cycle accessories, it also solves a problem common to many design businesses who take on staff for big projects, only to find there is not enough work when the project ends. Knog helps Catalyst iron out the peaks and troughs. In between Catalyst projects, the teams are releasing on average 8 to 15 new Knog products a year, and currently in the oven is a baby brother for Knog called Dirty, a gardening products label that launches some time soon.

Davidson distills two decades worth of lessons from running a global design business into a succinct mantra, laced with a little marketing speak: “You need the right brand story, good design, the right pricing and supply logistics, and packaging that stands out at the point of sale. All those things are critical to the success of a brand… You have tick all those boxes.”

By Peter Salhani.

Images courtesy of Knog, Eric Richardson and Steve Vance.

© Peter Salhani, 2009. All rights reserved.

Read other ADU Profiles here.

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ADU Profiles are an ongoing series of interviews with creative entrepreneurs who, launching often single-handedly with a tiny budget, run intelligent, successful businesses across the fields of design, architecture, retail, fashion, and film.

Stories are posted monthly and take a revealing look behind the scenes of creative businesses across Australia, uncovering the ups and downs, the dead ends, the mistakes, the breakthroughs, and the unexpected surprises that happen along the way.

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“These days, the tech-savvy small business is using search engine optimisation to steer customers to its home page. But once those online visitors land, how do you get them to buy? Sure, you can pay a lot for site analytics that give you insights into those potential customers’ shopping habits. But small-business owners now have a variety of simple yet effective tools to tempt visitors into opening their wallets.” Read on

Raymund Flandez The Wall Street Journal

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When siblings Abigail and Jamie Forsyth began their first business – a takeaway food store and catering service, Bluebag, in Melbourne’s CBD – they say customers were reluctant to drink coffee from takeaway paper cups. A decade later the Forsyth’s have launched KeepCup, a new business and product they hope will inspire baristas and consumers to bin a bad habit once and for all. 

Here Abigail talks with the ADU about the ups and downs of running a sustainable start-up in Australia, and the importance of staying true to the big idea.

Business: KeepCup (2009)
Type of business: Locally designed and manufactured reusable cup
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Principals: Abigail Forsyth, Co-Director, and Jame Forsyth, Co-Director
Contact: www.keepcup.com.au

ADU: Can you please describe the business? What is KeepCup?
Abigail Forsyth: KeepCup is the world’s first reusable barista standard takeaway cup and also a wider campaign about the use of disposable goods. The product and campaign were launched on to the market in June 2009.

I had the idea about three or four years ago but it was a big leap to finally say “I am going to do this” because having started a business once before, I knew what was involved and foolishly decided to do it again!

When I had my daughter a few years ago I was working part-time. I would be going out in the day with the pram and I’d carry a takeaway latte and she would be having her milk in a sippy cup and I thought “Wouldn’t that be disgusting if every time I gave her milk, I gave it to her in a paper cup and then threw it away?” It just seemed absolutely ridiculous. That was the moment of clarity.

How long has the cup been in development and who designed it?
The cup has been in development for two years and was designed by Cobalt Niche. But we have been very involved. We presented drawings and drove them bananas basically giving feedback on what we thought.

But because of our hospitality backgrounds, Jamie and I have so much knowledge about how people and baristas would use the cup. We wanted to create something that was user-friendly from the point of view of the end user but also for the people behind the machine. We knew if the barista didn’t like making coffee in them, the idea would flop.

KeepCups are manufactured in Melbourne, was keeping the production local a central part of your business plan?
Yes. It is a real selling point in the Australian market that our product is local. But we also knew it was going to be a difficult tool to manufacture and we would have a lot of liaising back and forth with the manufacturer. Also from an environmental perspective we felt it was important to reduce our air miles.

Is there potential to implement a product stewardship scheme with these cups?
You say on your website that they should last for four years, so in four years do you have a plan for take back?
We made sure the cup was made of single components so it could be recycled in your standard recycling bin, but also looking down the line, this is deep fantasyland now, but my dream is that one day old KeepCups will become new KeepCups and it could become a closed loop production.

However at the moment in Australia we can’t do that, because you have to use virgin plastic to make anything that is food grade. But I think there will come a point when you can wash and then grind and remake.

Can you tell me about the launch of KeepCup on the market?
We had been approaching corporate businesses for twelve months prior to our launch in June. We targeted those who were moving into green star buildings and companies who have a massive environmental footprint like Energy Australia and Qantas.

While all corporates need to do something about sustainability, we approached those who really need to do something visible. A lot of those businesses have been really interested in the cup as a sort of a gift and something that makes very tangible their own efforts.

You launched KeepCup at the Melbourne Design Market in June and also Design Made Trade in July, why did you decide to enter the market at design events? Do you see the design industry as an important sector of your marketing approach?
We did vacillate as to whether we would go into Design Made Trade because it was quite expensive but at the end of the day we wanted to have our product pitched at the high end of the market as a design object and that would stimulate more interest and have people see more value in the item. It is all about the perception of value as well.

I guess the exercise gave you brand ambassadors as well, because design people are often at the forefront of what’s happening next.
Definitely!

In terms of the financial sustainability of what you are doing, was the trigger to start the business largely emotional? How much did you consider whether it would be a viable business?
It was probably fifty-fifty. I wanted to do something that I was emotionally connected to and felt strongly about. It is really exciting to think people might not be using disposable paper cups and we could be part of that change. But I certainly didn’t want to do it for nothing. We needed to recoup the costs.

What have been the major highs and lows of KeepCup so far?
The major low was when the cup seals still leaked after two years of R+D. We were supposed to launch in February and in May the seal was leaking – it wasn’t giving us enough life. We were only getting it to last two or three hundred click ons and offs.

We had committed $200,000 to the tool and $100,000 in design and engineering and we were like “Can we even sell this? Is this actually going to work!?” So it was touch and go there for a while.

The major high was being at those fairs and seeing people respond. We got the cups in June and tested the market by participating in the Melbourne Design Market at Federation Square. People were coming up to us saying “Oh my God. I have been looking for something like this.” Others were like “I don’t know what it is but I want to use it!”

Also people knew it was a problem. I thought we would first have to tell people, disposable cups are not recyclable but I have been really surprised at the number of people who already know.

Did you ever think of letting it all go?
Well, when the seal was leaking we were thinking we were either going to have to put a mechanical fitting on – which would destroy a lot of the key features we wanted in the cup – or we were going to have to abort. But we just had to keep pressing ahead.

Was the fact that you believed in the message so much the driving force that gave you the light at the end of the tunnel?
Yeah it was.

What skills or qualities do you feel are the most essential to running a design or any other creative small business?
Perseverance! You have to be like the wobbly man, down one day and up the next. Also understanding that when you think you are in a company selling sustainable cups or product, actually behind the scenes you are a company about distribution and logistics.

Even if you have a great product, if you get that side of the business wrong, your business will fail.

In terms of running an Australian small business, what challenges do you think SMEs in Australia face?
Australia is so far away from the big international centres that it does sometimes make it difficult to do business. For example, we got posted on Springwise, a business spotters site on the 25th of June and on that day we got 2,000 hits to the website and were inundated with distribution enquiries from all around the world.

But the main problem is that, for example, if someone in Edinburgh wants 2,000 cups the freight costs on those cups are prohibitive. The distance affects the distribution speed as well and air freight can compromise your environmental credentials.

In terms of the marketing of the product, it seems that is the most active parts of your campaign to get the KeepCup out there is through education, word of mouth and social media. Did you always see it as important to educate people and potentially that they would spread the word and the campaign?
I guess we always saw the KeepCup campaign as akin to the green bag campaign to stop plastic bags. It was very obvious that it was better to use a reusable bag than a plastic bag. But it wasn’t really until that green bag came along, which was a very well-designed bag – in terms of it was visible, could carry more, fitted nicely around your shoulder –everyone sort of turned their attention to it and thought, “I shouldn’t use a plastic bag.”

I cannot believe the power of social marketing. I just did not consider that it would be so huge. After participating in the Melbourne Design Market in June the following Saturday someone in LA had blogged about finding this reusable cup in Melbourne. They had posted that they had tested it and it was the best cup they had ever found. Within half an hour of that post going live we had received seven orders from six different states in America. I can only guess they had all read that blog and ordered the cups.

What are the next steps for the KeepCup business?
We are developing generation two sizes – a large size targeted to the US market and an espresso cup. The other thing we will be looking at is a higher end version of the current cup designs.

Are you planning to export soon?
We are trying. We are talking to Austrade about export, we are looking at grants from the City of Melbourne, we are talking to some big chains in the US and UK at the moment.

If you were exporting overseas, to be more environmentally sustainable would you look at finding local manufacturers in various regions to make the cup?
We are discussing that at the moment. I should say the bands are actually made in China but the rest of it is all made here in Melbourne. The bands we couldn’t get the print quality right here but that wasn’t for lack of trying. But if we were exporting to Europe I don’t know yet if we would end up shipping the tool and making some in a foreign location.

What companies internationally and locally inspire you?
My hero company is Sigg water bottles from Switzerland. I don’t think they are marketed as well as they could be but they are a great product and an example of a small company with a global reach. Crumpler is another great local company.

Interview by Madeleine Hinchy. Images courtesy KeepCup and Cobalt Niche.

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In seven years textile designer and creative entrepreneur Rachel Bending has gone from running a sustainable grassroots business selling bags made of vintage fabrics at local markets, to the launch of Bird Textiles, a design business committed to the uncompromising standards of social and ecological sustainability.                        

The ADU recently spoke with Rachel at her Byron Bay studio about passion, perseverance and the ‘hats’ you need to wear to run a successful design business.

Business: Bird Textiles (2006)
Type of business: Locally and sustainably designed and manufactured textiles, homewares, stationary and fashion garments
Location: Studio/showroom in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Retail space in Surry Hills, New South Wales
Principal: Rachel Bending, Director and Designer
Staff: Three full-time staff, and approximately six staff contracted or working part-time
Contact: www.birdtextiles.com

ADU: Can you describe the business.
Rachel Bending: We started Slingfings in 2002 and it closed eighteen months ago. Subsequently, off the back of that we launched the second brand Bird Textiles.

At the time of launching Slingfings I had just spent two years living in a grass roots community. I was living with solar power, a compost toilet and grey water reuse system. The telephone was the only amenity we had coming in. Having lived like that – I had studied permaculture and really experienced a lower impact way of living – there was no turning back for me. From then on my choices, how I moved forward in whatever I was doing whether it was my personal life or in any creative business endeavors I had to be sustainable. There could not do it any other way.

The priority has always been to promote sustainable design. Slingfings was manufactured using 100% renewable energy, particularly solar power, and by using recycled and reclaimed fabrics to create a range of bags which grew into a fashion range as well.

Bird is a collection of our own fabrics designed and printed on SKAL certified organic fair trade cotton. They are printed here in Australia using water based dyes and then manufactured locally in our Byron Bay studios into a range of fashion items, gifts and homewares.

How much experience did you have in running a small design business when you started?

I originally trained in textile design. I studied at Glasgow School of Art in the early 1990s which was an amazing art school to study at. I then went on to work in international events management as an event director and that really honed my project management skills.

When I started Slingfings in Australia, one of the first things I did was go out and do a course in small business financial management. I wanted to know not only how to work within the system, but how to work that system to my benefit in terms of running the finances. I also have professional marketing qualifications so the combination of this and my own personal ethics and beliefs have come together to create both brands. And along the way I have never been shy about asking people who I respect for their advice.

Have you ever engaged a business mentor?

I did have a business mentor who I worked very closely with in years three, four and five. She came from a pure business background and very kindly offered her time as a mentor in a very old school way. Back then it was done for the love of passing on the knowledge but that doesn’t happen so often now. You have to pay consultants a lot of money to do that.

I was very lucky to have Virginia involved in what I was doing early on in order to support the growth of my business. In the last year I have been able to start working with other consultants because we have had grant money made available to us from AusIndustry. That has enabled me to pay consultants in areas where I have needed further advice.

On a practical level, how have you managed to fund the growth of your business?

Mostly by putting money back into the business. I have forfeited the majority of my wage and salary and we have run a very tight ship in order to plough money back into the business and help it grow.

The AusIndustry grant that I have just received is significant and I have also had a loan to the business to finance growth. I was very lucky, in the career I had before I did quite well so I had put some money aside.

In your experience what skills do you think are essential for running a small design business?

I think when you run a small business you have to be a jack-of-all-trades. You have to be able to multitask on a grand scale, to have ten different things on your desk and be able to go back and forth between them. You also have to be able to manage people and finance. But I would say at least half of my time is spent marketing in one way or another. Whether it is doing a photo shoot or a media mail out, working out the window dressing for the shop in Sydney, or marketing materials that we are going to send our customers.

Is your business model different to other textile design manufacturers in order to facilitate and adhere to your environmental and social goals?

In ten years time we are not going to have this conversation about sustainable business models because it will be assumed that you have to live and run your business that way. It will be mandatory and it will all be regulated. For us it’s about the triple bottom line. It is about looking at all aspects of the business and seeing the impact of everything. Not just how you can make money better.

How long did it take you to break even?

It took us two years because we were plowing money into the business in order to grow, and obviously that growth costs money.

We now have businesses coming to us, big multinational businesses looking to buy into our eco credentials because they can see that what we are doing is the only way. They need to be seen to be doing something so they are happy to have our brand on board. In order for them to buy into our brand credentials they have to buy into the path that gets them that so it means they have to buy into doing business in a slightly different way.

When you first started did you have a template for your business in terms of a plan, or has it developed through trial and error?

It has been a very organic growth. But I knew what I wanted. The brand ethos that you will find on our website has existed since day dot and that will stay with us forward into the future. It is very much about continuing to educate ourselves so we can continue to improve the systems. We are constantly monitoring environmental changes.

You have said that you were prompted partially to begin Bird Textiles as a result of consumer feedback. Did informal market research inform that decision?

Face to face contact with consumers is absolutely essential. It is one of the reasons why I still work in the Sydney shop for a few days every couple of weeks. That’s your front line. If you don’t listen to your consumers, you fail. You know that has been an integral part of our decision making process.

Slingfings began as bags made of vintage fabrics but so many people were asking us to make clothes. So we started with a clothing range and from there the decision to start Bird was based on viability. We knew we could only grow so big with Slingfings because vintage fabrics are a finite resource and in the five years we had been doing it, fabric had become very popular and the price had doubled. If we actually wanted the business to be financially viable we needed to be able to produce to scale and to do that we needed to have a fabric that we could produce twenty cushions in, or twenty dresses, rather than one. So I decided it was time to take my design skills and produce a range of fabrics ourselves.

What have been the major highs and lows in the development of the business?

The major high without a doubt is when someone takes the time to send an email saying what an amazing thing we are doing. It would be very easy to say the highs are winning awards and going to London Fashion Week, those sort of things, and of course it is exciting when they happen but it is the constant feedback from customers that makes it all worthwhile. The lows are the fairly long hours and the tight resources we have to work on in order to stay true to our ethos.

What challenges do you face being an Australian-based design business?

Well, it is quite a small market which means in Australia you can only grow so big. That is partly why we are looking into export now. But you have to remember I am from the United Kingdom so I am not only Australian but British too. And so I am used to looking beyond the country that I live in because I have done that for a long time.

Are there any other blockages that you would identify in the sector?

Price point is often a challenge and that is mainly to do with the fact that part of western consumerism is based around buying what are basically subsidised goods from China. I am not going to name stores but we know which ones I am talking about because we all shop in them. The real cost of a $3.99 t-shirt made in China is actually more like $15.00 because there is a heavy cost to the environment and the people involved in making them. So selling goods that are made sustainably, in Australia, and with a price tag to reflect that can be challenging for consumers to understand.

What about opportunities in the sector?

Bird’s in growth, the eco sector is in growth, so despite the recession we have opportunities coming out left, right and centre. Which ones we take and how we manage them is something that we are assessing at the moment.

In terms of developing the business, what are the next steps for you?

We are off to London Fashion Week this September and we will see what happens there. But one day as a time as always. There is obviously some planning involved in what we do but I don’t like to plan too far away. I like to see how things go and continue that grass roots, organic process.

Which companies and individuals internationally and locally inspire you?

The founder of The Body Shop, Anita Roddick, was an amazing woman and she was way ahead of her time. She was quite confronting but despite that she created an incredible international brand that got her message out there in a very big way. She always stayed really true to what she was about.

Other local brands that I think are doing amazing things include Zaishu who we have worked in collaboration with. What Matt Butler and Helen Punton have designed has a tremendous alignment with what we are about. The product looks at both social and environmental issues in terms of how the whole brand fits together.

What is your big idea for change in the sector – if could talk directly to decision makers in government, what would be your big idea for changing the Australian design industry? Didn’t you say that the way you would be operating would be legislated?

Absolutely. I mean the change is happening so fast now. The difference we have seen in the last three years has been incredible. Seven or eight years ago when I was banging on the doors of media and saying ‘Solar power and this and that…’ I was just some hippy chick from Byron Bay who wasn’t really taken seriously! Then five or six years later when the whole issue of eco started to go mainstream people went ‘Who was that chick…’ and started coming back and asking what we had been doing. We were able to say ‘We have been doing this and this and this since then.’

Look to the pioneers, look to the early adaptors, look at the good examples that you see around them, and look at best practice and take responsibility for your supply chain, whether you are a manufacturer or a retailer, or an individual. Take a responsibility for your part in this planet.

Do you see yourself as a businesswoman, an environmental, or a social activist – or are they equally balanced in your head?

I see myself as a creative human being first. I put my businesswoman hat on if I need to, but there are other hats that I wear too. I don’t consider myself an ardent environmentalist campaigner but I guess I am. I don’t see either of those things as the hat I wear the most, though I do spend a lot of time working on education around sustainable issue, so I guess that really answers the question!

Interview by Madeleine Hinchy. Images courtesy Bird Textiles.

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Launched in July 2009, Australian design business Native is an example of what happens when creative people with a sound idea join forces. The business is a collaboration between designer/ manufacturer Rob Young, and designer, Dhiren Bhagwandas, and anchored by socially and environmentally sustainable products.     

ADU caught up with Rob Young to discuss his thoughts on the new generation of Australian design brands that are shaping the meaning of creative entrepreneur.

Business: Native (2009)
Type of business: Locally designed and manufactured furniture and home accessories
Location: Studio and workshop Abbotsford, Victoria, Australia
Principals: Rob Young, Director, and Dhiren Bhagwandas, Creative Director
Contact: www.nativecollection.com

ADU: Can you describe Native?
Rob Young: Native is wholesale design brand. It’s a new arm of an existing manufacturing base, a value adding design arm making use of the infrastructure and design potential within the company. We especially aim to add value by inviting other people to come in and collaborate with us. Native also has an underutilised retail component at present, which might be reviewed soon.

What is the management structure you have set up?
At present I am the sole Director. Dhiren Bhagwandas is the Creative Director on a contract basis and also the designer of the first range on a royalty basis. But we are still exploring future structures around this, it might evolve into a joint venture, or a royalty share agreement for creative direction, it might be profit share – we’re still examining that.

What were your main goals in establishing this business?
I wanted to take my existing company to the next level. My manufacturing base had got to a certain point of resolution and I was ready to move on into another area – there was a lot of under utilised capacity, but much of the basic infrastructure built up over the years was done with the long term intention of being part of a design project that would value add to the product with a strong design ethos.

What was a recent high point in the business?
The Native launch and Collection One – the realisation of those products with Dhiren, getting them on the ground and receiving so much positive feedback.

And a low point?
Probably four weeks before the launch when we were wondering whether we were going to be able to resolve so many new things at once.

What are the particular challenges you face as an Australian design business?
A lack of empathy and sympathy towards design by manufacturers, and to some degree by the public at large. Many manufacturers don’t really understand the value that design can add to their products – how integrating design into their businesses is a very financially beneficial thing. Among the general public there is a lack of understanding about design intellectual property with people willing to buy cheaper versions of original items.

Does your creative business respond with solutions to particularly Australian needs, conditions or situations?
It has definitely emerged from the constraints and a level of positivity particular to the Australian market.

The business was developed in the spirit of collaboration. There are plenty of design businesses in Australia working in isolation and that lack a set-up or structure in which design and business can collaborate effectively.

Business is not a thread that runs through design education, nor design in business education – so in the end you have to do it all yourself. That is the main reason I have come to this point.

In terms of the products – put simply furniture has to work – there is no way you are going to manufacture furniture and be successful without reaching out to your audience, I think that the concept and the ideation and the narration behind

Native is very much based on an Australian direction, but it is placed in an international context and aimed at an international audience that appreciates narrative and quality.

What are the main skills that are needed to run your creative business?
All of the usual business skills, such as administration, workshop, accounting, but on top of that a creative business requires a certain level of understanding and sensitivity towards the client base, understanding how other designers and architects work and what their needs are. This is different from a lot of other markets. Also there is a need to have an understating of aesthetics to help the product designer realise their designs through the manufacturing process.

As an Australian business in the beginning you need to be an all-rounder. Then as the business gets bigger you give it structure and hand over the various aspects of the business to other people. Knowing when to delegate is the skill I have just learnt after 15 years!

What are the key blockages and opportunities for creative entrepreneurship in Australia?
The main blockage is the lack of a creative, design culture in Australia where there is no championing of designers or enough connection between the manufacturing base, which still has one foot in the 1970s, and the needs of designers and brands. Bridging that divide requires brands to provide a stepping-stone for designers and manufacturers.

There also needs to be more embedding of creative people in manufacturing facilities, by arts bodies, universities or government even if it might be something really unusual and incongruous – for example a potter in a packaging factory, something that can create cross-pollination between manufacturing, the arts and creative industries.

Regarding opportunity, the doors are opening now in manufacturing, as people start to see the opportunity to make money by taking on designers. Soon the dam doors will really open if enough manufacturers can understand that they need to create their own path to market in partnership with creative people.

The key opportunity is that it is a ripe time for entrepreneurship – Australian design is of interest internationally, people are watching us – and manufacturers need to understand that they can benefit from this.

What type of research are you undertaking at the moment?
We are always talking to other people who have launched their own creative brands, and other straight business people who have succeeded – to understand what’s worked and what happened and what their issues have been – that the most rewarding research, being part of a creative business community.

We are also mapping international markets to try to work out how many design stores there are (and who are they) that would be appropriate to stock Native.

What is your big idea for developing the Australian design industry?
I think it is really about working out how we promote creative and design culture – championing creative people with real backing from companies – embedding design into business really effectively, and bringing the two disciplines together and promoting their mutual understanding.

Is keeping the production within Victoria important for your business?
For the Australian market I think it is essential, because Australians like products made here. From a philosophical point of view we are searching for resonance in local material and social context and this requires us to embed ourselves here and support the local retention and development of skills and opportunity. I respect businesses that maintain their values over a long time, so for Native we will be seeking smaller partners, or simply partners who can align with these values over time.

If one of the goals of sustainability (a goal you openly subscribe to) is to reduce the production and consumption of things – how do you reconcile this within Native?
We only use FSC timbers, natural materials, oils etc. But ultimately the intrinsic value of the piece is really important. It has to have a narrative and a story that people can connect with and add their story to. They need to connect to the pieces – we make them do their first waxing and oiling – one would that by connection and relationship people value and retain things.

If you were to give one piece of advice to someone who was about to start their own creative brand what would it be?
Whatever you do, do it properly, take your time and develop a brand and market strategy really holistically. Link up the brand strategy with your capacity and realistically anchor what you want to achieve. That planning process will be with you for 10 years, it is your road map and if you make it up as you go along you’ll get lost.

Interview by Ewan McEoin. Images courtesy Native.

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“Saying what we need to say and no more is a skill that still eludes many of us. It is also an essential part of creating effective online newsletters, which can be a key business tool in the digital age.” Read on

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