What started out as a shared passion for Lorna Barnett and Cathy Cocks, owners of garden design business Haughty Culture, ended up as a thriving business for the two former banking sector professionals.
What started out as a shared passion for Lorna Barnett and Cathy Cocks, owners of garden design business Haughty Culture, ended up as a thriving business for the two former banking sector professionals.
With backgrounds in corporate communications, marketing and advertising, the two women seized their opportunity to turn a hobby into a fully fledged business, after a corporate restructure offered them both generous redundancy packages in 1995.
While banking and gardening seem worlds apart, their prior experience in business planning and strategic analysis put them ahead of the game when it came time to set up, and finance, their business.
Using their combined skills, the women invested significant amount of effort into their business and marketing plans, corporate identity and positioning and budget forecasts, well aware that passion alone would not make the business successful.
“A lot of people don’t think strategically when they have a passion for something. They don’t necessarily look at the market, they don’t necessarily look at the needs of the customer,” Ms Cocks told WA Business News.
By 2005, the business had grown to two retail stores, in Mt Lawley and Subiaco, and also incorporated a team of landscapers and labourers for on-site garden design work.
It was at this point that Ms Cocks and Ms Barnett decided to undertake a major reassessment of their business, with the growth of the business soon outrunning their own capabilities. With the aim of maintaining a more manageable level of growth, they made the strategic decision to close the stores.
“We decided we didn’t want to get any bigger than just the two of us. You have to ask yourself, how big do you want to get?” Ms Barnett said.
Ms Cocks said having the discipline to stand back from the business and make the tough decisions – the “head decisions, not the heart decisions” – was particularly challenging, given their passion for the job.
“We made the decision to focus on core business, and anything that doesn’t fit that, we don’t do. And we made the decision to get out of retail for that reason,” she said.
“We had no time to manage the stores, and we were resenting the time the shop was taking up. There was no question the shops had to go,” Ms Barnett said.
“You can’t do everything.”
They also began using subcon-tractors for onsite work, preferring to manage jobs, not manage people, according to Ms Barnett.
Relocating to a new office in Shenton Park 12 months ago, the women say they are both happy with the work-life balance they have managed to achieve after 10 years in business.
“It can be a challenge maintaining that balance. Your business can be all-consuming, but we have to make sure it doesn’t take over the rest of our lives,” Ms Cocks said.
Ms Barnett said their ability to stay disciplined, make the smart decisions and keep the business streamlined has allowed them to manage the growth and direction of their business.
She also says business and financial planning, budgeting and thorough market research was vital for anyone starting a small business.
“It’s great if you can find something you’re passionate about, it makes you look forward to getting up and going to work,” Ms Cocks said.
“But you have to maintain a good business head on your shoulders.”
