New Zealander Yvette Adams is a multi-award winning business owner and serial entrepreneur, currently based on the Sunshine Coast in Australia. Despite being only 34 years old, Yvette has already started five (and sold two) businesses. The first was a newspaper in New Zealand, which she started at the age of 17 and sold to an American entrepreneur after the first issue. The second was an e-commerce site selling t-shirts, launched in 2002 while Yvette was in the UK. Within one month of launching, Yvette received a government grant and won a website award.
In 2007, just seven weeks after the birth of her second child, Yvette launched The Creative Collective – a creative services and training agency offering website design and development, and much more. In just her first year of business she won the Queensland Small Business Champions Young Entrepreneur award and has since gone on to win or be a finalist in numerous other awards – the pinnacle of which was her win of the Commonwealth Business Owner of the Year at the Telstra Business Women's Awards in 2010 (Queensland, Australia), against 4,200 entrants.
Always the serial entrepreneur, Yvette is now launching her newest idea, AwardsHub.com – an online resource which lists business awards programs from around the world, and offers help for award submissions.
Expat Women's Interview with Yvette
Expat Women: Yvette, can you walk us through how your career has catapulted forward since you left New Zealand, to find success in the United Kingdom and Australia?
Yvette: I left Wellington, New Zealand as a bright-eyed 21-year-old in 1998 after working for three years in the communications department of New Zealand's Hillary Commission. This role provided me with an excellent foundation as I was surrounded by some great business mentors, a generous training budget and was privileged to gain excellent work experience during the early stages of my career. For example, I ran the National Sports Journalism Awards for three years in a row, and liaised with the media and VIPs such as Sir Edmund Hillary at public engagements. So when most of my friends were graduating university with a great big student loan and were scratching around for work as new graduates, I had three years of work experience under my belt, money in the bank and a ticket see the world!
For the next seven years, I used London as a base and worked in mainly media and marketing related roles, including stints as online content editor of TNT Magazine and managing editor of a key expat publication for global Kiwis which has a 75 year history – NZ News UK.
Of the seven years that my partner Steve and I used London as our base, we probably spent three to four of those travelling – taking three year-long round-the-world trips. One of these trips was fully funded by a travel company, for which I would write weekly blogs and send pictures.
In 2003, I fell pregnant on the pill in London and parenthood was thrust upon us. It was a big decision whether we should stay or go – but we decided to stay and my son Rio was born at St Thomas hospital directly opposite Big Ben. Bringing up a child in London was tough without family support and we struggled financially. So we made the decision to move to the Sunshine Coast in Australia, near my parents and brother.
Starting from scratch in a new country (again), I networked my little heart out and met a lot of wonderful people, including Dymphna Boholt who I later worked directly for, assisting her with PR, events, website and general marketing. Dymphna is a qualified accountant, economist and one of Australia’s leading real estate educators. She taught me a huge amount about tax, asset protection, investing, insurance, superannuation and more. I would not be the business person I am today without her advice and friendship.
In 2007 I gave birth to my second child, a girl, Matisse. Out of both desire and necessity, The Creative Collective was started from my study nook when Matisse was just seven weeks old. Four years later, with 5 staff and 25 contractors, we just moved out of my home office and into commercial premises.
Expat Women:Starting a business is one thing, but starting a franchise operation takes everything to a much higher level. What insights have you gained from setting up The Creative Collective as a franchise? Yvette: Well it has been quite a process to set up a franchise, to say the least, and there is a fair bit of expense involved. So firstly, I would say that you want to be sure if you are going down this road. If you are, I suggest you talk to people already running franchises and also consider other business models (such as licensing, distribution models and more).
To make it work for us, from the start we have focussed on using cloud computing and online systems to run our business, which has ensured it was scalable and lifestyle-friendly. Importantly we have also systemised and procedurized every aspect of our business as we grew, which has allowed our model to be duplicated by way of a franchise.
We are very proud of our first franchisee who started with us as a work experience student, then an intern and a contractor, and now a franchisee based out of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, and doing fabulous things working with high profile clients and combining great income with lifestyle, which is a really attractive aspect of our franchise offering.
I would certainly recommend that businesses look to systemise and procedurize every aspect of their business whether they wish to franchise or not. It means that as a business owner you can have a holiday or fall sick and someone else can kick in where you left off. It also adds so much value to a business if/when you choose to sell.
Expat Women:Yvette, what have been some of your toughest challenges as an entrepreneur and how have you overcome them?
Yvette: Managing staff has been an interesting part of the journey. You are looking at the world from such a different perspective if you are a business owner versus an employee. I ensure I recruit very carefully (I have been known to do three rounds of interviews before hiring), that we provide an induction process, training where required, and detailed job descriptions that include key performance indicators and link to overall company objectives. Checking in with staff one-on-one regularly, as well as formal performance reviews, are also important ways to nip any issues in the bud before they turn into anything big. I also call on external HR consultants to assist me in this area. Their objectivity, professional advice and strategies are invaluable.
Expat Women:In true serial entrepreneur fashion, you always have more than one idea in play. Can you tell us more about your newly launched venture, Awards Hub?
Yvette: Having been involved in a range of business awards programs both as an entrant and in preparing and submitting business awards on behalf of clients, I realised that there was no one place online to quickly and easily identify a list of what global business awards you can potentially enter. So Awards Hub was created as an online portal which helps find awards to enter. Our business then offers assistance with the preparation of award applications.
I believe business awards are an excellent marketing strategy that every business should be considering as part of their marketing mix. Awards help to meet multiple business objectives, including establishing or building your profile, networking with relevant industry contacts, gathering media coverage, growing your credibility, and more. Many people shy away from awards, afraid that they are not yet 'ready' or that they are doing anything 'special'. But everyone has a story and I would love to see more stories shared.
Expat Women:What top five tips do you have for women entrepreneurs who want to boost their revenue?
Yvette:
1.
Systems and Procedures. A big part of our success to date is our extensive and innovative use of cloud computing and online systems to ensure there is consistency and quality in the service and products we provide. All of the online systems we use have been carefully selected after extensive research, and are regularly customised to service our unique requirements as a company, and that of our clients. The strong use of these systems ensures our company profitability and value.
2.
Embracing Technology. We pride ourselves on our innovative use of cutting edge technology and use a range of technologies which contribute to the overall success of our business. We currently use an online accounts system which ensures an average debt recovery time of only eight days (!); an online project management system; a company wiki featuring over 350 pages of step-by-step instructions, templates and check lists; an online CRM (customer relationship management system); an online e-marketing system and Google Apps. Google Apps features a suite of integrated online applications such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk and Docs – which allows our in-house and extended team to communicate and collaborate effectively.
3.
Create Your Own Opportunities. I have always been a 'go-getter'. I am of the belief that things do not just 'happen'. If you want something you will have to go out there and 'sow some seeds'. And I am of the belief that you often have to sow a lot of seeds, and also come back and check on those seeds, water them and give them a little prod now and then to check they are still there in order, for business opportunities to sprout up and come your way. For example, I did not hear of an opportunity to go around the world for a year on a paid ticket – writing travel articles and taking stories. I came up with the idea, pitched them, worked them, and then landed a dream job for a year!
4.
Authenticity. I believe people are more discerning now than ever. I do not think you can get away with saying that you believe in something yet not showing that through your personality and actions. I think it is essential for business owners to believe 100 percent in what they are doing and to act at all times with authenticity.
5.
Risk Taking. ‎"It's pointless" said reason. "It's impossible" said pride. "It's risky" said experience. "Give it a try" whispered the heart. I believe that most successful business owners have had to take risks. A risk to get started, a risk to take staff on and grow their business when they were not sure whether they could really afford them. A risk to take on a certain client. A risk to offer a certain service. Business is fraught with risk. But to me, business is about accepting that there are risks involved and combining some education, number crunching and decisiveness, with some good old fashioned reason and sensibility, and of course, intuition. If it feels right, it probably is.
Expat Women:Yvette, you are an inspiration to so many women. Where do you find your inspiration?
Yvette: I am inspired by my kids, who I refer to as my 'creative directors'. I am inspired by my partner who is my 'sense and sensibility' when business bogs me down. I am inspired by my global friends who I share so many great memories with. And when I run or work out and feel like I cannot go on any more, I am inspired by my girlfriend who was in several New Zealand water polo teams with me during my teenage years. She fell out of a tree in 2000 and became confined to a wheelchair. When I think 'I can't run any more', I think of her and how much she would love to run again, and suddenly the spring in my step returns! She has not let her disability stop her travelling the world – we hung out in Ireland and in England – and she is currently pregnant with her first child. To me, she is inspirational!
Expat Women:Thank you very much Yvette, for sharing your insights and we applaud your extraordinary vision and success abroad!
