Episode 270: Attract the right customers by building brand loyalty and awareness with Hayley Scott of Dear Blackbird Boutique and The Marigold Merchant.
In business, particularly if you're the leader and you've got staff, people will expect that you have all the answers. In today's episode, Fiona chats with Hayley Scott, founder of Dear Blackbird Boutique and The Marigold Merchant. Tune in as they talk about Hayley's business journey and so much more!
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
How Hayley started her businesses
Working in retail
On working with and finding staff
On effects of COVID
Growing with your customers
Systems and processes
Giving back and teaching other people about business
Apps and Resources that have helped Hayley
Conclusion
Get in touch with My Daily Business Coach
Resources and Recommendations mentioned in this episode:
“In terms of retaining my team, my team is my family so I focus on their happiness at work, in life, and helping them grow, understanding what their goals are, and helping them reach their goals.”
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Welcome to episode 270 of the My Daily Business Coach Podcast. This episode is the first small business interview for 2023 and it's a great one. Congratulations to you. If you're reading, I hope you are all enjoying the new year. If you're reading in real time, maybe you're reading this three years later, who knows, this is the power of podcasts. This is a small business interview and it's with somebody that I randomly met. I was engaged whilst we were talking that I Instantly invited them onto the podcast. I’m looking forward to hearing people's thoughts on this episode.
Before we get stuck into that, two things. One is I want to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which I record this podcast and that is the Wurrung and Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded.
The second thing is that it is a new year and a lot of people have a little bit of time off this year or around this time. If that is you and you are wanting to work on your marketing, our course, Marketing For Your Small Business, is always available. Sometimes people think it's only available when we do the nine-week coaching program alongside it but it's available anytime.
If you want to get your marketing sorted, you could start the course and have a marketing plan ready for kicking off 2023 with the marketing that you want to create that is strategic and aligned with your values. We've all seen all the things that are happening with social media lately. I am all about creating a strategic marketing plan that does not place social media as your number one channel. If you are interested in that, you can find all the information over at Marketing For Your Small Business.
If you're interested in doing the nine-week program, which will kick off probably around March 2023, you can always upgrade. It's cheaper if you buy the course and then upgrade rather than buying the whole thing at once when we launch. However, you’re free to do whatever you choose. All of those things, you can find at MarketingForYourSmallBusiness.com. Let's get into this interview episode.
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In 2022, I was doing an event for Life Instyle. Life Instyle is a big trade show. They happen a couple of times a year in Sydney and Melbourne and I've worked with them doing workshops and talks for years. The last time that I went to Sydney was over three years ago. I need to get back up there. Because of all the lockdowns in Melbourne, we weren't able to.
In 2022, they finally were able to do everything again in real-time with real people and no Zoom insight. I was doing a talk and a workshop but I was also doing some coaching on the couches there and people could book in for that. One of the people that booked a session with me is the lovely Hayley Scott, who is my interviewee.
Hayley runs multiple businesses in Warragul, which is in Regional Victoria. It wasn't just her particular businesses that she's running that I'll talk about but it was just Hayley's attitude to things. She was engaging. She'd done so much but was incredibly humble about it and had a passion for wanting to share her story and to share what she has learned and what she's been able to build, which is incredible, with other people and particularly with women who may not have had those opportunities to learn or have support from family members or other things themselves. I'm excited to see what Hayley builds in the next couple of years.
In this episode, we are talking about the businesses that she has already built, one of which she's been in business for over a decade. In this episode, we talk about how Hayley got into the industry that she's in now with her businesses because she didn't start in that. She started out completely in a different career and then decided that she would take a bit of a break. During that break, she realized there was a massive gap in the market for serving Regional Victoria with what people in the cities and in the outer suburbs of bigger capital cities take for granted. It was absolutely wonderful to hear how she did that.
A lot of the time, we can hear the highlights from people, like, “I had this idea and I started a business,” rather than, “I had this idea and these are all the steps that I had to then take to figure it out and to create it.” In this episode, we talk about what that was like, who was in her support system, how did she do the research, and how did she know if it was going to work? Did she know if it was going to work? Also, being in a retail business, how did she cope with the pandemic and how is she still coping with a huge challenge for any kind of business in Australia but particularly for regional businesses, which is getting staff?
This interview is with Hayley Scott. Hayley Scott's two businesses that she'll talk about are Dear Blackbird Boutique, which you can find at DearBlackBirdBoutique.com.au, and the other business is The Marigold Merchant, which you can find at TheMarigoldMerchant.com.au. Here is my interview with the wonderful Hayley Scott, founder of The Marigold Merchant and Dear Blackbird Boutique.
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Hello, Hayley, welcome to the podcast. How are you?
I'm well. Thank you for having me.
I'm excited because you and I met at Life Instyle and I completely was blown away by your business journey and your whole approach to business. I had to have you on the podcast.
Thank you.
You're welcome. I instantly rang my sister and I was talking about you because she lives in the same part of the world as you. You were unassuming and then you came in and you were like, “I do this and I've got this.” Can you take us back to your whole career to date, before you started the business, and then walk us through the various businesses that you own now?
Before I started my business, I was a chef. I did my chef apprenticeship after high school. Although I'm a massive foodie, it wasn't a particularly healthy environment for me to be in. My partner owns a shop at the time so I was working split shifts and weekends and missed out on all the 21sts, weddings, and all that stuff. It wasn't great. I left the hospitality industry. I needed a job and I thought I'd get a job as a Christmas casual in retail to buy myself some time to figure out what I want to do and if I want to go back to school and things like that. I ended up loving it and being good at it too.
After high school, being a chef was the only job that I'd had and I'd always worked in a kitchen, which is behind the scenes. It wasn't until I started working in retail that I thrived interacting with people and had a real knack for customer service. I stayed in retail for a number of years but the commute was about an hour and a half each day and it was wearing thin after many years of doing it.
I don't remember the moment I decided to open a clothing boutique but I do remember that the idea was that I was sick of driving to Melbourne to buy clothes I liked. There’s plenty of availability around but it wasn't anything that I liked. I decided that I wanted to create a space for women like me who love clothes but didn't want to have to drive to find them. That's how it all started. I went home and I said to my dad, “I'm going to open up a clothing boutique.” Dad was like, “Love, brilliant idea. If anyone can do it, you can do it.” It started like that.
Go, dad. How long ago was that?
Dear Blackbird Boutique was the first business I opened, it's a women's clothing boutique. We had just celebrated ten years.
Congratulations.
Thank you. I had to triple-check the date.
I know you've just mentioned your dad. How did you have the confidence to give it a go? I've had so many commutes in my life. I've always managed to find a job that is so far from where I live here and in the UK. I traveled three hours to school every day, a round trip. I'm a commuter, I don't know how. that has been a commute career that I had. Lots of people have that and they don't decide to give it up and start a business. How did you have the confidence to go for that? Is your dad a business owner? Did your upbringing give you that ability to be like, “This is a gap in my area and I'm going to fill it.”
My mom and dad had a refrigerated transport business and also ran a cattle farm. I grew up seeing my mom do the bookwork and my dad worked his absolute butt off. There are five of us kids and all of us are either business owners now or have been business owners at some stage. Something runs in our bloodline for that.
It's funny because I was talking to my sister and I was saying that my dad is 100% the hardest worker I've ever met. We grew up seeing him work seven days a week, incredibly long days, and physically demanding work. I look at all of us kids and I think, “What the heck are we thinking starting our own business after seeing how much it took?” He wasn't selling us the dream. We all must be a little bit crazy.
Mom and dad have always been our biggest fans and supporters. As I was saying before when dad was like, “Love, if anyone can do it, you can do it.” That was the attitude that we had growing up with everything. I don't ever remember my mom or dad saying, “No, you can't do that, love,” or, “No, that's not a good idea.” They were always supportive and encouraging.
It could have been someone but it was my dad, in this case, to say, “That's a great idea. You can do it.” That's all I needed to back myself. He's always been like that, the same with my mom. That's what gave me the confidence to at least give it a go. He'd always say to me, “I got you. Give it a go. The worst that can happen is it doesn't work. It's only money.” That was comforting knowing that.
Maybe people who haven't been as fortunate as you, to have that supportive family, are going to learn from you. Even your words, like, “What's the worst that can happen?” You lose some money or you just break even. I've often said to people, “You can't get time but you can get money.” You can always get more money back. You don’t want to spend twenty years wishing that you had tried something.
It was the same with me, I had no backup planned financially so I was like, “Give it a year and if it doesn't work after a year and I've tried it, I can go back to corporate life.” When you said your siblings are business owners as well, do you feel, throughout the years, you've all helped each other? I'm sure your mom would've given you some great advice about bookkeeping and accounts and stuff. Do your siblings and you talk about your businesses when you've run them? Do you talk about them to each other or not?
Not really. I've got two older brothers and two younger sisters. All of our businesses vary and none of them are similar in any way, shape, or form, and all are successful in their own right. When we get together as a family at family times, we spend our time laughing. We don't really talk about business. My sister, I'm very close with her, she is an owner of a Coreplus in Richmond and a Pilates studio, that's new for her. We talk a lot about business because we have a similar demographic. 20 to 45-year-old women, we share that demographic. She and I talk about business a lot. I also love Pilates. It's helpful to go spend time with her at her business.
Over time, especially your sisters and your mom, have they been like, “Can I come in and choose my outfit? I've got to go somewhere.”
Yeah, especially my mom. I also have a baby and homewares lifestyle boutique called The Marigold Merchant so when mom started having little grandbabies come through, she was my best customer having all these cute baby clothes.
You'll be like, “Staff discount doesn't apply, mom, unless you’re out in the back and packing orders for us.”
Mom, pretty much, gets the cream of the crop.
That’s nice. She did raise five lovely children as well so she's done her hard yard already. Your business is in a regional area and you alluded to that in the commute that you had to have, an hour and a half. When you were working in retail and you were saying, “I had to have that commute,” was that the retail that you were working in as an employee in Melbourne, or was it also in the regional areas?
That was in Melbourne suburbs, it was in a shopping center in Fountain Gate.
The reason I asked about working in Melbourne was as somebody who works in regional and lives in the regional areas, I work with a lot of clients who are that triple R, remote, regional, or rural. Sometimes people can doubt themselves setting up a business in that space because you have a smaller population.
You may have people like you that were happy to drive up to a bigger city to get their stuff. You may not have as much foot traffic or new people coming in and out. Let’s say Fountain Gate or a shopping center, that's going to have people who have driven all over the state to get to those shopping centers. People aren't necessarily always driving to regional areas.
I'm wondering how did you know that it was going to work when you hadn't had retail experience in a regional town? Also, what would you say to somebody who's reading and would love to launch something in their own area but fear that it won't work unless it's in a densely populated city or suburban area? Does that make sense?
Yeah. In regards to the first part, how did I know it was going to work, I wanted it to work and I was never going to give up. I thought that if that doesn't work as a strategy or a product line or something like that, I was always prepared to try something different. For me, I was never worried about it not working because I always knew it would because I wanted it enough if that makes sense.
There are many things that can impact the success or growth of a small business and the volume of potential customers can be one of them but it isn't the one thing that can make or break a business. I believe that if you truly want it and if you're prepared to work hard and smart for it, especially in those early days, then I don't think you can fail if you really want it.
My best advice to anyone who would be considering that is to understand your market and who your product or service is for and focus on those customers. Sometimes if you think, “This original town is smaller,” you may be tempted to try a little bit of everything to get more people. If you know your market and you know what makes you special and your product or service special and focus on that, you are going to attract the right customers.
Build that brand loyalty and that brand awareness where people drive from out of town. Warragul is a relatively small country town but we get many customers who are traveling up to an hour to get to us. It's not just our little area where people are shopping. Some of our customer bases are from Traralgon, Sale, Bairnsdale, Berwick, Pakenham, Drouin, and all over the place. It’s something to focus on, especially in those early days of building that brand identity if that makes sense.
That totally makes sense. I was thinking, “My sister does drive quite a long way for different things that she needs.”
That's a good point. You used to have to commute, me too, I used to have to drive. A bus loop is a lot longer. It was an hour in and an hour out. We were used to that. We were used to driving to work, driving to school, and driving to get things we need. Regional people aren't expecting to have to walk into town. They're happy to drive, explore, and support their local communities.
I love that and I agree with it. The advice that you gave is relevant regardless of what type of business and where you're going to set it up, especially for regional and remote businesses. Another thing that has come up in conversations that I've had with various clients over, especially over the last few years, I have a few hospitality clients in particular and three of those are in regional areas and one is in the city. Even the one in the city has been struggling to find staff.
Even one in the regional area, I remember she was like, “I have done everything. I have door-knocked. I have done letterbox drops. I've done ads. I've gone up to Melbourne and tried to recruit people down and told them what a beautiful coastal life you'll have.” she was in tears going, “I have the work, I just have no one to do the work.”
Also, staffing is a huge challenge for all businesses at the moment in Australia and it might be harder in regional and rural areas depending on what you're doing. I saw something that said if you go and work in regional areas, your HECS bill will be zeroed from the government for some industries. I can't remember exactly what it was. Can you talk us through your process for finding staff? You mentioned a second business. How have you gone about finding staff and how do you retain people as well?
It's a huge challenge for many industries at the moment and retail is certainly one of them. We've created a recruitment process that we've developed and fine-tuned over the years. Our priority when recruiting is always making sure that we hire based on a cultural fit first and making sure that our values align. I'm protective of our workplace culture so that's always been the most important thing for me.
When we're recruiting, putting things like ads out, it's more so about what we can do for them. You're welcoming people into your team and want them to be part of your family. It's not just like, “This is what we want from you. We want this skillset and this attitude.” It's like, “This is what we are offering you.” It's about opportunities to grow and learn and develop in roles.
I am big on having fun with my team. I take the girls out for things like yoga dates and dinners. We went and did pottery, just fun stuff. It's important to show those potentially talented members what you can do for them, that's important. In terms of retaining my team, my team is my family so I focus on their happiness at work, in life, and helping them grow, understanding what their goals are, and helping them reach their goals.
I have a huge appreciation for my team so I'm always looking for ways to show my gratitude, which is in line with their love language so that I know that they feel appreciated. If that's not something they necessarily value, it might be words of affirmation. I take time to understand that. My team feels part of something, that's important. We're all working towards the same goal, which gives purpose to a job as well. All of those things help retain team members.
I could not agree more. Even the fact that you mentioned love languages with staff, you don't hear that every day. How has that come out? Do you ask them that on the onboarding of new staff? How do you even understand what someone's love language is when they're a new staff member?
I encourage them to do the 5 Love Languages quiz and let me know what it is and then I ask them to tell me ten things that they love. You can learn a lot about somebody when they list ten things. I don't put any parameters around it, it can be whatever. I find ten things that do showcase their love language and give you some more to go on.
One of my team members loves steak and I'm like, “Me too, I love steak.” When she did an amazing job at work, I gave her a voucher for my favorite steak restaurant. One of her love languages is gifts. For me, knowing that she loved steak and that her love language was gifts and that was a great way that I could show my appreciation and that I valued her because it spoke directly to her.
I love this so much because you think about staff gifts at the end of Christmas or gifting season and I feel like everyone so often gets wine and it might be that everyone gets the same bottle of wine regardless of whether you drink red, white, or if you don't drink. I don't drink. We can get caught in that, “We're being a good boss and giving a round of wine at Christmas.” that might not be at all what that person wants. That steak voucher sounds right up that person's alley. It's small things like this that means it's so much with staff and retention.
If I had chosen to do something that didn't align with her love language, she might have been like, “That's nice I guess.” it wouldn't have impacted her as it could have.
Speaking of impact and staff challenges and all the things, you are in a retail business. Retail was hit pretty hard throughout the last few years, particularly here in Victoria. I know in regional areas, some of the time, you had that ring of steel. Are you considered a regional area?
We're just on the other side of that ring of steel. we are on the right side of the river after that. We were impacted in the sense where a lot of our customers were on the other side of the river if that makes sense. We were fortunate enough that we had some more freedom than our Melbourne friends.
I wanted to ask that first. I remember I talked to somebody and they're like, “We were in the ring of steel with you.” I was like, “You are far away from Melbourne.” They're like, “No, we had to do it all.” You guys still had a huge amount of lockdowns and maybe your customers couldn't come. How is COVID continuing to impact your businesses?
Like many other retailers, our sales initially were impacted severely. We found that a lot of our competitors started having these big panic storewide sales but we chose to not have any sales like that. Our focus was shifted to nurturing our current customer base and developing and upping our strength, which is customer experience so that we are better and stronger after the pandemic.
My focus too went straight to my team and my mental health because that was a huge challenge for so many people and that was something I was conscious of and aware of, making sure that even though we weren't allowed to go in-store and see each other, we were having regular check-ins. We ended up creating a little FaceTime group and we'd catch up to see faces and talk and stuff like that. That was the initial part of the issues that we had through COVID.
Once they started letting us out and all the vaccine challenges that came with it and then the people, even though we're allowed to open, it was still massively impacted because every man and his dog was getting COVID. Staffing at that time was a challenge because people were isolated, unwell, or caring for loved ones that were unwell. It had a lot of impacts. In saying that, it wasn't all negative. There were some silver linings that came out of it. We managed to achieve some of our twelve-month goals in a matter of months because our hand was forced to. We tried to see some positives.
Seeing the support of our local community and our customer base was amazing. There were some great opportunities and experiences to come out of it. I'm glad that we chose not to give into those big sales because we thought, “We're going to come out of it eventually. Keep our brand identity strong.” That worked in our favor.
I love that answer. I love that you were like, “Let's go hard on what we want to be known for long-term, which is sales and customer service.” When people say, “Should I have a sale or cut my prices?” It depends on the type of business. Sometimes that is a good strategy but sometimes I'm like, “What other value can you give that is seen as an extra like great customer service or great in-store experiences or online?” Whatever it is, it's not always about cutting prices quickly.
You have another store that your mom frequents for all the grandbabies. You branched out from women's fashion to baby and homeware and lifestyle. Was that a natural evolution or did you do the research or start understanding more of the demographics in that area and the surrounding areas and figure out, “This is a great step forward.” Was it that you were interested in that and it didn't fit with the current store that you had? Were you worried that either of them would negatively impact the other?
I didn't have any concerns that it would negatively impact the other store or either of them. I only ever saw it as an asset but I wish I could say I did the research. It was a real natural evolution. I've always been invested in the needs of my customers. A few years into opening Dear Blackbird Boutique, my customers started getting married and asking for advice on what to wear and what I liked. I remember having a customer say, “You're good at this. You should open up a bridal boutique.” I was like, “Yeah, I should,” and so I did.
I ended up opening up a bridal boutique, which I sold. I focused on those two things. A few years after that, my customers who got married started having babies and buying homes. I've always loved homewares. You're crazy if you don't love adorable baby clothing. I started getting a little bit here and a little bit there to put into Dear Blackbird and it took off.
Soon, I was running out of space and then a store became available a few doors up so I took it and then opened up The Marigold Merchant, which is my homewares and baby lifestyle boutique. It's being invested in part of my customer's journeys. I feel like a bit of a stalker saying it like that, seeing them open up, have babies, and buy homes, and then I'm right there with them.
That's Beyonce's strategy. Beyonce is like, “This is happening in my life and now I'm going to talk about this or that.” It's a great strategy to grow with your customers.
That's how it's happened to me. It's been a natural progression. I also am true to what I like and, like Beyonce, what's happening in my life at the time. all around me, friends were getting married so I'm like, “This is what I love now.” I then get into that. I had my own home so I was loving homewares and babies and I was having nieces and nephews born. I love beautiful things. I was drawn to these beautiful clothing and homewares and I wanted to share them with other people. That's how the businesses have grown and then also grown into larger spaces and online and things like that.
This came across when we were chatting at Life Instyle as well, all of this is huge. One store by itself would be enough but you were like, “Let's open a bridal shop, and let's open a homeware store and a baby one.” I'm imagining that you need different staff in different shops. Do you have staff that works across all three? How do you manage everything? You sound so calm and I'm sure that you’re not all the time.
From a systems and processes perspective, what did you have to learn or invest in? How have you created it to be able to run three at once? I know you've just sold one, so you've got two. Running them as well as being a sister, a daughter, a friend, and all of that, what have been some of the not-so-successful ideas or experiences with systems and processes, and which ones have worked well for you?
I have a team in each store but they are trained to work across each other's store, which is a good strategy through COVID too because we needed extra hands that help in that area. The systems and processes, we started many years ago documenting how to do things, screen recording, adding a product online, or something like that. All of our systems and processes, anything that needs to get repeated gets recorded and stored together. It might be something like how to open a store by step by step process. That's how we like to operate, having a visible reference for somebody when they come on board.
Some of the not-so-successful ideas would relate back to one of your initial questions about giving something a go. When I moved one of my stores, I got a lease on the same street and it was twice the size. I needed to move one of the stores but I couldn't get out of my current lease so I had a number of months left on that, it was about nine months, and I couldn't get out of it. I opened up a pop-up shop for men's clothing. I ended up having four.
You weren't doing enough.
I don't love men's clothing. For me, it had incredible potential and people were excited by it but I did not enjoy it. I have thought to myself, “It's a pop-shop until my lease is up but if I enjoy it, I’ll keep it.” I just didn't enjoy it. It did take all for me to say, “No, this doesn't serve me and it's time, I won't renew the lease.” That was one of the things. In terms of success, success is being happy and loving what you do. For me, that was unsuccessful. It wasn't right for me.
In terms of what has been successful, it is doing what I love. You're successful if you are happy and you love it. More success than not so much but business is like a rollercoaster. I feel like sometimes you can feel hugely successful and then the next day, you’re like, “Why the hell am I doing this?” It doesn't last that long, unfortunately.
That's what I love, you're so real. Part of that realness is what people need to know in business. There's a lot of business help out there that is not practical and also built in this whole, “It's sunshine and rainbows every day.” One of the things that we discussed when we chatted at Life Instyle was wanting to give back and teach other people about business. I wanted to ask, why is that important specifically to you? There are lots of people that have retail businesses who well and truly think that is enough and it is but it's so much work. What has prompted you to consider doing this in the future?
I've always been passionate about wanting to help people but I haven't always known how to do that. During my journey in business, the retail businesses were part of a give-back initiative such as i=Change, which is a great online platform, which gives customers the power to choose where the donations go. As well as stacks of localities and initiatives. Even though I knew that we were helping, I couldn't see that. I didn't feel that. It felt like there was a bit of a disconnect for me.
I would always say to my partner, “I want to help people, I just don’t know how.” I was always like, “I'm not a doctor or a nurse.” I used to look at it like, “How do I help people if I don't have a skill set that can help them?” My partner, a few years ago, looked at me and was like, “Yes, you can. you. You're good at business, what are you talking about? Of course, you can help people. You're good at business, that's your skill. Why don't you help people in business?”
We started to think about a bit of that impostor syndrome that started to creep in where I was like, “Many other people know so much more than me,” or whatever the story you tell yourself might be. He and I were brainstorming and I was like, “The things that keep me up at night is abuse in any form.” I was like, “Who can I help and how can I help them?” Through many discussions, I was like, “I want to help vulnerable women in my area who may have a skillset but they need help monetizing that.”
We started throwing around some ideas for creating a bit of a program that helps women start a business and it might be something small. I've been in business for over ten years now and so I try and cast my mind back. I would've loved to have someone hold my hand, that would've been an absolute dream. Being able to give somebody something that I didn't have when I first started, I would love to be a part of that, especially for women who may not have the resources available to them or maybe not the support network available to be that for them. That's where I'm on my journey at the moment.
I agree so wholeheartedly with that. When you were talking about your parents and your dad and him saying, “Go for it,” I feel like I was fortunate to have similar parents in that, “Do anything you want to. It's your life.” A lot of people don't have that. It's amazing when people like you that have this experience can go out and help people who may not have had that experience growing up or even as adults to have a partner that's maybe not supportive of them going into business. What do you think drives you? You seem like a motivated, switched-on person. Where do you think that comes from?
If I think back to times when I felt unmotivated, it's because I haven't had a clear purpose or a clear goal. I'd say that I'm not a motivated person in many areas of my life. There are things where I'm like, “I cannot be bothered doing that.” I always think if I have a goal and a clear vision or focus, I'm motivated. It comes down to knowing and understanding your values and what drives and motivates you and playing to that. Some days are harder than others, especially in business so we have a clear vision and purpose. When I'm having those tough days or unmotivated days, I think about that vision and purpose and then that gives me that boost of energy where I'm like, “Yes, back on track.”
I love also that you started then by saying, “I'm not motivated in every part of my life.” Sometimes people can look at somebody who's doing well in business and think every other part is amazing as well. I love that you put that out there because people even say to me, “You’re so motivated. You get a lot done.” I was like, “You should talk to my husband sometimes.”
Every day is different.
Every hour sometimes.
Sometimes I can wake up and be like, “Yes, seize the day.” It then gets mid-morning and I'm like, “I need another coffee.”
“I need a day off.” You were talking about helping other people with their business ideas. Who has helped you with business? In over ten years, have you had mentors or mantras, or have you read a particular book that you know helped you?
Having conversations with people, sometimes something lands with you. There are many people I've had conversations with who probably would've had no idea that something they said truly impacted me. Sometimes it's not on the spot, it might be months later, and I'm like, “Oh.” It lands with you when you need it to.
I joined a business group a few years ago, which was more for the company. For some people, a business can be isolating and lonely and you can feel on your own little island sometimes. It helped to be in a business group where you could talk about business or business wins or changes. I don't know about you but sometimes in your personal life, I'm like, “These people don't want to hear about my business. They're here to talk about kids’ sports.” Sometimes it's not always the right audience to blurt out all your business woes.
Having a business group was great for my mental health, especially through covid, being able to discuss the challenges and celebrate those wins. I've listened to so many of your podcasts so I know that sometimes people have even something like mud stories. I'd always feel shame about the business’s success and I've never spoken about it. Being a part of a like-minded business group is great because you might say, “We smashed our budget this Christmas.” and everyone's like, “Yes, high fives.” I'm working on it but I still don't feel comfortable discussing that publicly. That was been great for me.
I love reading. I read a lot of books. The one that is an absolute standout for me is Profit First. I've heard you speak about it before. I read it a few years ago and completely changed the way I manage my finances and cash flow. I would recommend that for anyone who would like to fine-tune their cash flow and try and get on top of things a little bit better maybe.
Thank you for sharing all of that. A lot of people go through that same stuff about money whether you're not hitting your goals and so you don't want to talk about it. On the flip side, which I don't think people talk about enough, is people who are smashing them, who are exceeding their financial goals, and then suddenly they've got all this cash and.
They either don't want to tell people about it because there's maybe some envy or uncomfortable feelings there but then it's like, “Where do I go with that?” Part of the reason you get into a business is to smash some of these goals and a large part for people in a lot of businesses is the financial gain from being in business.
It's weird that we talk about it on a surface level, on social media, like, “You go,” but then you don't talk about it. It's like we don't want to know if people are doing well, which is sad. Thank you for sharing that because a lot of people share that same feeling. The more that people can talk about it, the more other people will feel open to chatting about it.
Also, with your three stores, I know you've sold one, managing three businesses plus a pop-up, that's crazy to me. It's a huge amount of work. Did you have apps? You talked about it before, which I thought was a great point whenever you are doing something twice, you will use screen-recording tutorials for other people in the business. Are there any other apps or tech tools or platforms that have helped you whether it's with staff, inventory, the website, or anything that you'd suggest to other people?
We use Asana. I can't live or function without Asana. I feel like I'm half human, half Asana sometimes. If it's not in Asana, it's not getting done. I love it. It's been great for me and the team. We use it as a data space. I use it as a daily calendar and to-do list as well. We manage all of our projects and incoming stock and customer orders and things like that. It gives me a great bird’s eye view of how the businesses are going. That one's huge. We just use the free version, which is incredible that it's free and it's helpful in many ways. That would be one of my favorite apps.
I don't use a whole lot of other apps, to be honest. Both stores are on Shopify so they've got their own websites. We have in-store. A good tip is, for inventory management, we use MyBuyable, it's an inventory management platform where you can enter things like stock budgets and orders, and break it down into categories. For us, we'd have women's clothing, baby, homewares, and things like that. It's great because you can jump on it, lets you upload lookbooks as well as your orders so anyone can jump in and look at what's coming in for that month. That's a good one for anyone who's looking to manage products in retail. That's been helpful for us.
Thank you for sharing those.
The founder of MyBuyable.com started it a couple of years ago. She was working in wholesale. I don't remember which part of Australia she's in but she was working in wholesale and saw it was a huge challenge for many retailers not being able to manage their stock spend, budgets, or incoming orders. She created MyBuyable and it's been great.
Those platforms or tools, you don’t necessarily hear about and maybe people don’t even know that they need it until somebody says, “I use it, it’s helpful.” Thank you so much for this. You've been in business for over ten years, which is huge. Most businesses here in Australia fold within the first three years so it's massive to have tripled that. What are you most proud of from the journey in business so far?
I'm proud of so many things but I am extra proud of my team. It's been rewarding to be a part of their growth both professionally and personally and see confidence levels build or even things like being aware of triggers. Their values have been rewarding for me. I feel like I've built an incredible team of women who are super passionate about what they're doing and always striving to improve.
I'm proud of myself too. I was fortunate enough that I got to spend a month traveling in America with my partner. I'm grateful that I have a team who allowed me the time and space I needed to switch off for the month. That's cool for me to have the confidence to do that and be able to switch off. It’s been a long road for me with being able to switch off from work or business in general. I would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I love it.
I found it hard because it was enjoyable for me. The business became a hobby. I'm proud of myself for having a month off and deleting all my business apps and handing over my emails to my team and being able to be present with my partner while we were traveling, that was very cool. As well as many other things, those are the things that I'm most proud of.
They're the things that are inspiring for other business owners to hear as well. We all need time off. A huge part of the reason we go into business is to have some flexibility and freedom and then we often don't take it. I was talking to a client about time blocking and I said, “What about going out for lunch with your partner? You both are at home.” She was like, “I forget I can do that. I can do that. I control my time.” It's like, “Yes, you can.” That's a part of the business. I know I can get caught up in it and be like, “I can't take time off,” or whatever as well.
The guilt sets in sometimes, doesn't it?
Yeah. There are many things you could be doing. There's always something you could be fixing or changing or adapting or researching. Like you, I always say love it as well so you've got to pull the boundaries. Thank you so much for coming on. It was a pleasure to chat with you at Life Instyle and it's been an absolute pleasure today. If people are reading this and they're thinking, “I want to get in touch with her,” or, “That was motivating,” or maybe they want to learn from you about business, where is the best place for them to connect with you and where are all your socials and website?
Thank you so much for having me. It's been enjoyable having this conversation with you. If anyone wants to have a look at my homewares and baby boutique, it's called The Marigold Merchant, it's TheMarigoldMerchant.com.au or @TheMarigoldMerchant. For my women's clothing boutique, it’s DearBlackBirdBoutique.com.au or @DearBlackBirdBoutique. If anyone would like to reach out or have any questions, queries, or anything they'd love to chat about, they can reach me at Haley@TheGreenhouseClub.com.au.
Thank you so much for coming on and we'll definitely stay in touch. I know that many people will be benefited from this conversation. Thanks so much, Hayley.
Thank you, Fiona. I loved it.
Take care. Bye.
Thank you. Bye.
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What a refreshing chat with Hayley Scott, who owns multiple businesses and has started and changed things. It’s such a breath of fresh air and ambitious in a very understated way. Not that it needs to be understated, you should shout your ambition from the rooftops, but in a humble and hardworking way. I loved chatting with her at Life Instyle and loved again chatting with her and this podcast.
I would love to know what stood out for you. As always, I'm going to highlight two things that stood out for me. Don't be a stranger, you can email us at Hello@MyDailyBusinessCoach.com or you can find us on Instagram, @MyDailyBusinessCoach. If you'd like to chat with Hayley and her team, you can find them on Instagram, @TheMarigoldMerchant, and online at TheMarigoldMerchant.com.au. The other business is Dear Blackbird Boutique, which you can find at DearBlackBirdBoutique.com.au. Over on Instagram, you can find them at @DearBlackBirdBoutique. I'd love to know what you took away from this.
Two things that stood out for me in this chat with Hayley, number one, I loved it when she said, “Anything that needs to be repeated needs to be recorded.” I loved that line. It’s smart and switched on. I loved as well that she talked about in terms of staff training or how to put something live on the website or anything like that, that they often use screen recording.
I did a whole episode on Loom, which is a screen recording tool. For years I was using QuickTime, that's a free one that comes on Mac. I love screen recording because you can do the job that you're going to do anyway and record it at the same time. You are creating tutorials whilst also doing your general work. It is such an important way to teach people.
We are used to consuming video content and so I feel like if that is something that you have thought about but not necessarily tried, heed those words from Hayley. If it needs to be repeated, it needs to be recorded so that people are learning all the time. Also, you can start delegating that to other people. If they are doing that job, get them to record it so that you are not also having to build all of the documentation. It’s such an important one.
The second thing that stood out to me is, one because I believe it, two, I've experienced this myself, and three, we are in the middle of launching our next round of group coaching, when Hayley talked about how important it has been for her to have a business group that she can vent to. It's not always necessarily the right thing to vent to your staff or to vent to your partner or your best friend. I love that she talked about how she drew strength from that business group that she's a part of.
I have been in my own business groups around the world. I used to work with somebody in London and also was in a mastermind in the US and I've found both of them helpful. I've also had another business coach. I've found some Important stuff has come from that. One of the biggest things in the mastermind that I was part of in the US was meeting my good friend, Marre, who I've talked about many times, she lives in Amsterdam. We chat every single day pretty much and I'm going to meet her later this 2023, which will be exciting.
I have felt that myself when you take that pressure off, potentially venting to your partner or your kids or your best friend or whatever, and having an actual space that is not just for venting but it's also for learning and growing together and celebrating wins. Another thing that comes up quite a bit with some of my clients is that potentially they don't always feel like they can celebrate their wins with their nearest and dearest because for all sorts of reasons.
It's a great place to have a business group where you can vent, you can celebrate your wins, and you can ask for advice. You can say, “I don't know. I don't have all the answers. Can someone help me?” Often, in business, particularly if you're the leader and you've got quite a few staff, people will expect that you have all the answers. I love that she talked about that. That has been such a crucial part of my own business journey and my own growth as a person as well as professionally.
If you are interested in joining a business group, there are millions of them around, we have a twelve-month group coaching program. You can find everything at MyDailyBusinessCoach.com/groupcoaching. We do close the books to applications at the end of the month so make sure you get into that. If you’ve got any questions after you check out the group coaching page on the My Daily Business Coach website, you can email us at Hello@MyDailyBusinessCoach.com. You can also send us a DM at @MyDailyBusinessCoach.
We’ve had all sorts of people go through this program from people who just got a business idea through to people who had decades in. Having seen and having worked with so many people, thousands of small business owners, you see the same common problems come up. I don’t think that you need everyone to be earning the same amount. A lot of people bring to the table all of their experiences and career history.
You may have somebody who got a business idea but they have extensive experience in systems and processes, project management, and consulting. You then have somebody else who maybe is decades in but they never got a lot of that experience because maybe they started straight after uni or straight after high school in their business. They’ve got a lot of real-world experience but they don’t necessarily maybe have the structure or other things that people can bring to the group. I love that we have such a mix of people every time and they’re all creative, interesting, and committed. I love it and it’s one of my favorite things to do in my business.
If you’re interested in that, please check out the website, MyDailyBusinessCoach.com/groupcoaching, and get applying if you are interested because we’ll start very soon. Thank you, Hayley, for coming on, and thank you for reading. If you’ve found this useful, we would love it so much if you could leave a quick review on Apple or Spotify, it helps us get found by other people out there. I have mentioned a couple of times, we will be rebranding very shortly. Definitely look out for new artwork coming in the next couple of months when you’re reading this podcast and a new name but more on that later. Thanks for reading and see you next episode. Bye.
