Supply
Tess Dwyer started her business to spend more time with her children.
Tess Dwyer, owner of Upstaged Home Staging, started her Whanganui business because she thought it would give her more time with her children.
It was harder than she expected.
But two years later, her business is a success and Dwyer feels much more established than an SME owner. She shares what she learned along the way.
How did you start your business?
I started the business unwise when I recently divorced and had two small children aged one and five. I came from a great career in which I worked long hours with a lot of travel and I thought: “I did not want to work so hard, I want to control my own hours and work-life balance, so I will run my own business start.”
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I went in with a rosy view that I would be able to pick and choose my priorities. I do not think I had any idea how difficult it was to do everything in a business, the accounts, the sales, the marketing, the industry …
I started Upstage in early 2019. Back then in Whanganui there was a real gap in the market, no one really did home show. So I talked to some real estate agents, and they were really positive, and we were gone.
Now we have 20% of the houses sold in the Whanganui region, on average about four houses per week.
What were the challenges of the early days?
In the early days, we only did one or two houses at a time. My partner would help me move big items on weekends, and if I needed help, I would ask friends. But when we started getting busier, the challenge was to scale up and bring other people on board.
My biggest learning in that period was that I was so strict in paying myself because I was so focused on growing the business. During that time, I worked 30 hours a week, but only paid myself $ 150 a week. In that first year, I only paid myself $ 7000.
Those challenges when trying to run the business, and being the business, and any savings going back into the business can be very tight, so you need to be prepared for that.
What was a moment when you felt you were on the right track?
After the first Covid-19 restriction, the real estate market recovered very quickly, and I was able to hire more staff. By October 2020, we had become a team of five. I employ women like me, we are all moms and we work 9am to 3pm. The work is casual which enables my team to work around children, study or have other commitments.
Once I realized that I could give enough work to these four other women and myself, and that all of them get as much as they wanted, it felt very good.
Supply
Tess Dwyer employs four other women.
What are the key lessons you learned while running an SME?
Outsourcing, outsourcing, outsourcing. For example, it took me a long time to grab a payroll system because I only saw it as an extra cost. But it would eventually take me an hour to process people’s payment and it became a real headache. I quickly realized I would be better off outsourcing that task and using the time for something better spent on the business.
Invest in support networks available like Xero, an accountant. Yes, you have to pay for it, but they save you so much time. The whole reason I started the business was to have more time for me and my kids, so anything that can help with that, I would love to support.