Operating a new company can be a challenge which Lyn Scott found out the hard way.
Lyn started out as a teacher but she and her husband bought a run-down furniture company because he thought “she could do with a challenge.” Creative Wardrobes is now a national franchise with a turnover of $12.5 million a year and more then 200 staff.
To help get the company on track, Lynn recognised the importance of hiring the right person for the job.
“No good salesmen wanted to join us so I wrote a sales manual and trained salespeople myself. Thank goodness for my teaching. We had created enough interest through marketing but were not closing sales. They were men selling to women and they got it wrong. So I got female sales reps who built relationships with our predominantly female clients…
I took risks all the time. The biggest risk was bringing in inexperienced salespeople based on their potential.”
This is an excerpt from the recently released book A Business of Your Own – How Women Succeed in Business by Pru Goward.
The book outlines the stories of 32 of Australia’s most successful business women and how they have coped with balancing family life and business demands.
All have been recognised as category winners in the “Telstra Business Woman of the Year” awards. A Business of Your Own is available now from bookstores.
