Fashion can be fickle but when you’re as talented a designer as Augustine’s Kelly Coe, business is always booming.
Augustine is one of New Zealand’s most sought-after fashion labels, with a massive social media following of 152,000 Facebook followers and just under 32,000 Instagram followers.
This year the label celebrates its 10th birthday. It has grown from strength to strength – so much so that Kelly’s husband, Nathan Coe, quit his career as a property developer to focus solely on the business with Kelly.
Kelly is one of the four judges for NEXT magazine’s inaugural Her Own Boss Awards and we thought it only fitting that she share some of her top tips on how to start and grow a successful business with us.
Here’s what she had to say:
Name three important lessons you’ve learned about running your own business.
Learn to delegate for your own sanity.
Find time to switch off completely as having your own business means that it is with you 24/7 you need to find ways to switch off from it for a moment daily.
If you love your product and believe it in, then you never really work a day again. Work for me is fun, because I surround myself with beautiful clothes and positive people.
What are the ‘key ingredients’ you need when you start up a business?
An original idea that is a good idea. And an idea that you are so passionate about that you wake in the night thinking about it, that excites you to your core.
A plan for the beginning stages, you can sort a long term plan later, but you need a plan for your start up, and make lists, always make lists.
Passion for the industry you are going to be working in.
A sounding board, a person you trust with your life that will give you honest and reliable feedback.
What methods have you used to grow Augustine?
We have used social media a lot to grow our brand, but also bricks-and-mortar stores. Our customers grow our brand for us, through our own stores and our stockists. Their feedback and continued support, and them wearing our product is the best method of growth. Fashion is great like that as every customer is a walking billboard for your product.
Kelly Coe: “If you love your product and believe it in, then you never really work a day again. Work for me is fun, because I surround myself with beautiful clothes and positive people.”
If you’re an entrepreneurial Kiwi woman with an up-and-coming business no more than three years old, you’re eligible to enter the Her Own Boss Awards. The winner will receive a prize pack valued at more than $35,000. A People’s Choice award brought to you by Trilogy is also up for grabs, valued at over $17,000. Entries are open until April 15! Click here for further details and to enter.
What should you leave to other people?
Whatever you are not good at haha. Which is hard in the beginning as we literally did everything ourselves, but as you grow you learn what your strengths are and what you need to delegate, like invoicing and accounts. I leave the business side to Nathan, he drives the growth and forecasts everything, he loves spreadsheets. I am creative and my office is a mess and I hate data but it works.
We imagine running your own business can consume all of your head space if you let it. How do you switch off from it and unwind?
It absolutely can. I run to clear my head, I try to run 4-5 times a week on a good week. I only run for 40 minutes but its enough. I run along the waterfront so fresh sea air clears me out. I also play with my kids and they are a great distraction from work as they don’t let you think about anything else when they want your undivided attention. I also love trashy TV and Netflix, I love the end of the day when the kids are in bed and I have a wine and watch a series on Netflix, its mind numbing and escapism that I love. I would love to go to the movies more often as that’s the best switch-off but it only happens yearly.
Looking back to your first year, would you do anything differently?
Oh wow sooo much. More in my designs that business though. But yes we made mistakes. Our first photo shoot was a disaster for our first range, the photographers lens has dust on it so all the shots came back looking like they had hair all over them. We sold into some shops that weren’t right for our brand and I tried to put collections together that catered to every single age and dress sense in NZ, I have refined myself a lot now and have a professional photographer haha.
What are the great things about running your own business?
There is so much. My hours are now flexible. In the beginning it was 80-hour weeks and no flexibility, now we have staff so I can work school hours so I can be a mum as well as a business lady. I get to create whatever I want and no one can laugh at my ideas haha. It is a creative outlet every single day which is amazing. I also get to choose who we employ so we can fill our office with positive people that are fun to work with. And most of all with Augustine, I can help women feel good about themselves through fashion and colour, which is such a small thing but hopefully an amazing thing.
