Jane Robertson: When business becomes a beast
Description
For the last six and a half years Millwoods shoes owned by Jane Robertson has exponentially grown.
From just one type of shoe in 2019 to 37 different styles and colours of shoes 5 years later.
Business has grown 20% year on year at least and her shoes have been stocked in hundreds of stores all over Australia and New Zealand.
This conversation is a raw account of what a beast retail business can become when you're experiencing high growth.
Jane says all this 'getting bigger' might look great from the outside but it’s been so hard - waaaaay harder than she imagined and than many of you would be aware.
And so, she talks you through the in's and out's she's tried to keep up - financially: there's never much profit and banks don't want to lend you money and then there's the personal toll: which nearly sent Jane over the edge on 2024.
But we do start on a great note - talking about her fave part of the business, the shed, 50 metres from her house which has been totally converted to become her own Millwood Warehouse on her farm at Coolamon, a little town in NSW’s Riverina.