focusinterview.
By Jane Hillsdon Principal Consultant of Dragonfly Marketing
Caron Dy b a l l snap printing
C
aron, you’ve now owned and managed the SNAP printing business in Port Macquarie for over 20 years! Congratulations on prospering in this business for such a long time. Can you share some of the secrets to your ongoing success? Believing in the product or service that your business supplies is no.1 - if you don’t have a passion for your business, it’s hard to motivate a team around you. Your team of staff are the biggest asset within a business. I’m lucky that I have a fantastic crew who give 110% at all times, and that makes working life a lot smoother. I also keep up with new technology and continually revisit my future plans. The printing industry has evolved a long way in the past 20 years. Remember to enjoy your time away from work and reward yourself for the hard effort that you put in. What was it that inspired you to buy and manage a local business in the beginning? I joined the Snap family when I left school and learnt the business from the ground up. My parents have always owned and managed their own businesses since I could remember. So it was a natural progression to become an owner manager when the opportunity arose. Tell us about your background and how you came to be in Port Macquarie? My family moved from Victoria when I was quite young, as my parents had a business opportunity in Port. We loved the area then and still love it now. I had a great upbringing on a farm and lived life to the fullest. Apart from a brief period in Queensland managing company stores, I never felt the need to move from this area. I’m still a Collingwood fan
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and try to get to Melbourne once a year for told you before embarking on your a game at the MCG, a spot of shopping and journey as a business owner? great food. I was well informed by my parents, and What are some of the challenges you anything I had been told would not have have faced in the running of your stopped me from taking on my own business. business and how have you managed to It has all been a great experience and made overcome them? me who I am today. There are always challenges in running You are on the committee of the Port a small business. I didn't realise Macquarie Hastings Domestic going into business all the Violence Specialist Service outside influences that (formerly the Hastings can affect you; for Women & Children’s I example, the GFC. Refuge). Tell us about y Recentl to d Things can change what this committee te vi was in e is rather quickly, does and the role you ch join the Fran il nc and you need play. ou C Marketing to keep evolving I was asked many , with Snap e th l al and learning to years ago by a business ng ti represen in es keep abreast of colleague if I would like or st regional everything. Some to join the management .” ia Austral things are out of your committee of the Refuge. It control, so finding the has been an eye opener with positive in any situation the work that goes on inside and turning it around in your and out of the refuge. The manager, favour has always been my approach Gemma, and her fantastic team make to handling these situations. our job very easy, and we are there to offer What have been some of the most assistance in policies, funding and general rewarding aspects about your role with awareness so that the service is a lot more Snap? than a refuge. Working with professional colleagues, I can imagine as a small business owner making great friends over the years and your spare time would be fairly limited, so helping new and existing businesses grow and dedicating yourself to community causes prosper in a sometimes tough financial and such as this must stretch you. Why do you unknown environment. Recently I was invited think it is important to donate your time to join the Franchise Marketing Council with to local community based services such as Snap representing all the regional stores in the Refuge? Australia. Sharing my experiences over the After spending many years being involved years with other owners has been beneficial to in business networking committees, I now not only their business, but also mine. enjoy giving back some time to a well needed What do you wish someone would have service. We are all very busy with everyday
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life, and the women and children needing this service walk alongside us. We never know what tomorrow will bring. Giving to any community services is a great way to keep the awareness of those services out there. You are an active sub-committee member of the locally based business network: Hastings Business Women’s Network (HBWN). How do you think your involvement with this network has benefited you in business? When I started in business, there were no such groups as the HBWN. Having other local business women to share and bounce ideas off in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere has been of great assistance to me over the years. And finally, if you could invite any three business people to lunch, who would they be and why would you invite them? Not sure if I would invite all business people, so here we go: Janine Allis, the founder of Boost Juice. She is down to earth and has a very simple philosophy: ‘The customer knows best’. Eleanor Roosevelt, the US First Lady. She was one of the most outspoken women in the White House, and I’m sure she would ruffle a few feathers over lunch. In fact, I’d love this quote by Eleanor as a tattoo: "We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face ... we must do that which we think we cannot". Mick Malthouse, the former coach of Collingwood and now Carlton. I would like to pick his brain on how he gets the best from 22 players on the day. And I really want to know what happened with him and Eddie McGuire! Thanks for your time Caron. Thanks Jane – very humbling to be asked.