“You Don’t Have To Set The World On Fire”
I’ve been running my own business for 28 years, which is surprising since I never planned to go into business for myself. My company, Unique Tourism Collection, which does tourism marketing and representation, has never been huge – before COVID hit, we had six staff – but it’s given me a steady income, allowed my partner and I to have a big overseas holiday every year and has given me immense satisfaction. I went into this knowing nothing about business, and I’m still not any kind of guru, but this is what I’ve learned along the way.
1. When opportunities arise, take them I studied political science at university and moved to London after I graduated. My first job was as an executive assistant at an investment bank. I helped organise events and conferences across Europe, and when I moved back to Australia I found another job in that field. Then I was made redundant, which was a real shock to me. But within a week, I had a former colleague offer me two days work a week, and another former boss asked me to organise a conference. That’s when I set myself up as a business. It wasn’t that I suddenly saw myself as a businesswoman – it was more that I needed certain things to get this particular job done. And from there it snowballed.
2. You don’t need a grand plan There are people who are natural-born entrepreneurs, who want to make their first million by 30. I admire them, but I’m not one of them. I work hard, I do a good job, and I look for the next opportunity. With a different approach I might have built a more successful business, but you don’t have to set the world on fire. I’ve kept myself employed, I’ve kept other good people employed, I’ve done a good job for my clients and I’ve been able to afford the things I want to afford. There are always highs and lows and right now is definitely a low! But the company will make it through, even if we have to change the way we work in future. We have done it before, when we switched focus from events to tourism; we can do it again.
3. Slow and steady keeps you safe I’m a very risk averse person, so I’ve grown the business gradually. The biggest loan I’ve ever taken out was for $10,000, and I paid that off as quickly as I could. Nothing makes me happier than not having debt. I worked on my own for three years before I hired my first person, and even then it was a contract gig. I had landed a massive job and needed someone to help me out. As it happened, my flatmate Svetlana had just been made redundant, and I knew she could do the work, so I hired her for three months.
4. Know your weaknesses – and how to cover them I do not have a head for figures. I know roughly what our income is and what are outgoings are, but I still can’t read a profit and loss sheet. I actually did an accounting unit at uni and failed it three times. But I have a bookkeeper who knows what they’re doing. And what I found working with Svetlana is that, while I’m an ideas person, she’s great at dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. After working together for more than five years, I said, “This is crazy, why don’t we become business partners?” And we did. The dynamics work well for us – we’ve maybe had three fights in 25 years. She’s always got my back.
5. Relationships are everything All of my work has come by word of mouth. The relationships I have with clients, with agents, with the media are what has sustained me personally, as well as sustaining the business. I have clients who have been with us for five years, for 10 years, even for 15 years. They are part of the family.
6. My dad was right when he insisted I learn to type Although I had a university degree, my father insisted I take a typing course so I could always fall back and get a temp job as a secretary. And in fact, when I moved to London, I did start out as a temp secretary and that’s how I got my first full-time job. Looking back, I see that what he was really saying was that he wanted me to be independent, to be able to stand on my own two feet. It’s a really valuable lesson and that’s how I’ve built this business, and why I’ve avoided debt. Also, when I need to type a document today, I’m still super-fast.
Interview with Jonica Paramor by Ute Junker
Photo_ Ksenia Makagonova/UnSplash