Natasha Wyer was thrilled with the location she chose as the backdrop for her latest collection.“Everywhere we went in Rovinj was perfect – so picturesque,” enthuses the Sydney designer behind women’s resort wear label Harla.The Croatian city’s fishing port and old world charm worked a treat for the Spring/Summer 2018 offerings Natasha will present at Fashion Exposed NOW in February.But why travel so far for a fashion shoot?Partly to promote Harla’s wide appeal, though Europe’s seaside delights are nothing new to the designer who confesses her top favourites are Capri and Saint-Tropez.Behind the resort wear that first emerged in Sydney in 2010 as Tasha Collections, it rapidly won a strong following and is poised for major expansion under its new label, Harla - a remarkable adventure story.“I was 23 when I went overseas with a girlfriend, for my “European Tour ” says Natasha. “Initially I only meant to travel for a couple of years but 12 years later found myself based in Italy working in the yachting industry."“I started out as a stewardess, sailing across the Mediterranean and Atlantic for various charter yachts. Eventually, my last job in the yachting industry was with an Israeli family whom I worked with for 7 years. They treated me like family. Starting out as their chief stewardess and purser which turned into equipping and styling the interiors of their super yacht collection. This was a defining moment in my career.”Like many expats, returning home in 2010 wasn’t without it’s challenges. “Having spent the last 10 years in an industry that doesn’t exist on the same level here in Australia, it was always going to be a challenge. I really didn’t want to lose or waste the incredible knowledge and experience I’d gained, which ultimately led itself into a concierge and luxury gift business”.
With both businesses falling into a niche market, Natasha decided to turn things around and utilize her time spent in the resort capitals of the world to create her own range of resort wear.The idea grew as women regularly stopped Natasha in the street to ask where she’d bought her fetching dresses and separates, further confirmation of her talents came when she started selling her ranges at Sydney’s markets including the popular Bondi Markets.“From the start, I concentrated on timeless designs that were flattering, affordable, versatile, and selling face-to-face in the markets was great for customer feedback,” says Natasha.“For the first six years, I turned down retailers who wanted to carry my product. As a one woman show I felt I just wasn’t ready and wanted to focus on creating my own fabrics first to give that point of difference. This was ultimately the best decision as it’s the fabric prints and their colours that are what first draws attention to my customers.”Steady growth has changed all that. The recently launched Harla website not only welcomes stockists, but features an online store.It offers numerous temptations, many of them suitable for day-to-evening, but just one swimsuit style which doubles as a bodysuit – albeit in a range of delectable colours - and a small offering of leather bags and belts.“That’s deliberate,” says Natasha Wyer. “There are plenty of swimwear and accessories specialists, so I concentrate on the clothes and for that matter, Spring/Summer.”She has no plans to design a winter collection, though a luxury Harla range is in her sights.Don't miss Harla exhibiting at Fashion Exposed Now from Saturday 10 - Sunday 11 February 2018 at the Royal Hall of Industries in Sydney where they will be showcasing their latest collections. Registration is free for trade visitors.
Boutiques, is your accountant giving you a fair deal?
With a challenging trading climate, you can't afford to waste time or money on the wrong financial advice.Does your accountant assist you in the area of financial management; improving the bottom line of your business and achieving business objectives?If your answer is no, then you are not alone.There has been a growth in recent years of business coaches and/or consultants (usually non-accountants), to assist businesses and organisations improve their performance and profitability, achieve their goals and objectives and manage various projects.Public accountants have focused their attention for too long on tax and compliance matters for their clients to the detriment of assisting/advising clients in these financial management areas.In other words the focus has not been on assisting clients improve the bottom line and the management of resources to achieve it (strategic planning, budgeting, pricing, costing, working capital management, people management, etc) but rather what to do with the bottom line once it has been achieved (tax, audit, annual accounts etc).The rise of consulting and business coaching partly testifies to this neglect. This neglect has been patchy and some accountants have always provided their clients with excellent financial management as well as compliance advice. But not all.The following questions can be used to assess how well your accountant is doing in this area.
- Does my accountant do more than just handle the ‘red tape’ (tax, annual accounts, superannuation, audit) of business for me? Do I hesitate to ask for their assistance in financial management areas because of the cost involved?
- Does my accountant come to me with proactive advice or suggestions during the year? Has my accountant for example suggested to me to consider any of the government business grants and packages available (such as Enterprise Connect Reviews & Grants, or New Market Expansion Grants) in the last five years? Do I think they are so busy that they do not have time to really focus on my business or situation?
- Is our contact usually on my initiative? Does my accountant only contact me to ‘chase up’ compliance matters? If the main contact with your accountant is in the final month of the financial year or following you up after the year-end to do your accounts, then I would suggest he/she is not really providing you with value to improve your profitability and wealth. Most business owners will know if their accountant is really interested in their affairs or if it’s just a case of doing what needs to be done.
- Do they outsource any of my work overseas? If so, have they discussed this with me and/or reduced my fees accordingly? Accountants also have their own business to run, so they endeavour to operate as efficiently and productively as possible. The normative way they do this (beyond just increasing their prices) is to lower their staff costs which they are increasingly doing by utilizing computer systems to do a lot of the work (standardised reports and analysis work), to have unqualified (but supervised hopefully) staff do more chargeable work, and/or to outsource the work overseas to places such as India and Fiji (where the staff costs are considerably lower). This is all well and good so long as the standard of the work does not suffer, and that you are comfortable with this. Ask the question at least.
- Do I regard them as an invaluable asset or an expensive necessity? Do I really see value in what they offer or is it just one of those costs begrudgingly paid each year? Do they provide me with value for money? Have I complained to them in the last three years about the amount being paid for their services? Was I satisfied with the explanation and/or the standard of the work done?
- Do they hold on to their staff? Continual changing of staff overseeing your work can be costly (especially in time spent ‘educating’ new staff on your business) and can lead to poorer service. We are all human, and mistakes occur in any work however it can also be an indicator of a couple of weaknesses in modern accounting firms. These being (a) the high workload pressure on accounting staff to maintain high productivity rates (i.e. charge out a high percentage of their work), and (b) the greater utilisation of unqualified staff. Where these weaknesses become evident is in the high turnover of staff, and more mistakes being made.
5-Week Fashion Makeover: Preparing For The Big Day
As Fashion Exposed Now readies to relaunch this month, this is what you need to do to prepare.In part five of this five week business makeover, fashion finance expert Melissa Brown tells you how to maximise on your Fashion Exposed Now experience. Fashion trade shows can be an exhausting, exhilarating, wild ride for many in the fashion industry. There is so much invested in each collection that it is easy to become focussed on the collection itself and not to be mindful of what happens after the show is over. That’s because it is often before and after the show that the real business of trade shows begin. So what are the final checkpoints you need to think about as you prepare to do business?
- Who are you going to sell your collection to?
- How much are you going to sell?
- How are you going to manage discounts?
- How are you going to manufacture your order?
- Have you budgeted for your order?
- How are you going to pay for your order?
- Be aware of deadlines and set up action plans.
Melissa is CEO of accounting & advisory firm A&TA. For more pricing tools head to The Numbers Lounge www.thenumberslounge.com or email Melissa melissa@byata.com.au
5-Week Fashion Makeover: Prepare to make some serious money
July is the time to start planning for the biggest trading period of the year: Christmas.In part four of this five week retail makeover, fashion finance expert Melissa Brown tells what mistakes to avoid when planning for the festive season. 