Another challenge Dray has faced is hiring under-skilled staff.
“There have been times where I’ve put staff in a training program, whether it be with computers, Excel or communication skills and then I discover they’re not at the level I thought they were,” he says.
“I’ve also had some difficulties with language translation and communicating with the Asian market. The etiquette of doing business overseas is different. There are things you’d do in Australia which are frowned upon in Asia and you have to learn the cultural sensitivities.”
There was one incident, which Dray recounts, where he met with a potential distributor from Asia who was visiting Australia. He had practised a few words in their local language, but this didn’t stop a few miscommunications.
“When they arrived, we had little koalas and as a joke I clipped them onto their lapels or handbag straps. Everyone laughed and all went away happy.
“A week later we got an email saying thank you, and asking if we could help them with some colas. I didn’t know what they meant and I went through my notes from our discussion, but we just didn’t make a cola flavoured shortbread,” he says
“So I sent them an email asking them to please accept my apology, but I didn’t understand what they meant by ‘colas’. After a few more emails, about five days had passed and I got an email saying ‘you know, the fluffy thing on the handbag’. They’d been talking about the koalas!”
Reflecting on the past 15 years, Dray says he regrets focusing so much on the US market.
“I took someone’s word as verbatim who said the US was my oyster. I spent too much money and time chasing that market. We were successful to a point, but I realised that Asia, my own backyard, was sitting there ready and waiting,” he says.
“It was a wake-up call when the GFC hit. I’d been chasing some blue sky when it wasn’t necessarily the case.”
Dray’s proudest moment to date happened when he was at the Osaka airport in Japan for a stopover and found his products for sale at a small coffee shop.
“My other proudest moment was winning the Victorian Premier’s Export Award in 2005. When we were announced I nearly fell over, I couldn’t believe it. The press that came out of that was excellent, but it wasn’t me who did it, the staff did it. The first order is easy, it’s the second, third and fourth which are the toughest.”
Outside of the business, Dray is a regular golfer.
“I try and play once a week, rather than once a year which was all I was managing for a while. I’ve tried to make more time for it,” he says.
“One of my daughters now works and lives in London, and my other has bought a house with her boyfriend, so my wife and I do a lot of travelling because we’re empty nesters.”
Dray says he likes seeing new sights and last year he travelled around Vietnam and Cambodia.
“I love seeing the world and learning while on holidays. I’m handy too and do most of my own maintenance. I’m usually getting phone calls from friends and trying to fix things. My daughter now rings me from Bunnings.”
Dray says his focus is on “new markets, new products and continual fine-tuning”.
“We’ve now sent our first pallet to England, and that’s the oyster. We also want to send private labels to the US and China. Our branded product has grown hugely in China recently, we have 15 leads there and we’re doing exhibitions,” he says.
But he cautions aspiring exporters that it takes a long time to become established.
“In overseas markets there are more competitors and they’re working on their own timeframe. It will take two to three years to get set up and don’t try and think you’ll be exporting overnight.”
