Lilly Haikin and her husband Tom hold the Australian franchise rights to the chocolate café chain Max Brenner. The Max Brenner brand was created in 1996 by two chocolatiers, Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner, who built a chain of chocolate shops in Israel. At a chance meeting with Brenner in 1999, Tom Haikin suggested broadening the Max Brenner branding into “chocolate bar” cafes, and secured the Australian rights for the concept.
From one cafe opened in Sydney’s Paddington in 2000, the Haikins now have 35 outlets, and employ more than 300 people.
The Mecca Cosmetics retail business was founded in 1997, but since then it’s come a long way. With dozens of stores across Australia in a few different ranges, Jo Horgan has managed to take the business from its “humble beginnings” to one of the country’s leading prestige cosmetics labels.
Horgan started the business in her twenties after working for L’Oreal. The company has kept a focus on maintaining each location like a department store – Horgan believes the boutique style and customer service helps foster a sense of individuality.
Naomi Simson has turned what was once a small experience gifts site into one of Australia’s most successful online retail operations. In February 2014 RedBalloon it launched a new corporate offering, Recognise Every Day (RED) a unique business stream housed within the existing RedBalloon business to create and deliver employee recognition programs to organisations across the country.
There was also cause to celebrate at RedBalloon in October 2013 when it hit its “big, hairy, audacious goal” of selling 2 million experiences by 2015.
Simson set that BHAG back in 2004. It took 10 years to ship the first million RedBalloon vouchers, and just over two years to ship the second million.
Penny Spencer founded Spencer Travel to offer personalised service in corporate travel management. She describes having a business as similar to having a child. “You think as a baby it’s so difficult, ‘God, I can’t sleep, blah, blah’ and then you get to the teenagers and you think, ‘Oh God, I wish I had a baby again, it was so easy’. And I think it’s similar in business,” Spencer says.
During 2014 Spencer has purchased another business, opening Spencer Travel Southside, so the Spencer Group of Companies now has four locations with a head office in Surry Hills.
Sometimes it seems as if there is a Pie Face store on every corner in Australia’s major cities, thanks to the business acumen and drive of founders Betty Fong and her husband Wayne Homschek. Now, Pie Face is going international and just opened its third company owned store in New York last week, with another five planned to open by July this year.
“What’s great about being in the food business; there are no gender biases in the industry,” Fong says.
“It’s not unusual to meet other female entrepreneurs starting their own food concepts.”
Fong says it’s a challenge combining running an international business with having a family but it keeps things interesting. “One minute you’re having a board meeting conference call, the next reading a story book to the girls before bedtime,” she says.
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Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
