Three lessons from a bootstrapping Byron Bay e-commerce entrepreneur on the up

From launching her bootstrapped e-commerce business Byron Bay Gifts in 2012 by cleaning local homes to turning over more than $6 million a year during the pandemic, Zoe Gordon now has her sights set on smashing a new goal this Christmas.

Gordon says she started the business because she wanted to support her local community and share the fantastic array of local products available in Byron with the rest of Australia.

Now Byron Bay Gifts is aiming to grow beyond last year’s figures by at least 20%, with hampers featuring Indigenous-owned Mt Yengo wines expected to be some of the biggest pre-Christmas sellers.

“Getting to work within a regional community was always something I wanted to be a part of”, Gordon tells SmartCompany.

“So, working with small, local businesses and helping them become more successful was a real personal achievement for me. During the pandemic, a lot of our suppliers were unable to attend the markets and lost their retail sales.

“Our business boomed during this period, so we were able to support them through a time that might have seen many of their businesses close. This was a really proud moment for us, being able to support people who have become our friends, through this tough time for businesses.”

Just do it

Gordon says there are three key lessons she has learnt that have helped drive her success and turn Byron Bay Gifts into an online juggernaut.

“The first lesson I have learned is to just do it. Start the ball rolling. If you have an idea and you feel inspired by it, then start the process of bringing it to fruition. Don’t think about all the things that could go wrong or put small obstacles in your way,” she says.

“Ask yourself: ‘what are the steps I need to take in order to succeed in this?’ rather than, ‘what will happen if I fail?'”

“Taking the first step could be handing out a flyer in your local community for the service you offer, or setting up a website and buying the minimum number of products you need to get started.

“If creating your own product, start reaching out and asking questions to distributors and finding out minimum order quantities or buy the ingredients you need and make your first sample at home. Putting obstacles in your way will only slow your progress — just keep going.”

Upgrade your skills

“The second is that you need to constantly upgrade your skills. When you first start a business, you need to be a complete all-rounder. This means you are customer service, marketing, warehouse and distribution.”

“You need to learn all the basics of these modalities and build your business from the ground up with knowledge that you are constantly learning. Learning all facets of your business enables you to have a basic understanding of future employee roles and sets a solid foundation for future growth.”

Know your weak points

Gordon says understanding one’s own weak points is vital to growing a business.

“Finally, when the business grows to a point where you can start hiring staff, you need to understand your own weak points. For instance, I handed over the reins of customer service and marketing as soon as we were able to employ people in the business.

“Passing on customer service allowed me to focus on other aspects of growing the business — how to improve our offering, new products, improving the website etc. Hiring people to look after marketing and advertising totally improved both of these fields as the experts really do know best,” she says.

“It’s a challenge knowing when the business can take on employees but keep in mind, if you get the right people, they can really help you expand the business quicker than you can on your own.”

Gordon says business owners thinking of running their own e-commerce business need to focus on goal setting and growth.

“Always be growing the business — invest money earned back into the business to improve it. We used to take photos in our backyard and the image quality was quite poor! So, we set about slowly purchasing light boxes, lighting and so on to improve this,” she says.

“Also, the website needed to be modernised from when we started over ten years ago. We paid a local Byron Bay company to completely change this up for us so that it was more modern and easy to use. It’s just constant tweaks and improvements to make sure you are staying a leader in your field.”