The Accidental Entrepreneur. Allis Janine

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      Cover design by Wiley

      Cover image by Jarryd Biffin at Bang Studios Collingwood

      Disclaimer

      The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

      INTRODUCTION

      A few years ago, I was playing cards with my gran, who at the time was 93 years old, and she was telling me what it was like to be a woman of the 1940s. She told me about when the war started and most of the men headed to war, and she and her friends starting working in an ammunition factory. It made me think about what an unusual time it must have been – when your life as you know it is turned upside down, your husband leaves you for up to five years and you have to survive by working in a factory. You start to make your own money and start to feel the freedom that this brings, only to be told to get back in your box when the men come home. To think that she was not allowed to work or even have a loan in her name now seems unbelievable.

      In her time, women were not the bosses; they did not run businesses. So, in her mind, what man would listen to a woman in the workforce? She constantly told my mother not to ‘get above herself'. For her, a woman had very little to no real power, even in her own home. It took my gran years to understand that at Boost, I – her granddaughter, not her grandson – was running the business. She couldn't get her head around a woman boss, because that was not what girls did in her day. Why would they even listen to Janine? The funny thing is, it took a Herald Sun article for her to believe that I had actually started the business (because clearly everything you read in the paper is true). This wasn't beliefs from 100 years ago; this was only my gran, two generations away. But times have changed.

      For me, life is a marathon, not a sprint – mind you, it took me years to realise this. When I was younger, I wanted everything now (sound familiar?) and did not have a patient bone in my body. I am getting better at this. I love the journey that I am on and appreciate every day.

      For those who are picking up this book for the first time, here is what you are in for …

      The first thing is that you will not be blown away by my literary skills. Like singing and painting, I have no talent in this area. But what you will read is my honest account – warts and all – of my journey to date.

      The great thing about getting older (because there are a lot of negatives and you have to see the positives) is that you get to embrace who you are and see all aspects of your journey. And you're happy to share – even knowing that people will judge you, rightly or wrongly, but you don't care. What I hope is that people see that it's okay to not get everything right in life. You don't always have to be happy with the decisions that you make. And, yes, you are very dumb when you are younger but (if you're lucky) this enables you to have adventures that you wouldn't have when you are older because you aren't as stupid as when you did all those crazy, mad things!

      Often people are afraid to make mistakes – and they live a life half-lived because of it. So this story is my journey – from an ordinary girl from the 'burbs to marrying my soulmate Jeff, to starting Boost Juice and Retail Zoo and becoming a shark on the TV show Shark Tank.

      For all those people who have given me feedback on the first edition of this book, thank you! I was surprised and delighted by the impact that this book has made on people's businesses and lives, and I'm happy to say that the book is a bestseller. My English teacher from high school will honestly never believe it!

      What is different in this book is it brings my story, and the story of Boost, into the present-day – including some of the experiences I've had on Shark Tank and the lessons I learned through this experience. This book is full of the tips that are the heart of how I believe businesses should be run and what you need to do to be a success. Whether you're in the start-up stage, growing like a weed or looking to expand into new territories – or even if your business is still just a great idea that you have yet to realise – there's something here for you. No matter where you are on the journey, it's always great to be reminded of the simple things that can make all the difference in helping you become a success.

      PART I

      THE SURPRISE ENTREPRENEUR

      When you ask successful businesspeople how they got started, they may tell you about the little businesses they started in primary school – the ingenious corner lemonade stand, the school chocolate-bar sales or the lawn-mowing service employing other 12 year olds. The types of businesses that led these overachievers to climb that first rung on the ladder to success. Sales charts, forecasts and ROI calculations lined these kids' walls like Andy Gibb lined mine. The entrepreneurial spirit seems to be part of their DNA.

      My story is drastically different. You could say that my entrepreneurial spirit was … umm – dormant. Okay, it was non-existent. To be honest, if you'd asked me what an entrepreneur was in primary school, I may have thought it had something to do with food and would have had no idea how to spell it (actually, I still struggle with spelling that word). It was 20 years after primary school that foreign entrepreneurial DNA somehow began to morph my behaviour.

      During the 20-year, pre-DNA takeover, I travelled around the United States, Europe, parts of Asia and Australia. I had 30 jobs, got fired from some, moved on to others, made money, lost more, met the wrong man, had a beautiful baby and met my soulmate. What I didn't realise at the time was all the lessons and tools I was picking up with each triumph and pitfall. Each piece of my journey was enabling me to have the strength to take a tiny idea and turn it into a passion.

      Of course, I don't really think having the skills to become a successful entrepreneur literally needs to be part of your DNA. I also don't believe there is a cookie-cutter process for success, or that success has to be hard or come easy. What I have attempted to do in the following chapters is to share with you my journey; it has many ups and equally as many downs. If someone had done the same for me, perhaps the learning curve would have been less bumpy. This is a short, honest glimpse into my archives so that you can see I'm human, just like you. I too trip over the kids' toys, go to work with my children's fears and problems running through my head, laugh, cry, make mistakes, learn from them and try to grow.

      I hope that you take something from the following and follow your dreams.

      1

      THE SCENIC ROUTE TO BOOST

      Growing