#WIB – Q&A With Ingrid Harmse MD Of The Home Quarter
1. Can you please tell us more about your business?
The Home Quarter is an online homeware and home décor business based in Johannesburg. We provide the personal touches to make your house a home; from statement styles to must-have drinkware essentials for modern homemakers, or artificial plants that will make your head turn, it’s all available online.
Our business isn’t only about covetable homeware but also ethical, sustainable processes, and giving back to our communities.
2. When, how and why did you start your business?
I got retrenched as the world shut down with the first wave of Covid. Realising that trying to find a job was almost a mission impossible at that stage, I started researching an e-commerce startup as an alternative to seeking formal employment.
I had a view that, although South Africa had been slower in the uptake to online shopping compared to other regions, the advent of Covid was going to push consumers in that direction. There was such an aversion to going to shops and malls at the time, and I felt the retail landscape was changing with brick-and-mortar stores becoming less relevant, so it was an excellent time to enter the e-commerce market.
3. What is your role in the business?
My official title is ‘Managing Director’ and my role is focused on the logistical and financial aspects of the business. However, as any entrepreneur would tell you, in reality, I am a jack of all trades and do what I need to do to keep the brand moving in the right direction.
At stages, this will range from customer service, receiving stock, and packing orders to heading straight into strategy sessions, buyer meetings or approving costs across the board.
4. Where did you study and what did you study?
I left school not knowing what I wanted to do or study. I worked myself up through a combination of hard work and determination to prove to myself that I could make it through life without a degree.
In my 30’s, I was one of twelve people nominated through a talent retention programme to do a Postgraduate Diploma in Management through UCT’s Graduate School of Business. Not having an undergraduate degree meant that I had to motivate (through a Recognition of Prior Learning) that despite not having a formal education, I had gained the knowledge and skill of someone who did. I was successful in this and graduated cum laude with a PGDip in Management.
Having discovered a thirst for understanding causality and all things academic, in my 40’s I then decided to do a Master’s degree in Philosophy (MPhil), and my final dissertation focused on creating future fit talent pipelines.
Both of these degrees were done part time while I worked.
5. How did you finance your business?
The company was founded and run using personal finances until enough profit was being generated on a regular basis to cover the expenses. The term for this is ‘bootstrapping’. It gives you complete control of your business, but you have to be prepared to live within the means of the profit that the company is generating if you want the business to survive.
While I had a lot of confidence in the business model that we had set up and the overall vision that we had, the statistics for a successful business in South Africa decrease every year post launch, and you have to do everything you can to mitigate any potential failure and be prepared to try again if necessary.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
Each day has the basic framework that exists in any business, but there are many dynamics that come into play in a retail environment which need to be dealt with.
My day always starts with a cup of coffee, ensuring that the dispatch logistics are running smoothly and ends with me behind my desk; from cost sheets, to managing in-bound stock, approving marketing costs, or any admin in between that may need my attention. What happens in between varies each day!
We’re a very effective team and have an “all hands on deck” policy. When one department needs assistance, we all jump into help where necessary…from the directors to the packing team.
7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?
I truly love what I do, which makes it a lot easier! A business requires a lot of time and energy, so co-owning this business with my daughter has been a blessing. We have a deep understanding of each other’s lifestyles, which enables us to support each other effectively, and enables us to create core memories while building an empire and a legacy.
This journey would have been memorable regardless, but being able to laugh through the chaos with one of my children has made it that little bit easier along the way.
8. What drives you and inspires you?
I love building businesses and teams; it’s what motivates me. Making a success of what I am doing is a source of pride and I am inspired by the small steps of success that I see as I navigate my way through the journey.
You have to celebrate all wins as an entrepreneur, and I totally embrace the freedom that comes with not having to answer to anybody (except of course my daughter)!
9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
I never sit down and come up with an idea; my brain is just not wired that way. The best ideas come through the course of running the business – seeing a pattern or opportunity which adds to our current strategy but also shapes our future strategy…and acting on it. I’m a very analytical, detail-oriented person which adds to my strength in many areas.
10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?
The front end of your organization is what the customer sees. The back end is what they experience. There needs to be congruence between the two to create synergy which leads to customer engagement and retention.
In the front end, we make use of the traditional digital advertising platforms and have been scaling our budgets as time has progressed. Our Marketing team is focused on holistically growing the brand, staying on-trend and offering consumers visual appeal in terms of content. This has led to strong collaborative relationships to enhance our brand’s footprint and overall conversions.
In the back end, we make stuff happen efficiently, effectively. Speed to market is an absolute priority!
11. What is next for your business?
We are currently expanding our offering to include new and exciting homeware categories! Although we have been hugely successful in our formative years, we are still in the exploration stage of understanding exactly where it is that we want to end up and are being strongly guided by our consumers’ needs.
We are constantly planning expansion and discussions are a bit like a kaleidoscope – they change depending on the perspective.
12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?
The numbers are scary – only 1 in 5 businesses which are started are still operating after a year, and only 1 in 5 of those that make it are still around after 5 years. You have to do everything you can to make sure that you are the 1 in 5 in both those statistics.
Don’t let the fear of failure or the unknown limit you – acknowledge your feelings and go forward and do it anyway. Own your space and your journey!
Contact The Home Quarter:
Website : www.thehomequarter.co.za
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thehomequarter/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/thehomequarter
Email : info@thehomequarter.co.za
Phone : 079 843 6285