May 20, 2013
Emma Blomfield, Nest Designs
Bio The path that led her to this point
Before I started Nest I was working for a Property Styling business styling homes for sale and an interior designer who had an online boutique furniture store.
I loved the industry and was so lucky to have found an industry I loved so soon after completing my schooling.
I knew I wanted to start my own business and saw a gap in the market for affordable decorating and decorating online.
There were many American designers offering the service but not many in Australia so I decided to invest in a website and see what happened.
It's been a huge learning curve - but it's been the most rewarding thing I've ever done.
I love the fact that I can help clients that live locally to me but also help clients in remote areas of Australia who otherwise wouldn't have access to design services.
Q&A Insider advice & tips
What's been your greatest achievement to date?
Styling Guy Sebastian's beach house with online furniture store Zanui.com.au.
It was a seriously fun job and Guy and his family were an absolute pleasure to work with. The final result was just gorgeous and was featured on Better Homes & Gardens earlier in the year.
What's been your biggest challenge so far?
Time management is difficult when it's just me working in the business and never really being able to switch off.
I often wake up at 3am remembering I need to do something!
Best lesson you've learned along the way?
Invest in your website.
It's the first thing clients see and they judge you and your service/product offering based on what they see from your site and how they perceive it.
First impressions actually do count.
A website, book or resource that has helped you in your business or inspired you and why?
Social media, especially Instagram. It's a great way to showcase snippets of your work without having to blog about every little thing you come across in your day that might interest your clients and followers.
It's also resulted in a number of clients, they follow me for a while and like what I do then make contact to see how I can help them style their homes.
Which person or brand do you most admire and why?
I really admire what Loni Parker, editor of Adore Home Magazine has done.
She built an online mag from the ground up and continues to produce fabulous content and gorgeous imagery.
What advice would you give someone starting an independent business in your industry?
Outsource anything that doesn't play to your skills.
For me that's accounting and finances, I have no time or patience for number crunching so it makes sense for me to pay someone else to do this for me which frees up my time to focus on building the business or working on client projects.
Finish this sentence
Everything changed for me when…
I discovered social media.
My social media pages are the biggest sources of traffic to my site and it's a brilliant way to keep my followers and clients up to date with the projects I've completed, industry trends, events I've attended and new product launches. It adds credibility to you and your brand.
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