By ANEEKA SIMONIS
THERE are many reasons why Megan Quinn, co-founder of a $3.4 billion high-end fashion retailer, is an international success.
At a recent Casey-Cardinia Business Breakfast, the 51-year-old business genius spoke on the journey that led her to birthing luxury retailer Net-a-Porter.
Her most important piece of advice to business operators: “move to the beat of your own drum”.
Net-a-Porter was released to the world in 1999 before online retailing was commonplace.
Unlike many pioneering businesses at the time, Net-a-Porter survived the dot com bust – a feat achieved by constant innovation and two-way communication with consumers.
“Innovation doesn’t need to be extraordinary. You just have to do something different. Something a little beyond what the customer expects to exceed expectations,” Ms Quinn said, as she spoke to a crowd of local business owners on Wednesday 25 November.
When the high-end fashion retailer, stocking everything from Alexander McQueen to Balmain, Dolce and Gabbana, Fendi and Vallentino, was launched, it was done so with no research into or experience in the market.
Ms Quinn described the early founding years as ‘constructive anarchy’ – explaining that dominant ideologies about the industry were ignored in the development phases in order to create “something different”.
Drawing on the words of late businesswoman Anita Roddick, Ms Quinn said she has long stood by the need for uniquity: “If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just.”
But Net-a-Porter was not Ms Quinn’s only entrepreneurial success.
In the lead up to co-founding the billion-dollar business, the strong business woman worked in advertising, started the cleaning company Partners in Grime as well as founded consultancy firm Q&Co.
The daughter of a town publican, Ms Quinn admitted she learnt the ropes to operating a successful business from her dad at a young age.
“I lived in pubs from a young age,” she said.
“My dad showed me to lead by example. He was always fair and sometimes needed to be firm. I watched him build an authentic relationship with his staff and customers,” she said.
That early insight taught her another of her most important lessons: “You’re never too senior to pick up a broom”.
Ms Quinn is now a non-executive director of UNICEF Australia and Specialty Fashion Group, and an Ambassador for Fitted for Work.
She was named the 15th most powerful woman in Australian retail in 2013 by Inside Retail.
Ms Quinn founded Net-a-Porter alongside three others including friend Natalie Massanet, Ms Massanet’s husband Arnaud, and Ms Quinn’s former husband Mark.
