Interior motives

Lizzi Hines is a risk-taker. Putting everything on the line to buy her commercial interior design business prior to the GFC, she has gone on to design her own blueprint for success.

Art and design have been a passion of Lizzi Hines since high school. She was always a high achiever and went on to complete a degree in Spatial Design at AUT.
But it was during her nine-year stint at Aalto Colour, a bespoke paint manufacturer primarily targeting the residential market, that she developed her interest in colour and paint schemes.
Lizzi decided on a career in residential design, but surprisingly, that was to prove a mistake.
“I hated every minute of it,” she recalls. “I’m a fast thinker and doer and when you’re talking about people’s personal environments and tastes, it takes enormous patience and can be incredibly problematic. It’s just not how my brain works. I knew I liked design but I needed something more problem/solution based. That’s what commercial design is – there’s a problem, a solution, a budget and time-frame, and if you can tick all those boxes you have a successful project.”
So commercial interior design was the road Lizzi went down, She started working at Spaceworks in 2004 for “next to nothing” and purchased the company just two years later.
Of course, all this is not to say that commercial design doesn’t have its frustrations either. According to Lizzi, the biggest one is not understanding the full picture before going into a project. Full clarification of what the client wants in terms of delivery and budget is vital, she says. “It’s about being honest and transparent, on both sides. It’s amazing how many clients say they award projects to us because we understand what they need.”
Another frustration used to be the lack of courage on the part of the client to innovate or take risks. “But that’s changed in the past two years as business owners realise the importance of retaining staff. Making the work environment a fun and exciting place is now a priority,” she says. “Now the attention is not all on the boardroom; it’s on the staff kitchen, the open-plan layout and work spaces.”
An example of this was the Woods project, which involved creating an exciting common workspace for around 60 surveyors that didn’t look like a call centre. “They wanted the look to be strong, interesting and a great space to work in. We used bold primary colours along with timbers and concrete to reflect the nature of the work they’re associated with, and to make the best use of the space for their needs.” Functionality and space efficiency is where Spaceworks excels, she says.

Up for the challenges
Business ownership is in Lizzi’s bloodlines. Her parents have both owned businesses (Dad’s an accountant, mum’s a lawyer) – so she has a handy sounding board. Plus Lizzi has interests in two other businesses.
Cashflow is probably the biggest challenge she admits, and having a debtor go under owing them six figures didn’t make matters any easier. That’s when her parents have definitely made a difference for gaining advice – although Lizzi still prefers to outsource her accounting and legal work to others.
“I’ve managed to trade through the GFC and became a whole lot wiser!” she says. “And when I realised how much it was going to affect us, we quickly diversified and added retail and hospitality to our portfolio.”
Lizzi is a self-confessed risk-taker. “If you can live with the worst possible outcome, then go for it,” she says. Her frustration comes from other people not always having that same courageous approach.
This attitude on risk was demonstrated when Lizzi looked to purchase Spaceworks – she had little money, was recently separated and was taking on a $500K business. “Luckily I found a manager at ANZ prepared to talk to me.” After Lizzi badgered him with potential ideas for about a month, the solution for purchasing the business was finally found. “But I had to sell myself to the bank,” Lizzi recalls.
“Interestingly at our Christmas party last year I asked my banker if he would’ve still done the deal had he known about the GFC. His answer was yes, because the bank puts great emphasis on a client’s personality.” The fact that she had already worked for Spaceworks for some 18 months also worked in Lizzi’s favour.
The bankers needn’t have worried – Spaceworks has doubled its turnover each year for the past three years; primarily because they made the decision to move into retail and hospitality.
“We had a skill set and we asked ourselves what else we could be doing within that skill set.” The big retailers and stores that have diversified or chased opportunities are the ones that have succeeded and proved most lucrative for Spaceworks.
Major clients include the likes of Whitcoulls and House of Travel, and various retail stores, such as the Underground-inspired Clash in Auckland’s Newmarket, where the emphasis is not just on great design, but on selling product.
Lizzi’s big ‘pinch me’ project was Google’s new office in PwC’s Auckland waterfront building last year. Her ‘Kiwi bach’ themed office received rave reviews and came about simply through a pitch to the building’s landlord.
“This project had the tightest deadline I’ve ever experienced and the staff at Google did not know what was going on. The fit-out was a total surprise even though they were on the same floor of the building. We delivered in just over 2.5 weeks on site and without any variations on pricing. After that project I needed a holiday!”
Going forward, Spaceworks has three Christchurch projects on the go; has just opened a Wellington office and is keen to get involved in more hospitality and hotel work – which should also lead to a foothold in the Aussie market.
Lizzi says most of new clients come through the website; they also generate interest through their daily blog post which attracts up to 6,000 readers per month, email newsletter and social media sites. Clients love the honesty, integrity and ‘open-ears’ approach of Lizzi and her team – a team that’s large enough now to allow her plenty of quality time with her nine-year old and three-year-old, and to complete a masters degree in business. “Having the flexibility for time out is a direct result of employing and managing people who are better than me at design,” she admits, “and surrounding myself with good support people.”
Husband Tony is her biggest supporter – not just at home, but also in the business – and once got roped into a nine-hour vacuuming marathon on a sixmfloor project. “To this day he’s not sure if he vacuumed all six floors or just the same one over again,” laughs Lizzi.
There have been many fun times – but looking back, Lizzi believes the business has given her some real backbone and revealed her true passion. “While I’m a designer at heart, my passion lies with growing the business, and this is the part I thoroughly enjoy.”

Glenn Baker is editor of NZBusiness.