Joel Bartfeld

Joel Bartfeld is the founder of brand and design company Shine Group, a vehicle that houses a group of fashion and accessories brands including SunnyLIFE, Jethro & Jackson, Coconut Grove and the recently acquired Body by Dainy Sawatzky brand and retail stores. Revenue is heading towards $7 million.

Bartfield talks about getting his entrepreneurial start, finding mentors and why the media is talking down Australia’s retail sector.

More and more entrepreneurs these days have experience in a different profession before striking out on their own. What was the initial attraction for you starting your own business?

I lived overseas after school, which was a fantastic life experience. I then came back and went to university because I thought that was what I was supposed to do, and I realised after 18 months of failing that I wasn’t academically inclined at that point. And I ended up falling into a job with a friend’s company, and it became clear there was an entrepreneurial driver. I was always very ambitious, but it’s hard when traditional doors close – the ambition is suppressed.

So I was fortunate that I fell into this company that was brand-new, and that I helped grow really quickly, and I saw success very quickly in that organisation. And they’re a great business now; they’re probably a $40 or $50 million business now and I was their first employee, and that was 12 years ago. So what I realised from that was I was quite autonomous by nature, and I think you’ll probably find that’s quite a unifying trait among entrepreneurs. I then had to find a way to satisfy that autonomy and creativity, so it was all pretty fortuitous.

What have you learned from your mentors?

Definitely, advice is invaluable, and I’ve found quite fortunately that I’ve been able to meet people who’ve had success. And I think one of the things I’ve identified with them, and certainly as my business has got more successful, is that there is a willingness to share, because you didn’t get there on your own.

I’ve been really fortunate. We’ve got an advisory board for our business, and they’re sensational mentors – but then beyond that, I’m always interested in people who are following that entrepreneurial path.

Because that’s how I got to this point – the normal professional path didn’t really mesh with where I was at, so I had to fashion my own career path.

And how do you find these mentors and entrepreneurs?

It’s usually networking thing, so it’s a friend of a friend. It’s about using the people you know who are connected in the best possible way (laughs).

How important is it for you to be passionate about the product or service that you’re selling as opposed to being driven by the bottom line?

Well, in my particular case – and it’s different for everyone – I’m a merchant. So for me, if I make this glass, how much can I sell it for and what’s the fair price for that, and why would somebody choose this rather than spend $9 on something else? So it’s a very human process from my point of view. I wish I could make more money selling ideas, but I’m much more about tangibility.

So do you see yourself as someone who will continue to build businesses?

I will continue to build this business. I’m very focused on what our goals are, which is to make our brands as big as they can be, which is huge. Particularly a couple of them, I think we can have massive Australian international brands, I think there’s an undersupply of those. So I’m very focused on building international brands.

But also I don’t need to be the most financially successful guy in the room; I just want to be the most satisfied guy in the room. If I’m not getting that satisfaction, or if I’d be more satisfied not being so committed to the work, then I’ll do something else.

But right now there are so many things we want to achieve, and there are so many opportunities for our business, it’s fantastic.

What are the targets for international expansion?

Primarily likeminded markets, so that’s the United States and Europe in the first instance. There are some discussions about China. I’m really keen to understand the markets I’m entering. I’ve spent a lot of time in the US and Europe, and I’ve spent time in China as a buyer, not a seller. I think it’s a really challenging market without being prepared and being clear on your goals. I don’t want to just sell volume for the sake of volume; I want to sell to people who want to be part of the brand, and that’s about the integrity and the passion we were talking about before.

I feel like the Australian summer lifestyle is really saleable, which is our key brand, SunnyLIFE. That’s got so much international appeal. I came up with the idea for that when I was on a beach in Barcelona, so that wasn’t about Australia, it was about the uniformity of that enjoyment and passion.

Let’s talk about the retail environment.

The media, in my opinion, is directing people online, by talking about the lack of value in retail, and there’s of margins, and mark-ups, and cheaper products overseas. All that’s doing is helping the false perception that people are getting ripped off, and it bothers me because there’s not many people saying, ‘hang on a second, this is why the market is the way it is.’

The market is the way it is because of the Australian standard of living, our labour laws, and the size of our market – which doesn’t support the volume of trade that you get in other markets.

And it’s [the reporting] also suppressing Australian product and business development. I feel very strongly about it, because I feel like it’s making our lives a lot harder than it needs to be.

The strong retail businesses will survive, and I’m confident we’re in that group, but it’s a challenging market, and you need to clear about your strategy and aligning your strategy with the changing market.

You sound pretty upbeat about navigating the shifting retail environment.

I feel confident that our brands are strong enough and we’re smart enough. It’s about how your brands are positioned and how open you are to the changing market. We’re nothing without customers, so we’ve got to go after them.

In starting a business, I wasn’t scared – I was optimistic. It’s the same with online. I think there’s a lot of negativity in the business world, so the focus on threats, competition. I think people are very protective, so it closes the dialogue instead of opening it up.

So you’ve put Shine into that strong category, but what is it that provides a point of difference for your customers?

In all of brands, they all have a uniqueness to them and they have a signature.
Body, for instance, it’s about wearability; it’s not about fast fashions, so there’s classicism to it.
With SunnyLife, we identified that the beach lifestyle was incredibly saleable and there wasn’t a premium brand servicing that. And that lifestyle is pervasive so it’s not just the beach; it’s the idea that when the weather’s good and the sun’s out, life is better.

Yours is a business based on sun and surf. Why do you live in Melbourne?

Well, I was born here and raised here and had my opportunities here. I always say that I’m the few people who can legitimate time spent on a beach as business development, so I’m lucky in that sense.

But Melbourne’s a great place, Australia’s a great place. It’s taken me a long time to get comfortable here. Sydney inspires me physically a lot more because you can go to a point on a beach, and here we’ve got the stagnant Yarra which isn’t as inspiring. But commercially, Melbourne’s a great town so I love being here.