High-flyer’s success is all in the fine print
Managing director of Heaneys Performers in Print
IN the stereotypical male dominated Australian printing industry, local business identity, Susan Heaney, stands out – not for standing on the rooftops shouting ‘look at me!’, but for flying comfortably under the radar for more than 30 years as one of the very few female managing directors of a commercial printing company in Australia, Heaneys Performers in Print, based here on the Gold Coast in Molendinar.
1. First job and where are you now?
I started full-time work at 17 in Brisbane with South East Queensland Electricity Board where I worked for seven years rotating from the call centre, customer service and finally in its estimating department.
2. Best business advice you’ve ever received?
When you borrow money, make sure you will get a great return on investment on the funds invested, and pay it back as quickly as you can.
3. What do you wish you knew when you first started?
The importance of planning and saving for retirement. As a single female back in the day, where pay equality was only but a dream, nothing was further from my mind than having a formal plan for retirement savings. Going through divorce and having to re-establish myself financially, I view provision for retirement as a necessary part of life. As a business owner and now also as a director of an industry superannuation fund, I now comprehend the necessity of everyone ensuring they have adequate retirement savings.
4. Your golden rule in business?
I can summarise what I think it takes to create success as: have a great work philosophy – keep work/ life balanced; enjoy your family; stay current with technology and what’s happening in business; surround yourself with great people – the best you can afford – delegate the work, along with the responsibility in getting the job done; and expect and reward excellence, and do not tolerate sub-par performance.
5. A long lunch – a waste of time or essential?
In my industry, it really is a case of the quick or the dead – a weekday lunch of any kind is a very optional activity at best – the pace of the day is just too great.
That does not mean not having a network of people from whom you can draw upon, whether it is for direct advice, behaviours you admire, or success that has been achieved. That is essential. I find it very necessary to nurture these relationships – and nurture is a two-way street – it is giving and receiving.
6. Who is in your business mobile’s speed dial?
All of my family. Yes customers, suppliers, contacts, peers, are all key in today’s world of business, but as I said earlier, let us keep the important things to the fore – family. In my case, we have a blended family, of five children and two grandchildren, the majority of whom live on the West Coast, and a daughter living in Botswana in Africa, it’s fair to say that my partner and I spend a fair amount of time flying.
7. If you had $1 million spare what industry would you be investing in right now?
Cyber security and fraud prevention – it’s a growth area as online crime is out of control. Everyone needs to have current, up-to-the-minute, safeguards in place – across all devices and all technologies – and yes, I have learned this the hard way.
8. What should primary students be studying?
Focus on the basics – reading, writing, arithmetic, overlaid with some basic life skills, money skills (household budgeting), cooking and cleaning. I believe if you can get a child to love reading, knowledge and learning will follow naturally.
9. Biggest frustration doing business on the Gold Coast and how to fix it?
Business on the Gold Coast is still viewed as “regional” and that translates to “wait a while”. We suffer with third-world connectivity – but will NBN be good enough? Or is it just a BandAid solution that limps along until the next technology? Bring on and embrace 5G – it just may be a winner over NBN!
SPONSORED BY HEANEYS PERFORMERS IN PRINT