Winning designs

Tanya Fogarty's interior design business became so successful as an empty space venture that she's moved to a commercial lease.

Colour swatches at Tanya Fogarty Design. Photo courtesy of Renew Newcastle.	Colour swatches at Tanya Fogarty Design. Photo courtesy of Renew Newcastle

Interior designer Tanya Fogarty has been in business since 2005. Until August 2009 she was working from home. 

"I provide design solutions in residential, commercial, retail, health and merchandising/styling areas," says Tanya. "My business needed to have a more professional face so I had been looking into taking out a commercial lease for some time. 

"Given the nature of consulting work, making sure that I had the funds available to me each week to sustain a rent was not certain. My invoices generally got paid at the end of a job, so keeping the cashflow going was hard. 

"It was hard to work out whether moving the office away from home was going to increase productivity enough for me to sustain the lease." 

Tanya got the opportunity to test the waters without risking her hard-earned cash after she read about the Renew Newcastle scheme in the Newcastle Herald. 

Benefits 

Moving into the CBD from her home office into an office space offered by the GPT Group as part of the Renew Newcastle scheme in August 2009 where has paid just $20 a week participation fee has been invaluable for Tanya to grow her business. 

"Business has increased greatly since moving the office," she says. "It has exposed me to a greater network, my work day is much more productive, and it has introduced me to a collaborative of design-based businesses who had all previously been in the same situation as me. 

"As a collaborative called The Clinic we are now negotiating the terms of a two-year lease on the space we have been occupying together. We had also made the decision that if our current location did not work out we would search for something more suitable together, making the rent commitment a little easier to bear. 

"On many occasions before being involved in Renew Newcastle I would ask both my social and business network if anyone knew of anybody interested in a commercial 'share house' but finding anyone was difficult. 

"Through taking part in this scheme, I've learned that my business is viable and expanding." 

And it's not just Tanya's and her cohorts' businesses that have benefited from the Renew Newcastle scheme. 

"Members of The Clinic are all using businesses within the CBD regularly, whether it be for coffee, lunches, office supplies, post, or just a wander through the shops on a well-earned break, which I never really did before," she says. "Going into the CBD to shop was usually too hard." 

Challenges 

Working with Renew Newcastle was a breeze for Tanya. The only real challenge she faced was making the space presentable on minimum funds. 

"This is still a work in progress, but I'm happy to spend more on the space when the two-year lease is signed," she says. 

As with all Renew Newcastle participants, public liability insurance for the building is covered under the scheme's umbrella policy. Tanya had to take out her own professional indemnity, public liability and contents insurance. 

Agreement 

All Renew Newcastle agreements are on a 30-day rolling licence. After eight months of this arrangement, Tanya, together with her colleagues at The Clinic, are currently negotiating a two-year commercial lease at the property. 

For Tanya, being able to have access to an empty space to test the viability of her business has been a wonderful opportunity and she can't praise the Renew Newcastle initiative enough. 

"These kind of schemes bring activity into an areas that are lacking, bringing a new vibe and hopefully, for the business owners, attracting new interest in the spaces," she says. 

"It gives small business the ability to start slow and test their viability without the damaging consequences of business failure, both financially and emotionally."  

Visit the Tanya Fogarty Design website

Read an interview with Renew Newcastle's Marni Jackson

Read about how Newcastle was renewed

Read an interview with the landlord GPT Group

Location