The short answer
Peter Hooker explains how he built a global maternity brand around IP and problem-solving, and how understanding what buyers actually value shaped his approach to the exit.
Key takeaways
- How to scale a business with an innovative product in a new product category.
- What you learn about facing the word ‘no’ along the way.
- How Peter and his business partner overcame the dilemma that most business owners have, trying to find people that will sell their product or service with the same passion they have.
- How they used an acquisition strategy to grow their business.
- The key to achieving gross margin in the high 60% range.
- Why it makes sense to start thinking of your exit earlier when it comes to all the moving parts you need to consider.
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43 minAbout this episode
Do you think you’re ready to go international? Meet Peter Hooker–one of two partners who took a simple maternity invention and grew it into a worldwide, industry changing accessories. Backed by their own funds and a lot of door knocking, Peter and his business partner grew their homegrown startup into a national--and international–success stocked by the likes of David Jones, Target, and more.
Now exited after 20 years of hard work and dedication, Peter reflects on his time as Co-Founder and CEO. Believing that shared values, good people, and treating people right is the best way to do business, Peter and his partner never got into a scuffle once across their two decades together–proof that his strategy works.
If you’ve ever considered the value of Intellectual Property and having patented assets as part of your business portfolio, this is the episode for you. Believing that IP ownership is one of the single most valuable assets a seller can bring to a potential sale, Peter talks through all sides of a product-related business from securing wide profit margins, to distribution, and diversification success.
Ready to learn a whole lot about the product side of business empires? Peter Hooker’s first-hand advice about the world of women and maternity’s wear might just have you believing that your next best business opportunity could come through fate.
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About Peter Hooker
Peter Hooker is an experienced non-executive director and business mentor with over 30 years’ experience in finance, investment, strategy and entrepreneurship. His broad experience across multiple industries has cemented his belief in culture as a primary driver of organisational performance.
As a Director at Your Culture Strategy, Peter works as a business and governance mentor, helping business owners and senior leaders to develop solutions across the full range of issues they confront. He is particularly interested in improving SME performance through values-based models of leadership.
Peter currently serves on the Psychology Board of Australia, where he chairs the Governance Working Group. He is also an Advisory Board Centre member, and enjoys applying his broad experience and well-developed critical thinking skills to new issues and new industries.
Peter previously owned and ran a company called Fertile Mind, an importer and exporter in the baby goods industry, operating for 20 years. After a successful divestment of their brands, they continue to be sold under new ownership in major retailers in Australia, the USA and many other countries.
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About the show
Buy Grow Sell is hosted by Simon Bedard, founder and managing director of Exit Advisory Group, a boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helps Australian business owners value, prepare for and navigate a sale. Every conversation draws on real deals and the patterns behind them.
