Dale Hardiman and Adam Lynch are the founders of Melbourne-based Dowel Jones. They’re also not your typical young entrepreneurs. While the stereotype of the millennial small business owner is someone that’s focused on splashing cash around, Dale and Adam have built a successful furniture brand doing the exact opposite.
“We ended up creating Dowel Jones while we were in university together to have a business that, when we graduated, we would have an occupation.” Dale said. “We both kind of understood we would never borrow money to build the business. We would only ever spend what we had, and we do as much as we could with what we had.”
Adam adds that their initial focus was on building a secure foundation for their business. “I guess having the business to create security long-term is a good thing. Initially it’s always hard setting up a business. We worked for two years before we pulled a cent from the company for ourselves.”
Their careful and frugal ways also seeps into their daily lives; there’s not a day that passes where they don’t discuss money. “We talk about money, like 5:30 in the morning, 11 o’clock at night, lunchtime,” Adam said. “Why we don’t have money? Why we do have money? When money’s going to come again? Not because we really want it or need it. Just as a business, we need to know where everything is all the time.”
Even though they both see themselves as savers, they acknowledge that part of their success in the word of furniture and design comes from their different outlooks. As Adam puts it, “We’re really different people. But I guess, we work well together as a company. We get along as friends too. We don’t hate each other.”
Adam and Dale are thankful, however, that their saving habits have given them a degree of security and comfort, if anything was to ever go wrong. “Hopefully, we’ll never be in a position for Dowel Jones to run into money issues,” Adam said.
Think you’re someone like Dale and Adam who finds security in the money they save? Or is your relationship with money completely different? Head here to discover your Money Profile and find out.
