If you could be anything...what will it be?
Case Study Participant Profiles
Jean de Bruyne
Business Psychologist - Auckland
For the past fourteen years Jean has been self-employed in a business that she established from the outset.
She first came to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1976 from Singapore. Life in the 1970s was very different from today – in fact Jean was the only Asian student taking the subjects she did to gain her university degree at that time, she also says that she was the only Asian on the bus she took to university but now Jean could stand in Queen Street and think that she was one of the majority.
After Jean’s son was born she began to work part time in the corporate world. Although Jean was a high performer it seemed that no matter what or how much she did it was never enough.
This working environment had a profound effect on Jean and was one of the catalysts for starting out on her own and being able to control and take ownership of her own destiny. Being self-employed also meant that when taking on contracts and choosing the kind of work she would undertake Jean could be true to her own core beliefs and values and ensure these were aligned with the services she provided and not be compromised in any way.
Taking business risks and being responsible for making decisions also provided motivation for Jean to become self employed at the beginning but fourteen years on she makes the distinction between being self-employed and running a business which is where she is at currently “I wanted to truly experience my decision making capability and know that there would be no one to hide behind or to blame”.
Since being self-employed and running her own business Jean has experienced challenges along the way. Jean says “it is still difficult to maintain a balance between the demands of work and family” and the transition from being self-employed to becoming a business owner has not been easy – it is the difference between “working in to working on the business”.
Other demands of the business such as being totally responsible for everything including employees, family income, and funding are some of the many challenges and accountabilities of being a business owner.
Providing both a strategic focus for developing the business as well as maintaining and keeping her skills and reputation as a qualified practitioner up to date can at times be difficult, “undertaking the business development work as well as still doing the technical delivery which is where my reputation is”.
Jean recognizes that a key factor in getting off to a good start when establishing your business is seeking appropriate professional advice and support, “You always ask for help if you are serious about setting up in business. You ask for help and you always pay for that assistance because if you pay for that assistance you somehow take it on board and you are also in a situation where if you need any help and advice the person will actually see you as a client as opposed to doing you a favour.”
Delivering professional services to the commercial sector is also quite time consuming and is an expensive business to run. However the benefits of choosing to be in this business can mean that Jean and her team can “move quickly in response to any demands and back ourselves if we think it’s a good idea”.
Not having to go through extended processes or endless bureaucracy when applying for funding is an added bonus for Jean – if they think something is a good idea then they back it themselves “we only have to answer to ourselves and the bank manager rather than a whole raft of stakeholders.
In summary “truly knowing what our capabilities and in competencies are” has helped Jean’s business to grow and strengthen the services they provide and as a successful business woman Jean has incorporated strategies that have helped to build her reputation and her client base as well as taking on board graduates that can deliver the unique services they provide.
