CRANMORE Home is another successful step in the life and career of Moora’s Tracy Lefroy.
With a passion and a drive for wearing many hats, Ms Lefroy created her business Cranmore Home in 2013.
Ms Lefroy is an online retailer of home, art and furniture where she specifically works with building companies, architects and interior designers to supply products for whole-of-home fit-outs in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
She has received many awards including a Wheatbelt Business Award in 2016 and was a 40 under 40 winner in 2018.
She was also listed as a finalist in the Telstra Businesswoman of the Year and the WA Small Business Awards in 2016.
Ms Lefroy discussed her business and her life so far with the women at this year’s Liebe Women’s Field Day in Dalwallinu last week.
As well as managing Cranmore Home and her young family, Tracy enjoys interior design, agriculture, community, volunteering as a Moora shire councillor, regional business development and children’s support.
Her career has spread over agriculture, journalism, interior design, board memberships and local government.
“My current and on-going venture, Cranmore Home, has opened my eyes to creating a successful online business, while living in a regional area, having a farm and three little kids,” she said.
“Hard work, focus and determination are the basis of my success.”
Ms Lefroy started Cranmore Home from the ground up with just a website.
She said it has allowed her to know all the ins and outs of her business including the warehouse, packing, logistics, coding, wrapping, installing and furniture.
Over her journey she has faced a lot of challenges, some of them business challenges, some of them family challenges and some just sheer lack of time.
“My biggest challenge first up – I tackled this in 2014-2015 – was managing my cash flow risk and freight costs,” she said.
“I managed to arrange a deal with my suppliers, which means I don’t hold stock until I have sold it.
“This reduces risk, my cash outlay and eliminates stock holding costs, warehouse costs and our freight costs.”
Another way Ms Lefroy has managed her challenges is through a theory called tilting.
“Tilting is sometimes at the expense of other things,” she said.
“The values I hold for myself and my business are creativity, Australian design, authenticity, ethical production, community development, sustainable consumption and also connecting through story telling.”
Ms Lefroy said tilting is a new strategy for her and it’s more of a mindset than anything else.
“Each of my five hats doesn’t get 20 per cent of my time, 100pc of the time,” she said.
“Basically I give myself the permission to be out of balance and to know that the lack of balance is temporary and that I need to tilt to where I am needed most.”
Ms Lefroy has had an exciting career and isn’t finished with her career goals yet.
Starting her career in agriculture as a NAB agribusiness analyst, Ms Lefroy always prepared herself for bigger and better things.
From there she moved to the WA No-Till Farming Association (WANTFA) as a communications and extensions officer.
“It was in this role that I gained the ability to fly by the seat of my pants,” she said.
“I was taking over the role held by Bill Crabtree, which involved things like writing the monthly newsletter, managing trial sites, organising conferences and communicating research results with farming members.”
From there she moved back home to the family farm in Irwin and became a farmer.
Ms Lefroy showed her entrepreneur drive by exploring new possibilities for the farm.
This work allowed her to win a Nuffield scholarship in 2005.
“My studies with Nuffield took me to Asia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand and opened my eyes to amazing opportunities that are out there,” she said.
“It’s having the grit, determination and passion that turns an idea into a business.”
After returning from her Nuffield tour, Ms Lefroy was working two days a week, running her freelance journalism business and trying to be involved in the Lefroy farm which she had just married into.
Ms Lefroy said she felt displaced and lonely.
“I had to embrace being a mum when I had my kids, but I felt disappointed where I was sitting professionally,” she said.
“I realised that I was nowhere because I wasn’t working.”
When she had her third child she realised she needed something outside of being a mum to keep her happy and keep a sense of herself.
“Having kids made me realise how much of my identity I attached to my career,” she said.
“Choosing to start a business is easy, getting that business up and running takes a lot of hard work, late nights and dedication.”
