Enterprise: SHE-com
What is their raison d’etre? To build an ever-expanding group of driven and passionate boss women who believe in the power of collaboration and the impact it can have on their businesses.
In her late 20s, Lisa Jones co-created Sustainable Man with her then-husband, selling hot water and solar power systems and generating over $3 million in revenue. Following this success, they embarked on Ecoriginals, what Lisa describes as “the world’s greenest nappies and wipes brand”. Leveraging a subscription-based model online, and selling through 250 stores across Australia, they were able to grow Ecoriginals to $2 million in turnover. Lisa’s marriage ended in 2018, coinciding with the sale of Ecoriginals to Justin Cameron, founder of the $400 million brand SurfStitch.
“Throughout these ventures, I learned a lot about eCommerce and wanted to share this with others, so began coaching women how to grow their online businesses through Lisa Jones + Co, which laid the foundation of what SHE-com is today,” Lisa says. “Parts of SHE-com have grown organically through my previous coaching business, while others have hit me like a ‘bolt of lightning’ – which, funnily enough, most often happens while I’m doing something relaxing.”
“I created the SHE-com Product Awards to support female-led businesses by giving them recognition and awareness.”
The idea to grow SHE-com from coaching programs into the community it is today – a community Lisa describes as a group of driven and passionate boss women who believe in the power of collaboration and the impact it can have on their businesses – began while Lisa was on holiday in Bali in 2022. “I came back from that trip and had so many ideas to implement, my team didn’t know what hit them!” she laughs. “This expansion has allowed me to grow the size of our community and the range of products we offer; it has also allowed me to expand my team, where I now employ 22 incredible women.”
SHE-com started with The Academy – a program designed to help product-based businesses double their revenue. Lisa then introduced the Scale Mastermind, whereby she and the team scale up businesses with revenues of over $30K per month. “We also host regular live events, including SHE-com LIVE – a two-day conference on the Gold Coast, SHE-talks dinners across Australia and retreats to Bali,” Lisa says. “I also created the SHE-com Product Awards, which support businesses by giving them recognition and awareness.”
Building a ‘community’ is an important aspect of SHE-com, the ethos behind that being that Lisa gets feedback from clients that running an eCommerce business can be lonely. “Many women are working on their own, or might have some casual staff pop in every now and again,” she explains. “Even the larger businesses that are scaling up with us that have staff don’t have anyone they can chat to about business – friends and family don’t get it or are sick of hearing about it. That’s why it was important to build a community where women could come together to celebrate wins, share challenges, and talk about entrepreneurial life.”
SHE-com has a number of corporate partners who Lisa sees as integral to her success. They help spread the word about SHE-com and provide support that allows her to hold more events around the country, bringing the community together in person, something that many of her members tell her they crave.
“We are extremely careful in deciding who we work with,” Lisa avers. “Partners need to align with our vision, and provide a best-in-class service that we are confident in recommending to our community.”
Lisa’s immediate focus is on refining her current offerings to reach more female founders in Australia. Looking further ahead, she aims to grow the business internationally, venturing into North America and the Middle East, with potential expansion into other markets on the horizon.
This article first appeared in issue 43 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
