![When James Wakefield and his co-founder started Institchu in 2012, most people didn't believe men would be willing to ...](/web/20160930075334im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/o/4/g/1/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gro4hf.png/1474795872488.jpg)
It may have been only a few years ago, but when James Wakefield and his university mate Robin McGowan decided to start an online business selling custom made suits in 2012, most people thought it would never work.
"They said, 'Guys, nobody will buy a suit online, let alone a custom-made suit,' " Wakefield says.The pair proved them wrong. Today, Institchu employs 25 people and is worth $10 million.
Wakefield says their success in convincing men to buy suits online has come partly through educating the market about what is possible in terms of customised product, but also, by making purchases risk free.
"We had to analyse all the barriers that prevents someone ordering online…We have free shipping and a perfect fit guarantee – even if someone gives us incorrect measurements, we'll pay for it to be altered locally or remade free of charge, or give their money back, no questions asked," he says.
Success may have come quickly for Institchu, but credit must be given to Wakefield and McGowan's ability to turn on a dime.
When they realised their initial dream of a pure online business wasn't quite right, they responded with showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland (and soon, New York and Canberra). Each has a manager, a wedding stylist and team of traveling tailors attached.
"We pretty soon realised an omni-channel approach is what customers want…In straight retail, you're restricted by location. With online, there are some customers that do want that face-to-face interaction, so that hybrid model works," Wakefield says.
While tweaking the business model has paid dividends, Wakefield says they still focus on trying to educate in-person users about the company's online offering.
"While they are in the showroom we give them a demo of the website. We show them how to use the online designs and submit their own order, so that for their second and third purchases, they can use that," he says.
Behind the scenes, Wakefield says although the pair 'theoretically' has differing responsibilities – he does offline, McGowan does online – in reality there's plenty of overlap.
In terms of their friendship at least, it doesn't seem to matter:
"I find that having a long friendship gives us a little bit of extra knowledge about people's boundaries and moods. To date we haven't had any big blow ups; I'd like to think that's because we're friends first," he says.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Name: James Wakefield
Current position: Co-founder and managing director of Institchu
Responsibilities: Broad – and include liaising with partners in Shanghai, building relationships with new suppliers and local partners, managing the team day-to-day as well as Institchu's international expansion strategy.
Education: Bachelor of Business (majoring in finance and banking law), University of Technology Sydney.
Additional training/courses: Tailoring is an extremely detailed process. Initially, I learnt a lot from our Shanghai tailors but then we then realised that to truly up skill we need to learn from traditional bespoke tailors. We employed an Italian pattern maker to help us learn about the pattern making process and help improve our patterns. We also decided to engage bespoke tailors to completely deconstruct our suits and work out what improvements could be made.
Professional associations: Member, NORA.
Honourable mentions: Smart Company's Hot 30 under 30, 2016; Dynamic Business 2012 Young Guns of Business; ORIAS 2016 Finalist - Best Boot Strapped Business.
Strength: Managing the team. They don't teach you in a business degree: it's completely different when you are building a team from scratch and have to manage that team… I've learned to surround ourselves with people that are smarter than us and better at their respective roles than us, and learn from them.
Weakness: I juggle so many plates that focusing is a challenge; that's where a good team does help.
Management style and tips: A good manager or boss should still be learning from others. I believe an effective manager should give people the power to make their own decisions – once you do that, managing becomes a whole lot easier.
Work motto: Get shit done.