)
MOVING people is Tara-Jay Rimmer's specialty, but she never intended to do it for a living.
And while the blonde, petite entrepreneur doesn't quite fit the 'blokey' mould of the traditional removalist, she comes with all the tools needed to crack the industry's pervasive macho culture.
"I'm very strategic and measure absolutely everything," says Rimmer.
"I have a desire to be as efficient as possible and that's definitely what makes us different."
Rimmer and husband Lee Hovey started their removal and delivery business, The Van That Can, two years ago.
Formerly employed by Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in London, Rimmer never expected to end up in this line of work.
"I fell into finance because it was something I was good at and it just progressed from there," she says.
"I wanted to do my own thing and knew accounting wasn't it, but I didn't really have an idea."
The 'aha moment' came when the delivery man wouldn't carry Rimmer's stand-up paddleboard to her second-floor unit.
While they may have stumbled upon the idea, everything that's happened since has been by design - except the business 'blowing up' last year, unexpectedly doubling its turnover year to year.
Rimmer says her previous work has framed many of the key business decisions, such as becoming a 'paperless company'.
"I handle the office and staff side of the business and, because of my experience with big companies, despite being new to transport, I knew there were more efficient ways of doing things.
"When you have 10 guys on the road, a couple of minutes here and there add up, so we have a custom app used by head office and our drivers which distributes scheduling and route planning.
"It increases fuel efficiency to reduce environmental impact, also allowing us to keep our costs low and pass the discounts on to customers."
Rimmer says what perhaps makes the most difference, however, is that she's female and most of her customers are female as well.
The Van That Can's promotions are targeted at females through initiatives such as branded 'party feet'.
"I know how I want someone to come into my home and treat me and my belongings, even how they should smell, which has really helped us," says Rimmer.
"In the beginning we didn't realise that. People in the industry are shocked that I'm in it particularly because I don't present myself as a truck driver.
"We've had a lot of resistance."
"We have partnerships with Anglicare, for example, assisting with rehoming women who generally come from abusive relationships," she says. "They're given a budget from the government and if we go over we keep it at budget because they are obviously going through a tough time.
"It's quite close to me because a family member was in a domestic violence relationship. It's interesting that I've ended up in a line of work where I'm often moving people to a better life."
Get our daily business news
Sign up to our free email news updates.
)
)
)
)
)
