Mary Murray – Paradisos Cafe
Mary was a fulltime mother and housewife for all 24 years of her married life until her husband announced he was having an affair. Left with nothing when he left, with no experience or business acumen whatsoever, Mary took on the cafe her husband had been in the process of starting, complete with thousands of dollars worth of debts, and made a go of it.
When I took on this business I had absolutely no idea about running a cafe, I didn’t even know how to pour a filter coffee. At the time I had been married for 24 years and I was a housewife. My husband was in business and throughout my married life I’d worked the odd day here and there, but they were only pretend jobs. Earning money wasn’t a side of my marriage I had to address.
My husband was setting up the cafe. The lease was up for renegotiation. He was going to take on the lease, do up the cafe, and then resell the lease. Right in the middle of it all he announced he was having an affair, that he was going to be leaving, and he wanted the business sold. He really didn’t want me in the cafe, but I dug my toes in. Bearing in mind that I suddenly had no source of income, no house, and I had been a housewife for the last 24 years, I decided I had to give it a go.
It was tough. While they finalised the details, I had to work with my husband and his new girlfriend. Emotionally, I wasn’t the best equipped to deal with anything, let alone running a business.
My first real insight into how little business acumen I had, and how little support I was about to have, was when I had to go to the bank. I had to take over the overdraft with my father as guarantor. When I went to the bank they talked to my father, not to me. I don’t think Dad really wanted to lend me the money, I suspect he was looking for an out. The bank certainly didn’t want to lend money to a middle-aged housewife, on the verge of a breakdown, who didn’t have an ounce of business acumen. That was my first introduction to how difficult it was going to be for me as a woman, without a house or any collateral. My husband had taken everything.
Eventually my father agreed to act as guarantor, even though the bank advised him I was a dodgy prospect. I think he felt sorry for me at the time so he gave it a go, which I am grateful for. I repaid his trust, and the money, and from there I constantly grew. When I came into the business, I found I was left with thousands of dollars of debts I had been completely unaware of. So as well as struggling to come to terms with every other aspect of the business – staff, wages, GST – I constantly had creditors ringing me demanding money. At any one time, they could have put me under so I had no choice but to get a grasp on everything as quickly as possible.
I was extremely fortunate to have the support of my daughter, Emily. She was at university, studying for a masters degree at the time. She quickly came to terms with many aspects of running the business. My husband had left nothing. Emily set the books up, started doing costings, and thought it was feasible, that if we got it right we could make a go of it. Emily worked out what it would cost to run the business and said, “Mum this is what you have to do every week before you even turn the lights on, otherwise you’re going to be in trouble.”
I initially worked seven days a week, from 5.20 in the morning, until 7 at night. Gradually I made myself completely au fait with every aspect of running this cafe. Every day was a battle until now it is easier. Now I don’t owe anyone anything, I run my business on a monthly accounts system, I have a good name around town, I make one of the best coffees in Christchurch, and most of the time I enjoy it.
I learned through making plenty of mistakes. After 24 years of marriage I was dropped in it – and I could make a go of it, or go under, that was it. I just had to carry on each day, read up on things, and educate myself. Every day I tried to make sure the lack of knowledge I had didn’t go with me into tomorrow. I set myself targets every day. The cappuccino machine used to scare the shits out of me. Some days I’d have a queue half way down the mall, and I wouldn’t know how I was ever going to get on top of it, but I did.
Excerpt from Mary Murray’s story
Go Girl Go! – Real Stories of New Zealand Women in Business
By Jacqui Thomas
Published 2001, JT Publishing Ltd
