IB Woman
Issue No. 17 - June/July 2004
Running a Happy House
Tiffany Manuell
Tiffany Manuell is a designing woman with a passion for quirky fun and a head for dynamic business. She and partner, David Buck, have developed a fledgling wrapping paper and card design company into a multi-million dollar empire. Tiffany was an RMIT fashion design student disillusioned with where fashion was at the time. David had clawed his way up the corporate ladder in banking.
Supplying shops such as Design Domain at Hyde Park, the initial Happy House designs were snapped up by an eager public searching for fun and frivolity that was cheap and cheerful. Unable to keep up with the demand of hand painting all the cards on order, but also having no idea about the printing industry, Tiffany painstakingly gathered information and quotes prior to undertaking her first print run.
The initial success of Happy House took her and David by surprise but, harnessing the exuberance of youth, they decided to both work full-time on developing a business; even if it didn’t last. And so began the learning curve and leap of faith that saw the couple sell their house to invest $16,000 on producing gift cards and wrapping paper for their first gift and home wares trade fair.
"I loaded up my tiny car and drove from Adelaide to Melbourne with my Mum," relates Tiffany. "I had a space that was a miniscule 2m x 2m and it was seen by someone who invited me to a trade show in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong my designs were seen by a Korean businessman and it just developed from there." That was 1995.
Happy House, based in Adelaide, was responsible for every aspect of the business from design through to production and distribution. By 1999, the success of the increasing product range provoked discussion on the pragmatism of licensing.
"I realised that our greatest ability was in design," says Tiffany. "We had developed from paper based products into resin and plush toys and accessories but had a desire to develop stationery, linen and home wares. By licensing th...
