Building a Million Dollar Business with Dara of Byzantine Design

How do you build a retail business that stands the test of time?
You stop chasing overnight success and start treating business like the long game it really is. Explore why business owners need to stay involved when outsourcing, and how understanding your strengths leads to better business decisions.

In this episode of **Money Secrets**, Fi is joined by Dara Shashoua, founder and creative director of Byzantine Design, Melbourne's most beautiful tile store.

Listen to Episode 81

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Business is a marathon, not a sprint. Building a premium, sustainable business can take much longer than you expect.
Small steps can build a bigger vision. Dara incrementally grew Byzantine Design from a tiny showroom into a destination store.
Relationships can become your competitive advantage. Connection, empathy and understanding customers shape Dara's approach to sales.
Great sales don't have to feel sales-y. Good sales conversations create trust and strong customer experiences.
Outsourcing still requires your involvement. Handing something over doesn't mean stepping away from responsibility completely.
Outsourcing as collaboration. Shared responsibility and regular check-ins create better working relationships and results.
Every investment needs a return. Outsourcing decisions should consider the result you want, not just what you can afford.
Business owners often make the best salespeople. Dara prioritises selling, sourcing products and building relationships over tasks others can do.
How money beliefs can follow you into business. Old stories about money don't reflect your current financial capability.
Rest is part of sustainable business. Creating white space can support better thinking, creativity and long-term decision-making.
You don't need to be a perfect planner. Efficiency, prioritisation and making good decisions matter more than being highly organised.
What it takes to build a premium business. Patience, persistence and genuinely loving the game of business matter for long-term success.

Retail done right, with Dara Shashoua of Byzantine Design (EP#81)

Introduction

We've made a lot of progress as a society in many areas, but one thing that hasn’t changed enough is our relationship with money. If we want to tip the scales in favour of marginalised people, we need to understand the secrets to making money in small business.

The more we talk about money — especially the secrets that usually stay behind closed doors or on the golf course — the more empowered we become. My mission is to get more money into the hands of good people, specifically business owners like you.

Because I believe small business can change the world. And to do that, we need to be making more money.

Acknowledgement of Country

This episode was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. I’d like to acknowledge them as the Traditional Owners and custodians of this land and water that I live, work and play on.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded. This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.

Building a Million Dollar Business One Beautiful Step at a Time

What does it actually take to build a premium retail business from scratch?

Not overnight success. Not one genius marketing strategy. And definitely not having everything figured out before you begin.

For Dara, founder and creative director of Byzantine Design, it has taken more than a decade of relationships, beautiful products, calculated risks, plenty of learning, and a deep love of natural stone.

In this episode of Money Secrets, Fi sits down with Dara to talk about her journey from working in hospitality and retail to building a million dollar Melbourne business known for bespoke natural stone, architectural surfaces and highly customised design solutions.

They explore what it takes to build a premium brand slowly, why relationships are at the heart of great sales, the lessons Dara has learned about hiring and outsourcing, and why knowing what you're not good at can be just as valuable as knowing your strengths.

And perhaps the biggest lesson of all?

Business is a marathon, not a sprint.

Sometimes Your Career Finds You

Dara didn't begin her career with a master plan to build one of Melbourne's most beautiful tile stores.

She originally wanted to study interior design but didn't get into university or TAFE, and private college was too expensive.

At the time, she was working in hospitality and looking for something more.

Then she spotted an advertisement for a job in a tile store that mentioned an interest in interior design would be advantageous.

She got the job.

And while she initially enjoyed the work, something shifted when the store started bringing in natural stone.

Her heart, as Dara puts it, started to sing.

From there, she worked across almost every part of the industry, including retail, wholesale and sales, slowly building an understanding of how the entire business worked.

It wasn't necessarily the traditional interior design career she'd imagined.

But it became an apprenticeship for the business she would eventually build herself.

Start Before Everything Looks Perfect

Dara started Byzantine Design in Sydney before eventually deciding to make a much bigger move.

She packed up her life and moved to Melbourne in 2013, despite knowing fewer than five people in the city.

By 2014, she had opened her first little shop in Prahran.

It wasn't the impressive destination Byzantine Design is today.

The showroom was sparse.

Dara had no customers.

And some days involved simply sitting in the shop and waiting for somebody to find her.

But it was hers.

That's an important part of the story because we often see established businesses at year ten or twelve and assume they somehow started that way.

They didn't.

Build the Business in Stages

Over the years, Byzantine Design's physical space evolved alongside the business.

Dara started in a small converted terrace. When she outgrew it, she moved into a shared space with a furniture business. Then, in December 2024, Byzantine Design moved into the kind of showroom Dara had once imagined she might have reached by year five.

Instead, it took more than a decade.

And Fi sees that as a strength rather than a failure.

Each move was an iterative step.

Instead of taking on the enormous expense of creating the dream retail store from day one, Dara allowed the physical business to grow alongside its customers, reputation and revenue.

Today, Byzantine Design operates from a 150 square metre space in Windsor and serves both retail and trade customers, including homeowners, interior designers and architects.

The dream store came.

It just didn't have to come first.

Passion Is Part of the Value Proposition

Spend a few minutes listening to Dara talk about stone and it becomes very obvious why people want to buy it from her.

She doesn't just sell tiles.

She genuinely loves the material.

She talks about the energy, uniqueness and history of natural stone. She notices the ancient mosaics on the floor while everyone else is looking at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Every piece feels different because every piece is different.

That passion is difficult to manufacture as a marketing strategy.

But it is also a huge part of Byzantine Design's value proposition.

Customers aren't simply coming into a store and choosing something from a shelf.

They're accessing Dara's years of knowledge, taste, experience and ability to see what a material could become inside a space.

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Great Sales Can Feel Like Problem Solving

Dara doesn't describe herself as having a particularly "salesy" sales process.

Instead, she listens.

A customer starts describing their home or project and Dara can often visualise the finished space before they've even finished explaining it.

Her job then becomes finding the right solution for that person.

Fi identifies something important here: relationship building is part of the sales process.

Dara isn't simply trying to convince someone to buy the most expensive stone in the showroom. She's thinking about their project, budget, stress levels and what they're trying to create.

It's about understanding what somebody wants and helping them bring it to life.

And sometimes, the best clue is incredibly simple.

Dara watches for the moment somebody has an emotional reaction to something in the showroom.

If she hears, "Oh, I love that," that's where she starts.

Even if the budget doesn't allow for an entire room of that material, perhaps there's a way to bring a small amount into the design.

Because beautiful things don't only have to be practical.

Sometimes their job is to make you smile.

Your Business Doesn't Have to Look Like Everyone Else's

Dara's business journey has also required her to understand what she personally needs in order to run it sustainably.

Only three months after opening her first Melbourne store, Dara began experiencing serious health symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

She had to relearn how to walk and hire staff much earlier than she had planned financially.

More than a decade later, Dara reflects that her health became part of her story without becoming her entire story.

She learned how to manage a business alongside a chronic illness and, importantly, how to recognise the support she needs around her.

There's a broader business lesson in that.

The goal isn't necessarily to build your business according to somebody else's version of what a successful founder should be able to do.

It's to understand your own capacity and build the right support around it.

Outsourcing Doesn't Mean Forgetting About It

One of Dara's biggest business lessons has come from outsourcing.

For years, she worked with the same accountant. She would occasionally have a feeling that the relationship wasn't quite right, but staying felt easier than changing.

Eventually, the relationship became costly and she moved to a new accountant, who she now meets with monthly.

She noticed a similar pattern with marketing.

In the past, outsourcing something sometimes meant mentally handing over the entire responsibility.

I'm paying you to do this, so now it's off my plate.

But that approach didn't always produce the outcome she expected.

So Dara has changed the language she uses.

She no longer thinks of it as outsourcing.

She thinks of it as collaborating.

That small change completely reframed the relationship.

Collaboration means shared responsibility.

It means checking in.

It means reviewing the work.

And it means remaining connected to what's happening inside your own business, even when someone else is responsible for executing it.

Every Investment Needs a Return

Fi takes this idea one step further.

When you pay somebody to provide a service to your business, whether that's marketing, accounting or something else entirely, there needs to be a reason for the investment.

Of course, one part of the return may simply be getting something off your plate so you can spend your time elsewhere.

But you also need to understand what outcome you're hoping to create.

If you're investing $2,000 per month into marketing for six months, you're spending $12,000.

So what do you want to change as a result?

More sales?

Higher prices?

Greater brand awareness?

Access to a different market?

More time for you to focus on revenue generating work?

"Can I afford this?" isn't the only question.

You also need to ask:

"What return do I want from this investment?"

Know What Only You Can Do

After one marketing relationship ended, Dara took a close look at where she should actually be spending her time.

The answer became very clear.

She's best at selling.

She's best on the showroom floor.

She's best at finding new products, building relationships, talking with customers and, naturally, touching stone.

She's good at coming up with marketing ideas, but executing Instagram content isn't where she creates the most value.

And every hour spent doing that is an hour she isn't selling.

As Fi points out, business owners are often their business's best salespeople.

There are plenty of things you can eventually delegate.

But there are also things nobody else can do quite like you can.

One of the most valuable questions you can ask as your business grows is:

What am I uniquely good at, and what am I still doing that somebody else could do better?

You Don't Have to Be an Organised Person to Be a Successful Business Owner

Dara has also learned what she isn't naturally good at.

Planning is one of those things.

Three month plans?

She's probably not looking at them again.

She's creative, intuitive and works well in the moment.

And Fi makes an important distinction here:

Being organised does not automatically make you successful.

You can still be an excellent business owner without loving detailed plans and perfectly organised calendars.

What may matter more is effectiveness.

Can you identify what's important?

Can you make decisions?

Can you put your limited time and energy into the things that matter most?

Your business systems need to work with your brain, not somebody else's.

Final Thoughts

Twelve years into Byzantine Design, Dara has built the kind of premium retail business she once imagined.

But it didn't happen in year one.

Or even year five.

She started small. She learned the industry. She built relationships. She moved spaces as the business grew. She hired people, got some decisions wrong, found better support, learned where her own strengths lie and kept going.

And she's still dreaming bigger, with customised products, her own ranges and even a book on the horizon.

For anyone dreaming of opening a retail store or building a premium brand, Dara's advice is beautifully simple:

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Business will probably take longer than you think.

But as Dara says, the lessons are in the length of time it takes.

You have to love the game enough to hold the big ideas and the everyday details at the same time.

And if you do?

The beautiful shop doesn't have to exist on day one.

You can build your way there.

Outro

Thank you for listening to Money Secrets. If you loved this episode, please subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a review. Your support helps us get these conversations into the hands of more good people who deserve to thrive in business.

We’ve come so far as a society in many ways, but money is one of the areas where progress hasn’t been enough. If we want to tip the scales in favour of marginalised people, it starts with understanding the secret: money in small business.

In this podcast, Money Secrets, host Fiona (Fi) Johnston—Chartered Accountant, small business advocate, and impact enthusiast—dives into the conversations we need to have about money. The secrets that once stayed behind closed doors (or on the golf course) are finally out in the open.

Fi’s mission? To get more money into the hands of good people, like you. She believes small businesses have the power to change the world, and the key to making a bigger impact is to make—and manage—more money.

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Thank you to everyone involved for bringing this podcast together. We are excited to hear from you with any questions, feedback or suggestions for future episodes that you might have. Send a Direct Message to @peach.business

If you are excited for what’s to come, please like this episode, follow the podcast and share it with your friends. We are thrilled you're here.

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