How this Designer Turned Sleep into a Multi-million-dollar Business

What began as a frustrating bedding purchase in 2015 turned into a multi-million dollar success story for Hayley and Andy Worley. Drawing on Hayley’s fashion background, the couple launched Sheet Society in order to revolutionise the way we shop for sheets. Here they share their journey from startup to global brand, top tips for getting the most out of the American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card and insights into building a thriving customer-first company.

Newlyweds Andy and Hayley Worley believed the bed linen industry was stuck in the last century and had some crisp ideas to freshen it up. Of the pair, Hayley is the stylish creative and Andy is the commercial whizz who got Sheet Society off the ground – and onto thousands of beds across the globe. 

Andy applied for the American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card in the very early days of the company. It was a savvy move: as well as helping them to build a healthy bank of Qantas Points to reinvest for work trips, it unlocked flexible spending power¹ when their orders blew up.

Inspiration for the new business struck when the young couple went to buy new sheets using a generous department store voucher they’d received as a wedding gift. “There were just rows and rows of sets – a fitted sheet, a flat sheet and two pillowcases wrapped in plastic,” says Andy. “We never use flat sheets but we were forced to buy them. For a purchase with such a significant price tag it was a really lacklustre experience – when you shop for an outfit you get to try the clothes on and personalise the pieces how you want.”

That frustration was the spark for a new business. “Hayley’s a designer who loves colour and design and thought she could inject that fashion element into a space we all spend a lot of time in – the bedroom – and make it better.” 

The idea was to let people mix and match colours, prints and fabrics to suit their individual aesthetic rather than be locked into bedding sets that offered limited choice. And, needless to say, customers could skip the fitted sheets, too.

When Sheet Society launched online in 2017, Andy’s day job was in the commercial team of a food manufacturer forecasting supermarket sales. Initially, Haley was flying solo with Sheet Society but after a few months Andy made time one evening to run his expert eye over the company’s sales. “I could see we were selling out of queen-sized sheets and were left with doubles because the forecasting wasn’t right,” he says. “So I started working evenings and weekends to pick up all the back-end operations and financials.”

In 2019, Andy quit his job to join Sheet Society as its full-time CEO. Even before then, he says the American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card was instrumental to the nascent company’s growth. “It was our main Card for business expenses, especially ordering inventory,” says Andy of their fast-expanding range of sheets, which are made offshore to Hayley’s design specifications.

By carefully timing purchases and payments, Andy used the Card to ensure they had stock to sell before he had to pay the bill. “I’d pay our suppliers in China in US dollars on the Card knowing we’d have up to 51 days to pay,”² says Andy. “Back then, cash flow was week to week and it used to keep me up at night. I had a weekly cash flow sheet to shuffle everything to make sure all the bills were paid. Hayley would ask me if she could spend $200 and I’d have to say, ‘No, let’s do it next week please’.”

Andy’s rigour around costs and sales trends, coupled with his strategic use of the American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card to pay suppliers on negotiated terms, was critical to their growth. “We’ve never had any investors, we funded all that stock through really tight cash-flow management and using the Card,” says Andy.      

Hayley was right: customers loved the idea of being able to dress their bedrooms with the same freedom they have when dressing themselves. Their interactive online Bed Builder lets people play around with looks and access styling tips. Sheet Society grew 10 times from 2019 to 2020 and then doubled again in 2021. “We’ve held that growth, matured the business and continued to grow 25 to 30 per cent year on year.” Online, they now sell a fitted sheet every three minutes.

Their expansion into bricks-and-mortar retail stores was more serendipity than strategy. “When we expanded our warehouse in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford, it had a street frontage so we thought we may as well open a store,” says Andy. “It always traded really well so we picked a designer shopping strip for the next one – High Street in Armadale – and invested in a beautiful, smart fit-out. As a new business, having a physical presence has given our brand credibility.”

The shops have also allowed Sheet Society to end the other frustration they had with sheets wrapped in plastic blocks – in-store customers are encouraged to touch and feel all the fabric options. The third store opened in Sydney’s Bondi Junction in May and another in Adelaide’s Burnside Village will follow in October. Across the business, Sheet Society today employs more than 100 people and scales up for big shopping events such as Black Friday in November. 

“Bricks-and-mortar retail is a real opportunity for the business, it's important to us to find the right sites in the right locations to support our growth over the next few years. We believe our brand has the opportunity to really challenge the status quo,” says Andy. “When we were online, we were only reaching 30 per cent of the market because data shows that 70 per cent of our category shops in person. We’re really investing in giving our customers an experience that is immersive and tailored to their tastes.”

Unlock the possibilities

Andy Worley shares the benefits of using the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card and other business-savvy tips that have helped Sheet Society grow from online-only to high-end retail stores.

“Time your payments to maximise cash flow”

“The American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card has been a key part of our finances since very early on,” says Andy. “I would always pay for inventory on the first day after the statement refreshed to maximise the perk of up to 51 days to pay for purchases.² Those additional days of cash flow really helped give us the time to sell more sheets in order to get the money to pay the bill. If I had 60-day payment terms with a supplier, plus up to 51 days to pay for purchases on the Card, this would give us more than three months to receive the sheets and sell them before the statement was due.”

“Savvy decisions make booking travel – and insurance – more affordable”

Travel has become increasingly important to Sheet Society. Hayley flies to China once a year for product development and Andy has been back and forth from their Melbourne base to Sydney ahead of the new store opening, with a lot more trips planned in the future as their retail presence spreads. “I’m often able to book those trips around Australia using the business’s Qantas Points we’ve earned on the Card,” says Andy. He books through Qantas Business Rewards, where he and his team members receive discounts on their Qantas flights for work – plus they earn 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent on Qantas products and services.³ Another bonus? “When I book those flights on our American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card we also get complimentary travel insurance.”⁴ (Domestic and International Travel Insurance for you, your spouse and your Employee Card Members when you pay for your return trip with your Card. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply (such as maximum age limits, pre-existing medical conditions and cover limits).

“Put all your bills on the Card to build your points bank”

While Sheet Society now has different payment arrangements for the various suppliers of its growing range of products – including sleepwear and towels – there are still big bills each month. “We pay for some of our digital marketing on the American Express® Qantas Business Rewards Card,” says Andy. “We earn between 30,000 and 40,000 points a month.” Every dollar spent brings up to 1.25 Qantas Points³ into Sheet Society’s balance, which can be reinvested into business trips.” The Card also gives small business owners flexible spending power,¹ growing their purchasing ability through access to a line of unsecured funding – perfect for stocking up on inventory ahead of big sales events such as Black Friday.

“You can learn a lot about your customers from competitors”

Hayley’s designer instincts are at the heart of Sheet Society but the couple also deployed classic disruptor moves. “We went on websites where sheets were sold and I’d go through all the complaints,” says Andy. “All the legacy players were just copying the same thing and not innovating. We set about fixing the problems customers were complaining about and addressing their issues through our product design.” That included putting a zipper on quilt covers and changing the elastic in their fitted sheets to be thicker and more durable. “Bedding elastics are just not built to last so Hayley sourced a thicker band of elastic. At first our suppliers said it wouldn’t work so she went to China and got on the sewing machine with her new elastic and sewed it in.”

“Work for the perks and enjoy them!”

Sheet Society’s smart use of the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card means Andy and Hayley always have enough points to request an upgrade when they fly for work. Andy’s frequent trips have earned him Gold Frequent Flyer status and Qantas Club access. Before that status bump, they made sure to use the two complimentary domestic Qantas Club lounge passes⁵ the Card offers each year after the first eligible Qantas purchase. “We’re juggling three kids under six and a lot of travel at the moment so it’s really great to have a place to relax and recharge during business trips,” says Andy.

SEE ALSO: How This Sydney Mum Built a Global Interior Design Business