New Zealand Business Magazine has recently interviewed us about what it means to be a small manufacturing business and how we've grown our startup using online tools. It's been a great exercise for us to take a moment and reflect on how far the business has come in a relatively short space of time.
When Sarah first started the business she was literally painting boards in her garage in her spare time! Now the business is scaleable with a printing service that allows us to print our noticeboards to order within a manageable timeframe.
As the manufacturing side has evolved so too has our grip on technology! Sarah and I Skype each day, use Dropbox to store and share our large board files, manage our entire online shop front on Shopify and process invoices and manage the finances through Xero. We communicate with our customers using the social media suite of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Houzz. Social media has also been another invaluable way to make connections with other businesses working in the same market space. We found other businesses more than willing to share experiences and provide support.
Without the online tools and the social media relationships we've been able to foster we would literally be drowning in a sea of startup costs and marketing expenses that would have been very difficult to carry as a new business trying to get up and running. The mobile platforms the subscription services provide also make it easier to juggle the school runs, sports practices, classroom help and committee meetings that come with the privilege of being about to work from home, and manage a startup at the same time! You can read a bit more about our startup story at the link below.
Full article available online at NZ Business Magazine: http://www.nzbusiness.co.nz/view/article/getting-noticed
