What pressures do you face at this time of year?
This is our biggest time of year in New Zealand and Australia. Our tents are used at music festivals and events, but we're also busy with the retail side and rentals. The rentals are labour intensive, so I take those opportunities on a case-by-case basis. It's a side of the business I'd like to franchise in future. The increased demand means we have to be organised. I have contractors doing various jobs in the business and they ramp up their hours in busy times. My father, Mike Walsh, now does about 30 hours a week as our CFO. There's a lot of pressure on our production and logistics chain in the lead-up to Christmas. It takes around four months to manufacture our tents. I'm thankful for our amazing customers in our first year who were super-patient. Our aim is to under promise and over deliver.
What other things do you do to mitigate those pressures?
Respecting everyone in the chain who make it happen for us, from production to dispatch, is important. Our New Zealand warehouse - NZ Post International - is fantastic and we have a great relationship with our dispatch manager, Abeth Idris. Good communication is key. My phone is on 24/7 during this time and I'm always at the ready to provide fast responses and troubleshoot any issues.
