Natasha Gaunt and Selina Thomson, founders of Auckland homewares firm Otty. Photo / Sarah Clayton Photography
Natasha Gaunt and Selina Thomson, founders of Auckland homewares firm Otty. Photo / Sarah Clayton Photography
Sisters in law Natasha Gaunt and Selina Thomson talk setting up Auckland-based homewares firm Otty and why following and learning the latest trends doing the rounds on Instagram is proving lucrative.
What does your business do?
Otty is a small New Zealand operated family run business. We specialise in designingand manufacturing quality and on-trend storage ottomans. Otty launched in September last year. We have a manufacturer in Hong Kong that we are really happy with.
What was the motivation for starting it?
Thomson: Natasha my sister in law and I, we're really close friends, we always shared a love of homewares and decor items, and when you become a parent you quickly realise how much stuff you start accumulating in your house, and having more available storage options in our minds was never a bad thing. We found ourselves always scrolling for the right pieces in our homes and it became apparent to us that there were quite limited options in New Zealand that were functional homeware pieces that were aesthetically beautiful. With those things in mind we decided to create our own storage ottomans.
There were a lot of comments going back and forward - "Imagine if we did this" - so roughly from when we started talking about it and researching, designing and looking at fabrics, it took about nine months.
How was the business funded?
Initially we pulled together individual savings that we had, and we also got a small business loan to get us off the ground. An initial investment sum of about $40,000.
It is just the two of us. We do everything - the social media accounts, content creation, dispatching orders, customer service, we even built our own website from scratch. We try and learn everything so we can do it ourselves as that can keep our outgoings low, and it also enables us to understand the operation of the business from the inside out. Our supportive partners help us and often get roped in to help us with literal heavy lifting.
How many ottomans have you sold until now?
In our first order we got in a 20-foot container and that was 240 ottomans, and we've nearly sold them all and we've just had another shipment recently. If I had to put a number on sales, I'd say we have done about 400 until now. We have eight products in our range at the moment; that includes different colours and different fabrics and sizes.
Before we launched Otty we did a lot of market research to see if there was a gap in the market and our products would sell and we didn't see another company in New Zealand that could offer what we wanted to offer. We know storage ottomans aren't a new idea but we think we stand out in terms of our variety and range.
Do you have any prior experience running a business?
This is my first business. I have worked as a lawyer for the past nine years, first in Australia then subsequently back home here in New Zealand, so I really strive on the admin side of the business. I think my career in the legal profession has been invaluable in terms of running a business. I'm an in-house lawyer for an investment company and Natasha has owned and operated her own hair salon for several years now.
Instagram is soaking up a lot of time in terms of the content creation. I've put myself through a few courses because I like to learn and like to do it myself, so it is taking time to learn how to do things like reels, captions and hashtags, advertising and that side of it is new. It is taking up a lot of time but it is worth it in the long run. Instagram has been really beneficial for us in terms of exposure and brand awareness. The majority of our sales are either from our Instagram page or direct visits to our website.
Otty specialises in ottomans and storage furniture. Photo / Supplied
Our target market is anyone in their 20s through to 50s and 60s. We have students getting our ottomans for their flat to use as a make-up stool and using for hair styling tools for example, there has been quite a range of people that are finding uses for them.
What are your long-term plans for the business?
Our long-term goal for Otty was always to grow our product line and offer a variety of styles and fabrics. We have a lot of ideas that we can't wait to bring to life and our dream is for Otty to become a well-known Kiwi household brand for all things storage and ottomans. We're definitely thinking about products for the future that would complement our storage ottomans.
What's the strategy for expansion?
At the moment we are focused on selling the ottomans ourself. Further down the track in two to three years we would like to be in a retail space or with a wholesaler but at the moment we're in the initial phases and not ready for that yet.
What advice do you give to others thinking about starting their own business?
By no means do we see ourselves as business experts, we just found something that we truly loved and believed in. In our toughest moments we always say to ourselves 'if it was easy everyone would do it'.
A very wise family member and successful entrepreneur, she told me that you never fail, you fail up and every mistake you learn from and grow to be better. When you look at it like that you can take mistakes and failures in your stride, and even welcome them as you know it is going to make you better.
