The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
We have been operating since the original COVID lockdowns in New Zealand, and in some ways, this was a blessing – people at home spent more time shopping online rather than in stores, so we flourished. One of our biggest challenges has been overall increases in cost, and how to keep the prices fair for our customers while still making the business model viable. We have had to increase our shipping prices over the years for both businesses sadly, simply because we have been unable to absorb this cost as the courier prices have risen. We have been honest about this on our social media accounts, and our customers have been graciously understanding.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
We’ll start with cons: these include not having help when it is needed as being a couple who runs their own business, of which one person already has another full-time job, some days it feels like the work piles up – especially in the back end such as the accounting and stocktaking. Another con is slower days on the store such as public holidays or when the All Blacks lose a test match – no one wants to go shopping! Some of these we can account for but others we cannot, and this can make it difficult to balance. If the website requires maintenance after hours, this can make for missing out on valuable family time too.
The pros include not having a boss! It is a lot of freedom but also a lot of responsibility. To turn a con into a pro, even if we have a slower day on the store customer-wise, there is always other work to do to keep busy such as research and development into future products we can stock, revamping the images we have on the site, social media posts, accounting just to name a few. Another big pro is seeing our imagination come to life in the products we stock and getting thank you messages from our loyal customers.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
Our hopes and dreams are to continue to build on what we have started: to build on the products we already have that our customers love, and to become a household name for personalised laser engraved products in New Zealand and Australia.
Visit the JFLI website to find out more and to check out their products. You can also connect with them on Facebook and Instagram.
