We launched the Smart Colour and the Smart Magnetic balance boards. With these new products, the coloured part of the balance board is stronger against scratches and can be drawn on with chalk or whiteboard pens and you can wipe it clean as many times as you wish. With the magnetic boards, you can draw and they are also magnetic, which opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Both parents and early years settings absolutely loved this new version and they became very popular very quickly.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
That’s always a work in progress. I sometimes look back and can’t believe how I did it. You need to be very organised with your time and be able to switch from one role to another without mixing them. If I am with my children, I want to be present and give it my all, so I make sure my laptop and phone (which ping quite a lot) are out of the way for some quality time.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Everything seemed a challenge at the beginning, and I had to step out of my comfort zone many times to overcome them. At the beginning of the year, we always make a plan for the year ahead, but since we’ve been in business (5 years), the market situation has changed every year and we’ve had to change our plan and adapt each year. The biggest challenge (of the many) we’ve faced was probably dealing and adapting to Brexit. We had a good network of retailers in Europe and when Brexit happened, it took months to get back to some sort of normality regarding trade with Europe.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
It is a good feeling when you run your own business and get amazing feedback from customers. It is very fulfilling and rewarding to know that you made so many people happy with your work.
My favorite thing is attending events and talking face to face to parents and grandparents, seeing their faces when they see their children playing with the balance board and coming up with many ways of using it.
The cons are probably the long hours you have to work to get the business up and running but it is all definitely worth it.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
My dream is to become the number one brand in meaningful and sustainable toys. I would like to see our products as must-haves in any household and be treasured by many families down the line as they are passed through generations. I also would like Capikooa to become not only a product-based business but also a hub for families to find information, advice, tips and tricks, access to training and chat amongst themselves about all things early childhood development.
Visit The Capikooa website to find out more, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
