The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
When I first started developing our products about 2 years ago, I was a working mother who was struggling to keep our youngest son in school. We knew he had ADHD and Dyslexia, but things were out of control at school. When he got suspended in 2018, we kept digging to find out what was going on and learned that he had hypersensitive hearing as well as Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). We found a therapy that helped with the APD (to a degree) but we were still having issues. In the end, he got excluded from his first school, while I was still trying to develop products and work during the day too, as well as juggling trips to Tauranga for therapy sessions… The business took a back seat for a bit during this time, but the products helped us a lot…especially when I worked on new essential oil combinations to see what helped with calming, soothing, etc.
We got through that year and along came Covid…I think everyone can relate to how challenging this year has been. Well at first, during the first lockdown, we were all working from home but then came redundancy and the second school exclusion. Trying to balance being made redundant, with a special needs child out of school, while developing products, working on creating labels, building an audience, and finding out that our son was actually on the Autism spectrum as well has been challenging. At the moment, our biggest challenge is trying to build sales while I look for another job that I can fit around our son being part-time in school, as well as work in the business. In an ideal world, we would be able to have me stay at home working on the business and being on call for school but that’s going to take some time.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
There is a lot of learning involved! I am very new to running a business – and to be honest, I’m not a salesperson so the marketing side of the business is very intimidating to me! I am the creator, the formulator, the accountant, the researcher, and the execution – I see so much need out there as a mother, but I need to have a detailed plan to keep me on track to make those ideas a reality.
One of the best things I see in my business is when a product helps someone to feel better. It’s fantastic knowing that I can provide something to help someone rest, recover, or just get through the day!
Hopes and dreams: What next?
I would like to see Edney Skincare recognised as a safe, gentle addition to family lives around New Zealand. We’re working on aftershave lotions and additional products for family life, but ultimately I just want people to be able to trust that when they use Edney Skincare, they are using quality that helps them out naturally.
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