Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Establishing a job-share arrangement and stocking their own freezers with Audrey & Alfie products helps Carly & Zoe juggle work and family.
“We’re so fortunate to be doing this together, and have established a job-share arrangement that works really well for us. We both work part-time on the business, which allows us to cover every day as well as have one day together for planning and strategy”.
“We also use a lot of the Audrey & Alfie food ourselves! We both find it really useful to have nutritious, ready-made meals and snacks to hand for busy days/weeks, so always have a good stock in the freezer”.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Having families know our products exist through an online-only model has been the biggest challenge of the business so far.
“We’re really trying to establish a new product category: high quality, convenient, frozen finger food and meals. Retailers have been enthusiastic about stocking our products, but we’ve often had to workshop where to position them within a store along with how we ensure customers are aware of our in-store presence. Similarly, many parents haven’t considered searching for home-delivered frozen ready-made meals and snacks, as this unique offering hasn’t been available in the market until recently. So we have had (and still have) a big challenge with brand awareness, particularly because we lack the substantial marketing budgets wielded by supermarket brands”.
“Our strong belief in the value of our products is reinforced by the incredible feedback we’ve received from families. Their comments highlight the pressing need for our high quality food and home delivery service, which has been a strong motivator for us”.
Delivering frozen food has also been a challenge in terms of reaching more families. We were always clear on ‘why’ we wanted to snap freeze our products, as this avoids the need to heat treat products, add artificial preservatives or additives and it locks in nutrients. But, it’s expensive to store and deliver, compared with ambient or even refrigerated food, which is really hard when starting out as a small business”.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
“The most significant advantage is the increased time and flexibility we gain to be with our little ones. The ability to adjust our schedules to attend childcare or school events and the luxury of having more time during the week to share moments with our children is truly invaluable”.
“It’s also such a privilege to be able to spend our time working on something we are truly passionate about. We love what we do (even if we don’t love every aspect of it!) and it’s so rewarding hearing from other parents who express how our food has lightened their load and given them more time in their week. Knowing that we are making a positive impact and supporting parents and little ones is very motivating. The hardest part is that to some degree you’re always ‘on’ and you can’t switch off at 5pm”.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
“We’ve been so humbled to have so many families reaching out to us asking when we’ll be delivering to their area, as there is clearly a need for this type of product and service. So, this year we are hoping to expand into QLD, NSW and the ACT, and hope to also reach other parts of Australia in future too”.
“We are also looking to increase our retail presence in selected supermarkets and food stores, and expand our range of food to continue to meet the needs of families”.
Please get in touch via our website or Instagram page if there is anywhere you would like to see our products!
Visit the Audrey & Alfie website to find out more, and connect with them on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
