Instagram has a way of making everything look easy. Yeah sure you can run a business, all you need is some motivational quotes and a coffee on a Monday morning right? (FYI neither of us drink coffee and Mondays get way too much negativity!) There are brands that have really inspired us as well as our friends in small businesses and it's easy to look outside and see everyone killing it and think that it's possible for us to do the same. In many ways we are. Here we are today, much further than we imagined we be. Our first year...
This month we are focusing on showing some love to our stockists on social media so we thought it would be good to share our experience of selling wholesale. This is a two part blog post (click here for part one) where we'll talk about some of the key thing to consider if you are planning to go down the wholesale route. Think of it as a mini guide from our personal experience. Hopefully it will be helpful if it's something you're new to, too! How do you find stockists? Trade Shows When we dreamed up Mustard we knew wholesale would be crucial to...
This month we are focusing on showing some love to our stockists on social media so we thought it would be good to share our experience of selling wholesale. This is a two part blog post where we'll talk about some of the key thing to consider if you are planning to go down the wholesale route. Think of it as a mini guide from our personal experience. Hopefully it will be helpful if it's something you're new to, too! Preparing to wholesale One of the first things you'll need to think about is the price. It's pretty standard for a...
One of the scariest decisions we have made in our first year of business was to take a break from it. From the very beginning, Mustard has consumed our minds, our time + our hearts. There are days where it feels like it's the centre of the universe + it can being really challenging to separate from it even just for the evening. We counted 8 different channels that we can be contacted on and because we operate in two hemispheres it means we are switched on 24 hours a day. It is often said that running a business is like living...
Our aim for our colour palette was to create options that were versatile, beautiful and worked well for mixing and matching. Whether the lockers are for a living room, bedroom, office or hallway we wanted there to be a colour that fits with your space. White has been a popular choice in Australia, the sunshine and beach definitely have a lot to do with it as people gravitate to bright open spaces. The Olive has been a big hit on instagram and has a steady following of plant lovers, it's definitely a versatile colour that works for grown ups and...
I’m going to let you in on a little secret… Me: I moved to Australia 7 years ago with my son and husband who had been raving about how great his hometown Newcastle was for years. Our relationship didn’t last long after the move but my love for Newcastle and Australia grew and grew. So, I found myself single and a long way from home with a curly haired 3 year old and no money. Being a mother and working is, let’s be honest, bloody hard at the best of times. The hours of the jobs I was offered didn’t...
16th February 2018. Wake up at 6 am, 1 hour commute to work, 9 hours at work, leave, travel to Heathrow and jump on a plane. One outfit change, a little bit of sleep and 4 movies later I arrive in Sydney to four very smiley people - my sister Becca, her husband Jono, and their sons Dylan and Ellis, the best nephews in the world! But before I can even see the Australian sun, the work begins on the car journey home. Making plans for every minute of the next few days as we were about to launch our new brand: Mustard. Were...
Today I woke up (and Jess went to bed) to this article going live on The Design Files. If you don't know, it is 'Australia's Top Design Blog' so it's kind of a BIG deal. The truth is, I also felt a moment of panic, the imposter syndrome kick in, the 'what if I'm found out' moment. It may or may not surprise you to know that I have screwed a lot of things up with Mustard already, there are things I'd already like to go back and redo. It may or may not surprise you that every day I...
It may sound strange to say that my first business was not about making money. Yes, I wanted some shiny coins in my pocket and yes I sure did have bills to pay but I also rarely checked my bank account or chased up payments that hadn’t been made. The money would flow in and, of course, flow out of my business account. It worked. There was nearly always money in the kitty for what I needed but the truth is, it just wasn’t what turned me on. In Australia wages are sensibly high and award wages mean that I would...
Ok, so we aren't exactly Pros by any means (this was our first trade show after all!) but here's some things we learnt from doing Life Instyle: 1. Be human. (Most important!) You can't help it, you are human, don't try to hide it. Sometimes we jumbled our words, forgot things, dropped business cards on the floor. It's ok. You know the best thing? The person you are talking to is a human too. 2. Be prepared. Think about the questions you might be asked and prepare a memory bank of answers, practice and get familiar with them. Even better offer a...
Sometimes in life you have to put all your eggs in one basket. At least that's how I seem to live. From the very beginning, when the idea of Mustard was taking shape, I knew that I wanted to launch at Life InStyle. I knew that wholesale was where our energy needed to be focused to gain momentum and Life InStyle was the perfect platform for the brand we wanted to create. I did the research and looked into other options, I asked everyone I knew who had done a trade show. But, in the end there was only a Plan...
One night I said to my husband, “I just need to go to China.” He is fairly well adapted to my spontaneous nature and knows that I am not someone who will ask for permission and wasn’t born with a very large supply of patience. I had been emailing and skyping with my potential supplier in China for a few months and establishing what the parameters of possibility were. Could I have lockers any size or shape? Could I choose the design of the key? How are they packaged and can I customise that? How on earth do you get...
