Its been a tough landscape to operate in, there is no denying that. But one thing we have enjoyed is seeing how resilient and innovative our partners are. Sara & Jean from Twelve Tables have dug deep and used this time to diversify and launch a completely new business to complement their existing one…
The Find is curated furniture business drawing on their talent of finding the perfect design pieces for your wedding, which has now been extended into the home. Congratulations Sara & Jean, we admire your tenacity and drive.
How has the recent landscape changed for you over the past month?
As most in our industry, our team of 13 staff went from 60-70 “hour weeks” full of weddings, love and excitement about the future, to sitting at home wondering how to navigate the future. We, are however lucky to be a husband and wife team and have spent this time together planning and keeping creative and positive.
What pro-active things are you doing at this time business-wise?
We have had time to look at the “big picture”, we’ve employed a business strategist to help improve our systems and processes, as we have grown as a business, our “old systems” are now no longer servicing us, so its been an exciting time looking at the behind the scenes with an expert to ensure we, as a team are continuing to provide a “flawless” experience for our couples.
We’re also grateful to have this time to plan for our weddings for next season. We’re currently building lots of custom furniture, which keeps us (and our couples) excited!
You have recently launched a new business, The Find, creating unique and handmade homewares – how did this new business come about and what are some of the ideas behind it?
We love being creative and keeping busy. The Find has been in the pipeline for a long time. Level 4, “lockdown” gave us the chance to get creative. We have had the time to build lots of items for the home that were on our “wish list”. We documented the building process on the Twelve Tables Instagram and we received so much love and support for each new item, this gave us the drive we needed to launch “The Find”. We do have so many great staff with lots of amazing skills and we want to keep them employed, and The Find has allowed this. Though Twelve Tables is our priority, going forward, we will be releasing a limited amount of “made to order” furniture and homewares each month.
Do you have a wedding registry service for guests to buy furniture from The Find as a wedding present for the happy couple or is this something that could be arranged with couples?
Love it! not, yet, but brilliant idea, so Yes! We did think it would be a lovely idea and we have so many of our wonderful past clients and couples who continue to support us and they have showed us lots of love for The Find.
Has our current scenario changed how you will operate your businesses in the future and has it weighed in on any future plans?
We are confident we will be back to normality soon and will support our couples every step of the way through this process, but from an immediate and “off season” perspective, last year we had a wonderful “Pop-up” which we will be recreating again this year, but with a twist. Think “going virtual” (top secret, watch this space).
Do you have any ideas to help the industry cope in this current scenario and moving forward?
It’s very easy to say “pivot” or “think differently”, but actually making the jump or making those changes can be super scary and might not actually be the right move for your business. We have found great value in our business mentor over this time (and over the last few years). Regardless of how “big or small” your business is, we would suggest getting yourself a business mentor/coach if you don’t have one. Financially this might seem scary, but https://www.businessmentors.org.nz/ – is currently a free service. Our other piece of advice is, run your own race and surround yourself with positive people, now more than ever.
Personally, what pro-active things are you doing to stay happy?
Personally our focus is to remain positive and share kindness. This is helped by daily meditation, exercise (even just a short walk or bike around the block) and daily affirmations/things we are grateful for.
Visit the Twelve Tables website here and Instagram account here.
