Melanie Clark on her company, candy and kids

Melanie Clark, owner of Candybox, with her children (from left to right) Tommy (6), Elliot (8) and Mitchell (4).

Melanie Clark is 'chief jellybean' at Candybox, an online gift business she bought a year-and-a-half ago, which she balances with looking after her three young boys.

What were the work life balance issues you considered when you were buying your business?

I had been thinking about in what capacity I could return to work. My networks were all in Wellington, where we used to live, but now we're in Auckland and commuting to the city sounded like a nightmare. Then I heard about a friend of a friend's small online gift business, which was Candybox.

She'd developed the business and run it during the day while her children were at school; the courier came at 2pm, so the order fulfilment was all over by then. I thought it was a great wee idea, and it seemed to fill a gap in the online market between sending a card or a large, more expensive gift. And then she was emigrating to the US and it came up for sale.

I was keen to buy it because it meant I could be at home after school and kindy for our three children, could spend time with my preschooler when he wasn't at kindy, and still run the household. I also thought I'd learn how to run and grow a small business, not have to commute to work and would be earning an income to contribute to the family. The opportunity was there and I wanted to take it.

A year-and-a-half into the business, has your perception of the work life balance you thought you would achieve actually been a reality?

The balance I wanted to achieve revolved around the children and our family, and in that regard I have a good balance. I do manage to be here for the children, without Candybox dominating everything, probably 95 per cent of the time. My preschooler still goes to kindy for 18 hours and we do household errands, Mainly Music, swimming and playgroup. I feel I have the family's needs well balanced against my business responsibilities.

But I did think that with the business being as small as it was, it would have proportionally small business issues, which just isn't true. A friend said to me, when I had just bought Candybox 'there's no such thing as a small business, there are just businesses'. I had hoped she was kind of wrong. But then when I actually started working in the business I've found it's kind of true.

So what have been the main issues?

The main challenge is the rate of growth. At this stage I've chosen not to work after school, in the evenings and most weekends and because of that I've had small growth. While I still have a preschooler I've chosen to focus on my customers' orders and requests, providing good customer service and going the extra mile with problem solving any issues.

So order fulfilment isn't a problem at all, but administration, marketing, social media, business development, planning and web development, personal and household stuff has to be fitted into two mornings a week for a couple more weeks until my preschooler turns five and goes to school. At the moment it's not a lack of ideas that's challenging, it's a lack of execution time to get those ideas off the ground.

What are some of the practical things you do to balance work and family life?

I make sure all the candy is away before the children get home from school. There are two reasons for that: so I focus on them, and if the candy is out of sight it's out of mind.

I also make lots of conscious choices about what I will and will not do in terms of extra curricular activities for me, although I somehow still have volunteered to help run Mainly Music, playgroup, be class representative for my school-age children, be on the Great Greenhithe Garden Tour committee, help out at church and be the soccer team manager for one of my children.

What I don't get is leisurely lunches with friends during the week, and I do think a lot of those activities will stop once my youngest is at school and I can really start to put in a good 30 hours a week with the business.

A couple of other things I do: I don't work at night, unless it's really necessary, because I don't sleep well if I work before going to bed, and I break my day into sections and I look at what I can realistically get done in those times.

What are some of your future goals in terms of work life balance given you're about to ramp up the hours you're spending in your business?

I've made the decision not to commit to any new activities until I've worked for a while with the increased hours to really understand how it goes. But ongoing I'd like to do some parent help at school once a month for each of our children and I'd also like to be doing some networking with other business women - as a social outlet, and for personal and business development purposes.

Coming up in Your Business: The sharing economy - where people share access to goods or services without actually owning them - is a growing trend. What are some of the companies springing up in this area, and how are they growing markets for their offerings? If you've got a story to share, drop me a note: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com