Puzzling way to make a living

By IRENE CHAPPLE

Tucked away in a quiet courtyard between shops on Waiheke Island is the heart of Puzzleworld Products - two tonnes of 19th century cast iron.

The heavy metal is a printing press, long ago modified into a puzzle maker.

Painted above the Machine is date and place of birth: Germany, 1897.

The machine has given owner Trevor Smith something of a reputation around the island.

A taxi-driver says he's written a poem about Smith and his puzzle maker. He can't remember how it goes, but says kids love the machine.

"You should see their faces," he says with a wide grin.

The kids can make the puzzles themselves. They can press the buttons - with some help - that sink the press on to a blown-up photograph, which is pasted on to card.

The puzzle cutter comes down with three tonnes of force. You don't want to get your fingers caught in it. Once the press has groaned down on to the photograph, it punches out the puzzle, rises again at a majestic pace and bingo, a puzzle of your favourite picture.

The kids love it, says Puzzleworld founder Fran Bennett, because they can put people back together again - literally.

Bennett and business partner Trevor Smith own the business, but it's Smith's 21-year-old son, James, who mostly runs it.

Puzzleworld, on an island known for its laid-back attitude, goes along with the local pace of life. Here, taxis arrive in Waiheke time and at Puzzleworld, things are relaxed.

Smith has been here since the 1960s, when communes were common and Waiheke was a haven for alternative lifestylers.

Smith arrived to escape the city and the office and now, in his 50s, reckons you can tell he's been here a while.

About nine years ago, Smith and Bennett bought the puzzle machine from where it had been ensconced on the South Island west coast.

Bennett, taking time out after being made redundant, was making puzzles at home. She had heard about the machine after making inquiries about going commercial, and Smith was keen.

"It was just the feel of it," that appealed, says Smith. "It was something from the past yet it was still viable."

The press was one of only 1200 made and is probably the only one in New Zealand.

Even the German manufacturers have had problems tracking down information on the machine - the Smiths have been trying to find its history, but so far with little luck.

Bennett and Smith had put their savings - $6000 - into the business, and have both since put in money from their other work, including building and taxi driving.

That's been hard, says Smith, because the business has eaten dollars and given no return. "We knew we were going to be undercapitalised," says Smith, "but we knew we had a niche. Nowhere else can you get one-offs like [photographs]. There is nowhere else where you can do it small scale."

Now, Puzzleworld is beginning to break even.

For Smith, his son's moving into the business has been a huge help.

Smith's other children are more interested in ripping apart motorbikes and cars, while James returned from a stint farming in Tauranga to help out.

He has since done a six-week course in business management, with Winz, and recommends it.

Late last year, the business scored a 2000 puzzle promotional print run for the National Bank.

That was a big day, says Smith, his best yet in business.

He has been busy lately, emailing promotional marketing companies across Australia, and has plans to target the British market.

Queries are coming in from Australia and a request for a quote from Britain has staggered Smith - it was for 100,000 promotional puzzles.

"If we got that [contract] that would be my best day in business."

Still, such a job wouldn't be possible without some major shakeups.

It could be done, says Smith, by employing 10 people, modifying the machine so it could stamp four puzzles at a time and working around the clock for two months.

For now, they are concentrating on moving premises, just down the road where there is more pedestrian traffic.

Smith would like to employ more people, though. "I've lived on the island a long time now, and I've seen how unemployment can affect people."

The philanthropic spirit goes through his business policy. He has been making wooden swings, shaped like horses, that can be hung from trees. They sell for about $75.

"People tell me I should double that price," he says.

"But people come in and I know they can't afford that. The money doesn't matter. You should see the kids' faces."

* Puzzleworld Products: PO Box 142 Oneroa. Waiheke. Email: puzzleworldproducts@yahoo.com