Small Business: Adriana Christie, The Pallet Kingdom

Adriana Christie. Photo / Supplied

We featured The Pallet Kingdom in August. What has been happening since?

We've had a dramatic increase in calls for pallet collection, which is fabulous because one of our aims is to encourage conscious disposal of pallets. Since we last connected we've diverted about 600 pallets. Our orders for custom-made products have also increased. We're conquering another goal, to be deeply involved with schools and young people, and delivered workshops in sustainable practices and building using pallets at schools and community events.

What is your biggest achievement in 2015?

Everything we've learned. We're really proud to have more machinery and a better vehicle to carry a lot more pallets and pull a trailer. We've been operating for more than a year with no external aid other than an initial $1000 JAPhA fund award from the Auckland Communities Trust, so this is the result of our hard work. We've worked hard to avoid relying on grants so when we get an investor we can prove this is a feasible, self-sustaining idea. And it's rewarding to see the environmental impact of transforming pallets into art and also the social impact on young people in our team, like seeing some able to buy a first car.

What is the year's biggest challenge?

Communication has been a big challenge and we've had misunderstandings with customers about delivery time frames, or what an upcycled product will look like, with things like knots and nail heads.

On the other hand, sometimes we struggle to keep up with demand and the higher needs of some customers, so we have had to decline some projects because of our limited capacity in space and staffing. We've been growing as much as we possibly can, but we're not in a position to jump into a bigger space on our own so we're looking at options to expand.

What are your goals for 2016?

Expansion. With a bigger space we can make more furniture and work with more young people, so we'll be exploring options to expand through the likes of collaborations, sharing spaces, funding or partnerships. We're also working on getting an online shop, as well as a blog and YouTube channel to share DIY and other projects. And in terms of product we want to create ranges of smaller pieces like art and homewares, and produce a seasonal catalogue to showcase new furniture and art for each season for hire or purchase.

Another thing we want to do is collaborate with a local artist. We've seen a few artists around the world build awesome pieces from recycled materials for the public to interact with, so we'd love to build a public pallet sculpture to get people inspired to recycle and upcycle.

• thepalletkingdom.com/