Small Business: Double the business, double fun

Founder of Thom Productions, Murray Thom (Right). photo / Norrie Montgomery

Why stick to running one enterprise, when it could lead naturally to a second profitable sideline?

When Georgia Richards and Dot Kettle made the shift from corporate life in Wellington to country life in Nelson in 2008, they planted peonies in their 40ha plot of paradise to sell on the cut-flower export market.

An analyst by trade, Richards spent hours reading about how to grow the best blooms and discovered white peony root is used in Chinese herbal medicine for many ailments, including skin conditions.

The couple had three young children suffering from eczema and saw they had the raw material on their doorstep for products that could potentially help their kids and others.

"That started our journey of diversification," says Richards.

Richards and Kettle's company, Dove River Peonies, has since diversified into a range of value-added organic peony root products, including eczema care, general and baby skincare and teas.

They have further products in the pipeline and have employed a salesperson to specifically help them increase their market in China.

"In this business you never know what's going to come across your doorstep.

"You just have to be open to opportunities," says Richards.

Thom Productions, the company behind bestselling music-based productions like The Great New Zealand Songbook, diversified its business into new areas with the release last year of The Great New Zealand Cookbook, followed this year by The Great Australian Cookbook.

Founder Murray Thom says having time to think is important for coming up with new business ideas, but it is a challenge because people are busy.

"In my opinion, inspiration generally comes in times of stillness, or from doing another enjoyable activity - for me it's being on the water.

"My advice is, just take the opportunity to be still from time to time.

"Get enough time just to be."

Coming up in Small Business: Many business owners get a double whammy over Christmas as the lead-up to the holiday can be the busiest time, but they also need to make preparations to keep the lights on while staff are on holiday. If you have tips for handling the silly season - and maybe even enjoying it - drop me a note: nzhsmallbusiness @gmail.com.