Meerkat Desk founder Alice Farrell, 35, has made a business out of selling cardboard desk converters designed to promote standing. Farrell explains how technology has enabled her to juggle the business, a full-time job, and family.
A brief description of the business?
Meerkat Desk is a portable standingdesk converter - there's a $25 keyboard riser used to bring your keyboard or laptop up to a standing height, and a $125 steel monitor stand.
What inspired you to start this kind of business?
I wanted a standing desk because I had been reading about sedentary lifestyles and how they were linked to negative health outcomes. Studies show sitting all day is associated with a higher risk of heart disease and cancer, in particular, bowel cancer and breast cancer - so I wanted a standing desk as a preventative measure.
The articles made me think about just how much sitting I was doing - all day long.
I would sit to eat my breakfast, sit to drive to work, at work I sit for the majority of my day - six to eight hours - and then I get back in to my car to sit there to drive home, sit to eat dinner; and I thought 'this is not what my body is designed for'.
It started niggling in the back of my mind and that's when I started to look for a standing desk solution.
What made you want to design a cardboard desk option?
I was looking around at what was available at the time and it was all really expensive. I thought 'well, what if I get an expensive standing desk and realise that I don't actually want to stand that much, then I've wasted all this money, and I just wanted to try it', so I started putting together makeshift solutions for myself.
I was using printer boxes at one point and that obviously wasn't the right ergonomic solution. The shape of the printer boxes were inspiration for what is now the Meerkat Desk.
The Meerkat Desk and monitor stand.
When it first launched I had people asking me how much weight it could sustain so I got my partner Kerry to stand on it for a laugh - it can withstand the weight of a 85kg man.
Even though it's made of cardboard, it's not a cardboard box.
When did you find the business and how big is your team?
I started doing the design mid-way through 2013 and launched the website in January 2014. It's just me - and my partner, he helps with the IT side of things.
He runs his own businesses as well so we bounce ideas off of each other.
How is your business structured - do you run the business in your spare time?
I launched the business when I was still working full-time in my day job as a data analyst and running the business on the side.
I went on maternity leave about 9 months after the launch and I continued to work on the business while raising my first daughter. After maternity leave I returned to work on a part-time basis but by then I was already pregnant with my second daughter - they were born 18 months apart. At one stage I was pregnant, looking after my first daughter, working part-time and running a business as well.
I'm on maternity leave again now and raising both my daughters while running the business, but will be returning to work in January on a part-time basis.
This is why I say to other small business owners or 'mumprenuers' that outsourcing is so important - I would never have the time to do everything myself and be able to enjoy time with my family.
What inspired the name 'Meerkat Desk'?
I had been meditating on a name that would describe the product and the action of going from sitting to standing. I'd been browsing for inspiration when I came across a picture of some meerkats, which I thought was the perfect description.
Modern technology is absolutely amazing. I've been able to run and manage my business using my phone.
Meerkats go from sitting to standing so quickly, which is part of my vision. Also, it instantly made me think of the Telecom ad from years ago with the meerkats.
How heavily do you rely on technology to run the business?
Modern technology is absolutely amazing. I've been able to run and manage my business using my phone. The apps that are out there now are absolutely incredible - I wouldn't have been able to have done it otherwise.
Who are your biggest clients?
I work for Progressive Enterprises and I've had quite a few sales through them and then other companies like Chelsea Sugar and New Zealand Heart Foundation.
I've got a range of clients - people who work from home wanting an affordable product, and then I have referrals through occupational therapists, and students - that's another big one. The desk is quite popular down in Dunedin, actually.
Meerkat Desk promotes standing at a desk as opposed to sitting.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced?
Since having my two daughters it's been finding the time to try and get everything done and finding time in my day to be able to commit to the head space to do marketing, promotions and talking to customers.
Where do you see the business in five to 10 years time?
Hopefully in five or 10 years time we would have launched in to Australia, but the big hairy goal is to launch into the United States.
I'm always thinking about how we can launch into those countries and Kickstarter is a very popular option for standing desks - it's sometimes referred to as the 'standing desk starter' because there have been lots of prototypes that launched through Kickstarter. It may be the way we go for the US market and North America.
What advice do you give to others hoping to start their own business?
Just do it. Honestly, just throw caution to the wind, and outsource.
