In terms of the furniture we produce, it's either for custom orders or to hire out for events, and we also run workshops for schools, tertiary institutions, businesses and other organisations.
How did you choose the social focus for your business?
After doing some research we realised that our social component shouldn't just be about working with individuals, but should fly a flag in terms of raising awareness and equipping our community with the right tools to deal with individuals battling mental illness.
We read about three strategies that can help create a positive impact for individuals dealing with mental illness as well how the public views these people in our community, and we've worked to incorporate those into our business.
The first is 'protest', which is to talk about mental illness, and point out that it's not okay to look down on someone because of their mental condition. The second is 'educate', and we're constantly helping our clients and co-workers understand more about mental illness, and it's something we even touch on when we do our workshops with schools. And the third is 'contact', so we've built relationships with our team where we follow up on where individual members are at, and get advice from social workers about how to best communicate with them.
You've been studying social entrepreneurship and sustainability, as well as practising it in your business. Can you talk me through how your studies have impacted you as an entrepreneur?
I've been doing postgrad studies at AUT University in social entrepreneurship and sustainability, but I haven't fully finished yet because I've had to put my research on hold as The Pallet Kingdom has become a full time job. But it's definitely impacted the way I think.
When I was doing my Bachelor of Business I represented the university in international business case competitions and competed at the Hult Prize competition, which identifies and launches top social enterprise ideas and is funded by the Clinton Foundation. Our team was privileged enough to have Derek Handley give us insights and advice on our project.
I also had the privilege to co-run a social enterprise student-run organisation where we had the chance to meet with Minister of Youth Affairs Nikki Kaye and talk about the importance of having government support for young people starting social enterprise projects.
Last year at AUT the Minister announced $250,000 to support that work and mentioned myself and my partner in her speech. I'm still so honoured and thankful for that opportunity. I definitely wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now so passionately if it wasn't for my professors, faculty advisors and mentors from AUT.
What's next for your business?
At this stage we're working on launching a spring/summer furniture collection, which people will be able to buy from our ecommerce store. And we'd love to expand premises, move into a bigger workshop and find a way to access a big truck so we can divert more pallets from going into landfill. We'd also like The Pallet Kingdom to be able to furnish some public areas, like parks, bus stops and scenic areas.
But ultimately we're a small business, and as much as we'd love to grow nationwide and have a retail store we've started this journey with no startup capital, so we're aware this is going to take time and a lot of hard work.
What's a key piece of advice you'd have for anyone else considering setting up a social enterprise?
The best advice that's been given to me is don't hold on to your ideas too much. Be open to receive suggestions and feedback, because small businesses need to be flexible enough to pivot whenever they're heading towards a dead end.
