Emma Bidois and Dane Winter, owners of Summer Supply.
For some the Christmas holidays mean closing the office door, slipping on the jandals and heading to the beach for a week or two.
But at Emma Bidois and Dane Winter's business, Summer Supply, the summer holidays are one of the busiest times of year.
Summer Supply imports and distributes the Brazilian havaianas brand of jandals to stores around New Zealand and in a handful of Pacific Islands, as well selling the flip-flops through their own two Auckland-based retail stores.
Read also: Havaianas celebrate 50 years of jandals
"Most of our sales come in the summer months and this is a logistical challenge," explains Bidois. "We sell through over 200 doors around New Zealand so trying to keep our retailers' racks full of the right styles and sizes so customers can find what they're looking for is challenging.
"Also managing the stock levels of our own business to make sure we've got enough stock for the summer season is something we have to keep on top of."
The pair describe themselves as "just a couple of jandal-wearing kids from Mount Maunganui", but they've taken a far-from-laidback approach to tackling the challenges Bidois outlines.
They plan 10 to 12 months in advance to ensure deliveries land on time from Brazil and line up with marketing strategies. They've also harnessed technology to streamline processes, chosen to warehouse product themselves for greater flexibility, and offer monthly deliveries to spread the stock load for retailers.
Plan, plan and plan some more is the message that comes through loud and clear this week from small business owners when talking about how they ensure the upcoming Christmas holiday period runs smoothly.
The rush to get the festive beverage cupboards stocked and presents sorted also makes for a busy Christmas season at Havelock North-based online wine retailer Advintage. Owner John (Mac) Macpherson says, like most retailers, Christmas is a major contributor to end of year results so it's crucial they get their product mix and holiday staffing right.
"We plan ahead. Luckily we've been doing this for long enough that we have plenty of sales data to analyse and we tend to make our Christmas buying decisions earlier each year," says Macpherson. "These days buying for Christmas starts around September, though we lock in some of the Champagne and other lines we import much earlier than that.
"Staff-wise we try to employ the same students each summer. After a couple of seasons they're a real asset and it's always sad when we lose them to 'real' jobs later on."
Macpherson has been retailing wine online for 15 years and says he's amazed at how consumer patterns have changed over that time.
"Clients shop later and the Christmas period is definitely more compressed these days. We're in an online market that's very deal driven, so that puts even more pressure on us to nail our buying mix. Some clients are loyal, but most shop around, and a lot of wine purchases are made as quick decisions," he says.
Delia Gill, owner of Wellington-based business IT specialist IT Engine, says even though the firm closes its office over Christmas it still has to be on call for clients whose businesses - and IT needs - keep rolling.
"The main issue for us is we work flat out all year so by Christmas we're all knackered! But only some of the staff can take a break, so we try to take turns," Gill says.
"To make sure we can work in with everyone we're often planning for Christmas the previous January! This means no last-minute panics - everyone knows what they're doing and they can plan around it."
And Gill has one last piece of advice for handling the holidays: never ask staff to do something that you wouldn't do yourself.
"If you are asking them to work over the holiday break then you should work as well. At Christmas, 90 per cent of the time I'm one of the people on call. I do this so other staff can have the time off because it's my business and it's my responsibility."
Emma Bidois is the business manager and owner, along with director Dane Winter, of Auckland-based Summer Supply, which imports, distributes and sells the Brazilian havaianas brand of jandals.
Can you tell me a bit about your business?
We own a distribution company, which is the exclusive importer of havaianas flip-flops in New Zealand and Rarotonga, Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga.
Dane and I are just a couple of jandal-wearing kids from Mount Maunganui who try not to take ourselves too seriously. Dane started as a sales rep for the brand eight years ago. I came on board as another pair of hands five years ago and the rest is history. We currently employee 15 team members in our warehouse, head office and two retail stores in Auckland.
Being in the jandal business must mean a busy time over Christmas. What are some of the main issues you face as a business over the holiday period?
Most of our sales come in the summer months and this is a logistical challenge. We sell through over 200 doors around New Zealand so trying to keep our retailers' racks full of the right styles and sizes so customers can find what they're looking for is challenging.
Also managing the stock levels of our own business to make sure we've got enough stock for the summer season is something we have to keep on top of.
What are some of the main plans or strategies you've put in place to deal with these?
We've embraced technology. All our software is fully integrated - from our inventory software, point of sale and accounting - so it's all streamlined and seamless. Was it a headache to install? Absolutely, but I think the pain was worth it.
That's also gained us more time, because orders go out faster over the holiday season, our picking error rate has gone down and our business can now cope quite comfortably with the large volumes of orders we have over Christmas.
Another strategy is we've chosen to warehouse ourselves, because our account base is so broad and the needs are so varied. We sell havaianas in surf stores, high-end boutiques and large multi-chain businesses, and each has its own needs. By warehousing ourselves we've got more flexibility to change plans quickly if need be, and it also gives us greater control over our bottleneck and ability to drive and prioritise deliveries.
We also offer our retailers monthly delivery drops, which helps spread the load over several months with peak deliveries happening in November and December when stock turn is at its highest. We try and time our deliveries with our peaks so retailers don't get the bottleneck at their end and the customer always has something new each month.
How about staffing over this time?
We employee stock managers over summer and they work alongside our sales reps to manage the inventory and offer support to our clients over the holidays. These guys essentially travel around New Zealand restocking and refilling retailers' racks, which means we can monitor stock levels and make the most of every opportunity in every town.
We're really hands on in this sense. I think sometimes running a report and sending off an email doesn't give you enough scope on what's actually happening out there.
What have you found the biggest challenge in terms of getting your planning right for handling the holidays?
We have to plan 10 to 12 months in advance to make sure our deliveries arrive on time from Brazil and our marketing strategies are lined up. So, for example, the stock dropping that happens in November/December was ordered back in June/July.
Because of the massive international demand for the brand and long shipping times from Brazil we have to book in space at our factory well in advance or it just won't arrive on time. We work around this by using historical size curves and sales history data to estimate the volumes needed. We also work with key retailers in the selection of ranges and our own stores to test new models.
Our own stores are a really important source of direct feedback from customers. We often keep next season's samples and catalogues in our Grey Lynn store and invite customers to have a look and tell us what they think.
What's some key advice you'd have for other small business owners about handing the holidays?
Smell the roses. It's so easy to get swept up in the chaos of the holidays, but I think it's important you don't forget to stop and celebrate some of the wins along the way.
And give back. As a business owner if you've had a good holiday season, give something back to your team, community and the other people who support you.
Coming up in Your Business: What are some of the clever strategies small businesses have come up with to get maximum bang for a miniscule marketing buck? If you've got a good story to tell about how you've marketed your business on a shoestring, get in touch: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com
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