Nieces and nephews

Earlier this month, I was back in Melbourne exhibiting at the Australian Toy Fair, our first trade show for the year. Ten years ago, Garry and I attended this event as Artiwood’s new owners for the first time. It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade already.

This year’s event was a mixed bag. Some smaller customers are doing well, while many of our largest customers told a different story. We heard that one of our low-cost brand competitors was up for sale, and another would love to sell up and retire. Others seem to be flourishing, or so they say. I sense that industry is undergoing a transition, but it’s hard to put a finger on it.

While I was in Melbourne, I caught up with my niece Brooke and her boyfriend Ben. They moved to Australia last month and are now actively job hunting. I took them out for dinner at Marmont in the Crown Casino complex. It’s replaced a fancy Italian restaurant that Garry and I dined at only once before. We took our largest customer out for dinner at Toy Fair several years ago.

I admire Brooke and Ben’s courage in relocating across the Tasman to start a new life. It’s not easy to move to another country without a job, where you don’t know anyone, and know nothing about its culture, rules and regulations. To inspire them, I shared my own story of starting a new life with nothing when I first migrated to Australia. I hope they’ll have a similar story to share in the years ahead.

I also had dinner with Mitch, Garry’s nephew, one night. Mitch and I then joined a group of industry colleagues for dinner at Bang Pop, our favourite Thai restaurant, on another night. I guess you could say this year’s tradeshow entertaining was all about family.

Tradeshow time

I've just returned from a week exhibiting at the annual Reed Gift Fair in Melbourne. It's been exactly ten years since Garry and I first flew south to exhibit at our first tradeshow as Artiwood's new owners. This year's event was the best we've experienced since COVID put a stop to live events. I can't recall being on my feet so much as we were this year. Hopefully, the interest in our brands is reflected by healthy sales in the months ahead.

Weatherwise, it was a good week to be away from Sydney. As of yesterday, the city's experienced its wettest start to August in more than 168 years of records. Meanwhile, in Melbourne, we enjoyed partly sunny skies and dry conditions all week. Once again, Garry didn't attend the event. We decided after experimenting with three staff last August, there was little value in his attending again. I doubt he'll participate in another tradeshow again.

Last Friday, I took the team for dinner to celebrate Rhonda's birthday. Last year, we booked a table at Doju, a Korean Fusion restaurant, for her birthday. This year, we continued the Asian theme by dining at Komeyui, a Japanese fine dining restaurant. I booked the team a seat at the chef's table, where we watched the chef prepare and present each dish in front of us.

The rest of the week was less adventurous. I caught a taxi to St Kilda for cocktails with a business contact at the Village Belle Hotel. I also walked along the riverfront one evening to soak up the neon lights of Melbourne's Lightscape satellite event outside the Melbourne Convention Centre.

Full of hot air

Avid blog readers will recall that I joined a global business networking organization called Entrepreneur’s Organisation (EO) last year. The organization prides itself on providing once-in-a-lifetime experiences for its members. I enjoyed one such moment yesterday.

Twice a year my EO forum group holds a retreat to share business knowledge, learn from guest speakers, and bond with one another. This week we flew to Melbourne for a two-day visit that included team-building activities and some memorable meals (Chin Chin, Culter & Co, and Supernatural), plus two very different, but equally compelling, business speakers. One presenter spoke about building a multi-million-dollar AI software company while the other shared his journey building a successful multi-million dollar healthcare company.

Yesterday morning we rose before dawn to take a hot air balloon flight over Melbourne City. This is my second time in a hot air balloon. My first flight was in 1997 when I shouted my parents a flight for Dad’s birthday. The flight took us over farmland in Camden, in Sydney's southwest.  That's us mid-flight in the image above.

When a Melbourne flight was first mooted, I was surprised that hot air balloons flew over such a major urban centre. We later learned that several unique factors make it possible. First, none of Melbourne’s major airports are close to the city, and thus hot air balloons don’t interrupt aviation flight paths. Second, an unusually large number of parklands and green spaces are conveniently scattered across the city. This means plenty of options for landing a balloon safely in an emergency, or if the wind's direction unexpectedly changes.

Our group flew with Global Ballooning. According to their website they’ve been flying people over Melbourne for more than three decades. We met our pilot at the Pullman Hotel in central Melbourne shortly after 5:00am. Outside were two minivans towing long trailers, each loaded with a hot air balloon, a wicker cabin, and propane gas bottles. 

After an initial briefing, we drove through the night to Bundoora Park Farm located in the city’s northeast. We then spent the next 45 minutes preparing our balloon for flight. This included pulling the balloon fabric into a long streamer, inflating it with a blower fan, and then finally heating the air ready for ascent. Before lifting off, the balloon crew went through the normal safety procedures including rather dramatic a bent knee landing posture.

We finally lifted off at about 6:14am, just as the morning twilight lit up the sky. We couldn’t have picked a better day to fly. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, dawn temperatures were mild, and winds were gentle. Our flight lasted an hour, give or take literally one minute. We flew almost directly south passing surprisingly close to Melbourne’s CBD before landing in Caulfield Racecourse around 7:14am.

The flight was magic. The silence as you drift along in the wind is wonderfully serene. The sunrise was stunning. The city simply dazzled in the dawn light. We were also one of four balloons flying which made the experience all the more awe-inspiring as each balloon rose and descended along the way.

The balloon company's sponsorship program was an interesting business strategy. Each sponsor pays $150,000 to get the balloon's fabric envelope made. The company flies their sponsored envelope for five years, guaranteeing a minimum of one hundred flights a year. It then continues to fly the fabric at no additional cost until it's retired or replaced. David Jones sponsors the balloon we flew. If you ask me, getting someone else to fund your primary asset is an inspired business idea.   

Our landing was a little dramatic. We quickly learned why we’d been taught to brace against the padded sides of the basket cabin. Surface winds around the racecourse were a little brisk. This meant that as we landed, we bounced a few times and then dragged along the ground for 20-30 metres before coming to rest unceremoniously on our side.

After helping the crew pack down the balloon, we returned to the Pullman Hotel for a hearty buffet breakfast and a much-needed morning coffee. All in all, it was a truly memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Even better, the pilot shared GoPro images taken during our flight at no extra cost.

Foodie week

Garry and I have been traveling to Melbourne at the end of July (or early August) on business for the last eight years. Every year our company exhibits at the annual Reed Gift Fair held in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Southbank. It's our biggest trade show of the year.

It's always an intense week that kicks off with an early morning flight to Melbourne followed by two hectic days of setting up our trade show booth. We then spend five days exhibiting at the show itself. The final day then concludes with a five-hour flurry of activity as we break down the stand and pack it away for another year.

In between all of the business activities, Garry and I always try to find time to indulge our foodie interests while we're in town.  Over the years we've dined at some of Melbourne's top restaurants and enjoyed some memorable meals. This year was no exception.

We kicked off our foodie week with a reunion dinner at Rockpool. A good friend, Jon, was in town from Vancouver. He was speaking at a conference so we made the most of being in the same town at the same time.  Later in the week, we dined at Nobu for the first time since our memorable evening in Hong Kong in 2009. We also had dinner with our staff at Meat & Wine Co, as well as enjoying a Thai meal we traditionally have at Bang Pop on our final night in town.

However, this year's main event was an evening at Embla, a tiny "hole in the wall" wine bar on the edge of the central city.  It had been recommended to us by friends. We also received plenty of positive feedback from other locals whenever we dropped the name in conversation on the trade show floor.

Embla proved to be a real find. The restaurant gave us a table in the back corner. This offered plenty of cozy ambiance while giving us a view of the entire room, including its tiny kitchen containing a spectacular flame-fed grilling oven. The menu was limited but every dish we tried was a genuine taste sensation. We ultimately decided that the vongole with pork sausage was the evening's stand-out dish.

It just goes to show that sometimes the big culinary names aren't the only foodie game in town. We'll definitely be back to try Embla again.

Feeling like a winner

That’s a wrap for another year at the Australian Toy Fair in Melbourne. What a show it’s been!

Our stunning new twin aisle stand was awarded Best Open Space Stand by the Australian Toy Association. We can’t believe it. We used this 60 sqm stand for the first time at the AGHA Gift Fair last August. It’s moments like these that make all the hard work worthwhile. It would be fair to say that the last three years have been pretty intense.

Creating our new stand was stressful to say the least. The artwork was prepared by a designer in India. I approached him after shortlisting a corporate logo he’d created for Artiwood. We ran a competitive design tender online to source a new corporate identity. While we didn’t select his design, I was impressed by his work.

However, he ultimately proved incredibly unreliable. It took months of chasing to get our artwork files completed. In the end we forwarded them to the printer two days before the final deadline. So much for giving ourselves a couple of months to get everything sorted. Never again.

In between meeting customers and taking orders, Garry and I also enjoyed an evening of fine dining at Heston Blumenthal’s iconic restaurant, Dinner by Heston. The experience was simple divine. We honestly enjoyed every course on the degustation menu. I can’t recall the last time we walked away raving about every dish we tried.

For example, the meal kicked off with a fruit meat and toasted sourdough dish. The menu's description didn't make it sound all that appealing.  However, we were presented with a pate crafted to look like a real mandarin. It was delicious. We finished the evening with one of Heston's signature Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream cones. The ice cream was prepared on a cart at our table, offering plenty of misty dining theatre.

Cousins reunite

I’m currently in Melbourne for the annual Gift Fair we exhibit at every year. This year we’ve rented a massive four-bedroom, three bathroom house overlooking the Maribyrnong River. We’ve been waking up to beautiful views of the neighbouring golf course and river.

Last night I took time out to catch up with my cousin, Kevin Parker, and his lovely wife, Ali, in Brunswick. Kevin and Ali have been living with their daughters in Melbourne for years. However, it’s taken until now for us to finally meet up. This was also my first time meeting Ali. Sadly, our Australian-based reunion will be short lived. They’re relocating back to New Zealand next month. 

We enjoyed a wonderful evening. Lots of laughs and some superb food. It’s a shame it’s taken so long to reconnect. 

Frigid Melbourne

We’re back in Melbourne for business this week. We've flown down in August for the last two years to spend a week exhibiting our company at the AGHA Gift Fair. This event is split between two venues; some exhibitors are based at the Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) in town, while the rest, including Artiwood, are based at the less salubrious Showgrounds near Flemington Racecourse.

Several contractors have joined Garry and me to help set up and staff our stand. This includes Gaby and Robbie whom we fly in from Mullumbimby, plus Emily and her Mum who coordinate our organic plush toy section. It’s a busy week that sees us spend the entire day on-site at the showgrounds before returning each night to our Airbnb apartment. Gaby and Robbie are also staying with us.

For this event, I’ve rented a three-bedroom rooftop penthouse in Brunswick. The apartment features a massive outdoor balcony. However, it’s bitterly cold in Melbourne (and we’ve discovered that there’s no gas in the BBQ) so we’ve spent very little time enjoying this spectacular outdoor space. 

I must admit that the two days we spent setting up our stand weren't much fun either. The venue's loading dock doors remained open during set up. As a result, the ambient temperature inside the building was as cold, if not cooler than outside. It was a bitter 5C when we arrived on site shortly after 9:00am on Friday. The daytime high then briefly hit 13C, before dropping to 10C around 5:00pm.

This apartment is the first Airbnb rental I've booked. I finally yielded to market forces and registered with the app in April. Last year I booked us into a tiny serviced apartment that wasn't memorable by any stretch of the imagination.

Putting on a big show

We’ve just completed our first trade show as the new owners of Artiwood. It’s been a frantic time since acquiring the business in June. Garry and I have been working long hours as we come up to speed. We’ve also kicked off a series of projects to modernise the company’s marketing and back-office systems. 

It’s been a rewarding experience so far. We can see early signs of strong growth, particularly for the forthcoming Christmas period. For example, orders placed at last week’s trade show set a new record. This is encouraging given that the company’s revenue is highly seasonal. 

We exhibited at the Australian Gift and Homewares Association’s (AGHA) annual Melbourne gift fair. This is the industry’s largest event of the year and operates from two locations in Melbourne. The main event happens at the Showgrounds in Flemming, supplemented by a small contingent at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) in Southbank.

Artiwood has been exhibiting at the showgrounds for many years. This year we used a custom-built stand for the first time. It was designed and built by the previous owner. We saw it for the first time in February at an event in Sydney. It created a strong impression, encouraging us to begin serious discussions with the owner. We also used his team of temporary staff for last week’s event. They've been incredibly loyal to the former owner and really know their stuff.

I’ll share more about the business soon. However, for now, I'm grateful that our investment appears to be paying off. This is particularly reassuring for me personally. In March we convinced the National Australia Bank (NAB) to loan us a considerable amount of money to buy the business. 

Given my corporate heritage, I naturally built a detailed business plan, accompanied by a 23-page business case to support our loan application. After approving the loan our business banker commented that he’d never received such a comprehensive document from a small business owner. It appears this worked in our favour as the loan was approved in record time.

UPDATE: 22 December 2021

We've just paid off our business loan, three years ahead of schedule. Our big bet has clearly paid off. For the last seven years, Garry and I have kept a roof over our heads and successfully grown a thriving, reputable business. A proud milestone!