Hand-Made with Love
This is what it takes to be a girl boss and craft your own business.
Home offices and garages have been renovated and undergone a facelift to become the busy hub of small businesses. With low-cost access to website ownership and free social media marketing, anyone can create a business anytime, anywhere.
There has been a major increase in female-owned small businesses in recent years, with savvy young ladies and creative stay-at-home mums transforming their talents into businesses. Selling handmade jewellery, clothes and art have become a popular and profitable way to enjoy what you do and be your own boss.
New Zealand is ranked second best in the world for female entrepreneurs and according to Stuff, 13.4 percent of startups are created by female university graduates.
Dual business owner, Ella Williamson is a professional makeup artist and cake decorator. After taking a cake decorating course two and a half years ago, Ella pursued starting her own business with encouragement from family and friends.
Both Layers by Ella Kitchen and Layers by Ella Makeup were hit hard by the pandemic. She operates both from her home in Cambridge and receives support from the local community, especially on the Cambridge Grapevine Facebook page although, she first grew her business through word of mouth.
Currently, she makes doughnuts and rocky road treats for local cafes. Over the course of four days, she can skillfully whip up a divine wedding cake. Through work, she often meets florists, venue owners and other small business owners who have built a tight-knit group where they can recommend each other to clients.
“Because you’re in a similar industry it’s nice to have these connections to work with.”
Ella balances her time between the kitchen and her hair and makeup studio, where she skillfully applies makeup to her clients for school balls and parties. Her work revolves around events, so it is common she collaborates with other small business owners that she meets via social media, markets or industry events.
Entrepreneurs build networks and with the current boom of small business owners, we see them supporting one another’s hustle. The effort and talent poured into every cake mixture or every stitch of fabric is admirable and ensures every product is handmade with love.
Blooming Business
Welcome behind the scenes to experience the hustle and bustle of popular flower truck Frankie and Flora – and meet the woman who started it all.
It is 9 am and Claudia Campbell parks the flower-decaled truck outside the Cambridge town hall. The wooden shelves fold down into place to display the collection of bright, bohemian flowers for sale. She spends the day serving customers an array of fresh and dried bouquets.
After stumbling into a part-time job at Amy’s Flowers in Hamilton, Claudia worked her way up to the flower bench and fell in love with the art of floristry. Arranging colours, and being creative, came naturally to Claudia after earning a Bachelor of Media Arts at Wintec. Then, two years ago, she had the dream of setting her own hours and slow-paced work life. So, she purchased an old produce truck and, with the help of a family friend, built shelves to display the bouquets that she expertly creates in just ten minutes.
However, life has only become busier as Claudia spends her weekends creating wedding flower arrangements and Wednesday to Friday parked in Cambridge selling to her local community.
“It makes the hard work worth it when it’s for yourself.”
Frankie and Flora, named after Claudia’s beloved pug, often receives praise on the Cambridge Grapevine Facebook page. Being a one-woman business, she juggles social media content, administrative work and customer service. But, she recognises the support and encouragement she has from her family and the advice other small business owners have offered.
Like most small businesses in New Zealand, Frankie and Flora were affected by the recent pandemic. Custom wedding flowers were cancelled or postponed, making the wedding season even busier now that lockdown has lifted.
Frankie and Flora sell colourful bouquets of fresh flowers sourced from Auckland, wreaths, candles and other goods. For Claudia, the most rewarding part of owning her business is getting to know her local customers and the florist community.
“I’m just proud of my business. It’s nice to say I own a business.”
