Greetings from Bali .. now 62 days and still counting..
I tell myself there are worse places to be trapped in, and count my blessings.. but some days I feel just a bit depressed and frustrated. On the other hand, working with Ringo (our man in Indonesia) is great, and we have made our office space really nice. Working on the products, making them better than ever with enthusiastic suppliers who are delighted to have business is all good.
Following the newsletter about Mr Chatterjee and his good work in India (you can read it here) lots of people ask how they can help.
So I have made this gofundme campaign. I know lots folks have issues closer to home, but life is seriously buggered there.. if you can help a little you will save lives and gain massive karma.
Last week I was telling you about one of our suppliers, the guy who is making coconut lamps for us. You can read about it here. This week we took the first delivery of them into our warehouse in Bali. And it wasn't good.. 50% failed our QC tests...
he cotton ball shades came in various sizes.. including too big, and too small, the hole for the electric light fitting was too big. Even though we had tested a pre-production sample, and given him our fitting.. he had produced a thousand lamps that just didn't work.
Ringo called him to a meeting to discuss the problem.. he sat crossed legged on the floor with Ringo in the midst of the rejects. This big jolly guy almost crying, his English is not great but he used the word "responsible" a lot. It was his problem, he was sorry, he would find a way to sort it - he was a responsible man. The thing is that - and you can imagine the back story - he is an older guy - maybe 50, with a younger wife and small child, his grown up son with them. they live in a tiny set of rooms at the back of their workshop. They came from Bandung a big city in Java a year ago. His skill is making Coconut Lamps.. and with some success, but (covid-19 disruption to trade) barely surviving financially. Normally we pay 30% deposit and the balance as soon as stock is delivered to the warehouse. But this guy had requested extra money every week from Ringo, until eventually the balance on delivery was not that much. I could see this problem was going to kill him.
An idea.. I suggested that we fit rubber tabs to the feet of the lamps to upgrade the product a bit.. and since he was checking and reworking the product he could do this the same time, and we would pay extra for this upgrade. Good job I'm here stuck in Bali, because if not I don't know how it would have been resolved.
Most of our suppliers do well from AW, it's one of the rewarding things to see people get on, buy a car, build a house improve life dramatically, and I really hope this guy and his family can make it.
Another of our suppliers is in a different league. A big business really. Another "immigrant" this time from the island of Flores, Marsel a gentle, softly spoken Christian guy and his wife have a business turning redundant fishing boats into beautiful furniture. His cool crew of guys all from Flores are hands on artisans that can see the beauty in junk boats. We have been working with them a few years making teak displays for our Agnes & Cat brand (customers absolutely adore). When Tomas was here a couple of months ago, we came up with the idea of making a range of what you might call occasional furniture. Bedside tables, coffee tables and Mr Triangle.. designing and reinventing products to fit a range that we feel our drop-shipping partners will love to sell.
Up-cycled products are great no? Indonesia is home to over 6000 inhabited islands and for hundreds of years, traditional teak boats have been used to ply trade between islands and also for fishing. Traditionally when old and repairs become too expensive, they were burned for cooking fuel. People like Marcel buy up old boats so the owners can get a better return and save the precious timber for a second life. It's a circle of rebirth that appeals to me.
Old Boat
Meet Mr. Triangle crew in action
The boats are at least 40 years old probably older when junked, the teak wood is truly aged - it's older than you when it is made new again, hopefully, to live with a family for generations.
Mr Triangle came from India, I bought him when I was young, a triangular set of draws, and home to bits of junk you only just needed to keep, Draws full of old phones, faded photos, receipts, and nick-nacks. Mr Triangle was a family friend and moved from house to house.. somewhere along the way I lost him.. but here in Bali, he was recreated.. reborn in more ways than one.
Next week we will be shipping to UK..
Last night I was woken from a bad dream, by the news that AW was on fire.. turned out to be a business across the road from us, gone up in flames so high half of Sheffield could see it.
Scary.. we might be insured if this happened to us, but I would never get over the heartbreak.
Hope you are doing OK.. don't worry AW is still very much alive and kicking. We are still fighting to catch up with orders - but making progress..
Here in Bali we maybe getting news that flights are opening up, that lock-down rules maybe relaxed - an announcement is expected 1st June..
As lock down eases - let's see what happens. Please stay alert.. stay safe, and smile at someone - even if they cant see you behind the mask :)