Starting a business on Lord Howe Island can be difficult. There are many, many barriers – some which are understandable – such as the requirement to explain why a business vehicle is required. There are also some barriers which are not so understandable – as to why a liquor licence would take nine months to process.
I wished to start Love Lord Howe on the 1st September 2021, however with constraints beyond my control my season didn’t start until 1st November 2021. On the first day of operation, when my website was live and I could take orders I watched and waited for them to flow in. And they didn’t……
After a week or so of wondering if I’d made the biggest financial mistake of my life, a few bookings dribbled in. It took a while to get momentum going, but by the start of December I was already fully booked for picnics over the Christmas and New Year period. As much as I despised the ‘I told you so’ look in my husbands eyes, I was happy and humbled that my idea had finally come to life.
As the season draws to a close, I thought I would pull some statistics from my accounting software to see what sort of a season I had. I’m actually shocked to see the amount of picnics! I’ve now gone from wondering if I’ll get bookings, to wondering how will I cope if my bookings increase next season!
58 Picnics
of those:
2 Picnics ended up in the Neds Beach Shed because of pouring rain
3 proposals – they all said yes!
97 Platters
1 Wedding
1 Conference
On top of that I organised 127 nights of babysitting for families staying at 11 different lodges on the island.
So, maybe the season has been alright after all. I’m so curious as to what these statistics will look like at the end of next season!
Danielle x