Studio Journal #2
Owning a small business is one of the greatest privileges of my life. It's also one of the hardest things I've ever done. I don't think people always see that part.
Social media often captures the beautiful moments. The finished korowai. The happy customer. The graduations, weddings and celebrations. The laughter in the studio. And those moments are real.
But behind every one of them are conversations about cashflow, supplier invoices, wages, rent, advertising, GST, tax, stock levels and trying to make the right decision for tomorrow while still paying for today.
The reality is, there are many small businesses across Aotearoa doing it tough right now. I've spoken with business owners who have reduced their hours. Others have let staff go. Some have quietly closed their doors after years of pouring everything they had into their dream.
Being a business owner can be incredibly lonely.
There are moments where the weight of responsibility sits heavily on your shoulders. Not just for yourself, but for your team, your whānau and the people who rely on the business being there tomorrow. That's the part people don't always see.
Every time someone chooses Korowai by Hiria, they're not buying something that came from a warehouse shelf. Every taonga is handcrafted here in our West Auckland studio. Every order creates meaningful work for our small team. Every sale helps us purchase more materials from our suppliers. Every booking, every workshop, every gift purchased in our studio helps keep this little dream alive.
It keeps the lights on.
It pays the rent.
It allows us to open the doors again tomorrow.
Sometimes people apologise for "only" buying a small gift. Please don't. Those moments matter more than you probably realise.
Small businesses aren't built on one extraordinary day. They're built on thousands of ordinary acts of support. Someone sharing a post. Someone recommending us to a friend. Someone bringing their whānau into the studio. Someone choosing to shop local instead of clicking on a large overseas website. Someone leaving a kind review. Someone wearing our contemporary korowai design proudly and telling others where it came from. Those things are impossible to measure on a spreadsheet, but they're often the reason a small business continues to exist.
As I write this, I feel incredibly grateful. Grateful that our community continues to choose us. Grateful for every person who has trusted us with life's biggest moments. Grateful for every referral that began with, "Go and see Korowai by Hiria". Grateful that you've allowed this little idea, which started around our dining table, to grow into a studio filled with creativity, laughter and purpose. We never take that for granted. Not for a single day.
So if you've ever purchased from us, visited our studio, shared one of our posts, recommended us to someone else, or simply followed along on our journey...Thank you. You are part of our story. And every day we unlock the studio door, it's because of people like you.
Ngā mihi nui,
Hiria