“It’s crazy to think that we’ve already been trading for a whole year. Starting our own business has definitely been a challenging experience and one that I certainly underestimated.”
4B Label turns 1!
It’s crazy to think that we’ve already been trading for a whole year. Starting our
own business has definitely been a challenging experience and one that I certainly underestimated. Maybe it hasn’t been the business itself, but external factors that have contributed to the challenges that made our first year that much harder than it should have been. It’s been a year with a lot of external factors.
I pushed myself to be across all aspects of the business this year because I felt it was important to wrap my head around all the moving parts of a successful online business. Stepping out of the world of professional sport and into the corporate sector is a huge transition. One that I was determined to do well.
I spent countless hours with our amazing team from Turners Accountants learning how to reconcile transactions, send invoices, pay wages, submit BAS returns, etc, etc… They were very patient with me, and I’m very grateful to them.
I now understand what the ‘backend’ of a website looks like, along with all of its integrations, plug-ins, data reports etc etc. I learnt the hard way that it’s hard to find good support. We now have a great web developer who is always readily available, no matter the day or time for emergency fixes and answers to our questions, but initially I was a bit naive. In the building stages we spent a lot of money with a company who heard our names and saw dollar signs, which put us on the back foot financially from the start. I wasn’t then, but I’m now grateful for the experience because it has taught me to do my due diligence when contracting any services for the business. Lesson learned.
I am really proud of our products. We have created amazing, high quality items for our customers and the feedback throughout this first year has certainly reflected that. It’s always a nice feeling when people take the time to tell us they love their 4B Label pieces.
A huge part of our growth, and my personal development, has certainly been aided by the assistance of our logistics company and 3PL provider, Whale Logistics. They pack all of our orders perfectly and generally arrive to our customers within 48 hours of being ordered no matter where in Australia we need it. Using DHL Express for all international orders has proved to be successful. Orders to the UK normally arrived within five days of purchase. Considering the uncertainty around travel and sending packages during the COVID-19 pandemic, I think that’s an impressive turnaround time and one that I am very proud to have established. We have sent orders all over the world, to places I never thought we would have discovered in our first 12 months.
We have also partnered with some great retailers who we now wholesale to, including The Iconic. This is a result of the hard work that has gone into all of our designs and production, and the effort behind ensuring we provide our customers with great products. We still get excited everytime we see you guys out in public wearing 4B Label.
Currently, we’re working on a new collection that we will be launching around November, so get ready for some saucy summer pieces! I can’t wait to share these with you guys.
We are so grateful to everyone who has been on this journey with us so far and to thank you, we’re offering a ‘money can’t buy’ experience to four lucky people as part of our July campaign. The prize: Dinner with us four brothers at one of our favorite Sydney restaurants. We can guarantee plenty of fun and good company. Spending time together as four brothers is something we have love to do, so it will be nice to share that with you guys. Head here for details on how to enter.
So here’s to another year of growth and development. 4B is just in its infancy. We have got so much more to offer and can’t wait to see what the next 12 months does for the business.
Luke Burgess
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