Meeting the Entrepreneurial Couple who Builds the Business Together

What is the life like when your business partner is also your life partner? How to share the responsibilities and what are the challenges there especially during the start-up stage?  Thanks Pierre and Tracy who come to Achievers’ Minds to share their story!

 

 

 

 

Hi Pierre & Tracy, please tell us a little bit about yourselves and your business

 

Anna Alexandra was founded by husband and wife team, Pierre and Tracy, both of us here, with the goal to create products which are small, visually pleasing, focal points for your personal space. Our first product launched is a stunning collection of colourful, high gloss, lacquered jewellery boxes.

 

 

What motivated you to enter into this business?

 

Having our own business has been a dream of ours for a number of years, but didn’t take the plunge until we moved to Hong Kong. Being this close to manufacturing centers and surrounded by small business owners and entrepreneurs gave us the confidence to jump in. Our business idea came about when we noticed that there is a large gap in the market with no real middle ground. There are very expensive, high-end products and very low-quality products for sale, but finding an affordable quality piece is extremely difficult. We want to be that middle ground.

How do you differentiate yourself from the similar products in town?

 

We have put a lot of time and effort into the small details of our products, all of which you wouldn’t think to notice. We found that many of the similar products already on the market had shockingly noticeable defects. Glue stains, uneven screws, hinges that allow the lid to bang shut. We spent a great deal of effort on making the design and construction of our product as seamless as possible with an engineered soft close feature, proper hardware, using an alternative to industrial glue, etc. We also really wanted our design to feature colourful combinations that you won’t find elsewhere, as our mission is to add beauty and colour to your personal space.
 

What have you found to be your most effective way of finding your clients?

 

We aren’t quite there yet. This is a new journey we are embarking on, but we will heavily depend on friends, family, social media and various markets/fairs to spread our message.

 

What is your business challenge and how do you try to get over the struggles?

 

As we are just starting out and in the very early phases of launching our business, we have a lot of challenges that will still be coming our way. So far our biggest challenge has been finding a manufacturer who takes us seriously and is dedicated to meeting our quality standards. This took a very long time to secure, and somewhat slowed our momentum.

Persistence paid off in this case, and we have finally found a company, we feel we can build a solid relationship with going forward.

How do you keep yourself motivated during the difficult times?

 

Luckily Hong Kong is flourishing with startups and communities that support each other’s small businesses. We try to connect and check in with others facing the same issues through various online communities. Often there are a lot of supportive messages and great ideas being shared that help you to push forward. We also attend various workshops or meetings, where other entrepreneurs meet and discuss various topics and issues. We are learning.

 

What is a day of your life like?

 

It’s fairly normal family stuff with (woken up at an ungodly hour by a toddler demanding breakfast) paired with a ton of messaging each other back and forth during the day, regarding our never ending to-do list, trying to accomplish as many tasks as possible on said list, and ending the day hopefully with some peace and quiet to check in with each other on how things went, and what we need to prioritize next.  That’s after our toddler falls asleep – assuming we haven’t fallen asleep with her.  In that case, one of us usually sneaks in a few more hours of work before coming to bed.

What is the upcoming marketing plan that you want to share with us?

 

Right now we are in the launch phase of our business. We will be starting our own social media campaign to get the message out that we are ready and excited to start sharing our product. The Prestige Summer Fair on June 3rd will be our first official engagement and we hope to use it as a platform to let people see and be hands on with our beautiful boxes! We intend to offer a special introductory price to those who place an order with us during that event. 

As an entrepreneur, how do you see the “work-life” balance?

 

It’s definitely a struggle to keep work and home life in balance.  It becomes that much more challenging when you have a young family and a day job that still remains your primary source of income while you pursue a new path into the entrepreneurial field.  We keep quality time with our toddler a priority, support each other in making time for physical activity and try to use the rest of the hours in the day to get our business up and running.  Right now our approach is “divide and conquer” based on the tasks each of us excels at.

 

So how do you usually spend your leisure time? 

 

We have a lot of very diverse interests – everything from quilting to building an actual aircraft from a kit, but the one we think we both love equally is travelling.  There is a new adventure waiting for us at every stop.  Beautiful new things to see, cultures to take in, foods to enjoy, scenery to mesmerize.  The world is an incredible place to explore and our list of places to visit is never ending!

 

If anyone want to get in touch with you, where should we send them to?

Email: tracy.simaika@gmail.com

Website: www.anna-alexandra.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Anna-Alexandra-970671219648947/
Instagram: @annaalexandraliving
Pinterest: @anna0alexandra

Do you spend your valuable time every morning to dig out a piece of jewelry and go with your outfits?  Maybe we need a nice looking jewelry box too to keep the jewelry organized.  Let’s meet Tracy and Pierre this pair of wonderful couple at the upcoming Prestige Summer Fair on 3rd June at the Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong.

Time: 10am to 7pm

 

See you then!