Story by Lava Girl
My family visited me this weekend in Port Moresby where we have opened two new shops in recent months. It made me think about those early days and the fun we had deciding on what the business would be, what it’s products would look like and what it would be called
The kids were younger then, Alfons was doing great at his work and I had just quit my full time job to do a MBA. I also did some consulting work under my marketing business and started this company
There were nights of long talks, hours of planning and then the never ending money worries. How to fund the business: machines, tools, stock, staff
What little savings we had was used up in giving the business idea a “face”. And so our kitchen counters and the dining table became our HQ, our meeting venue, and our production table
It was on that table, one July night in 2014, the four of us sat illuminating possible business names we had come up with over time. One after another, we crossed off the list, there were several good ones, but Maku Gifts stuck. Maku - a Tolai word in Kuanua to mean “In-laws”. I was a “Maku” ofcourse☺️
Fast forward the challenges but the many wins, and after 5 months of establishing “proper shops” in the city with a properly made logo, it was an honor to have the original 3 visited the shops this weekend. This was the first time they saw the shops, and even bigger - first time to see Maku Gifts in actual signag
“Mum, is this for real?
“So that’s how you want the shops to look?
“How many workers at your shops?
The questions were endless but the look of excitement and fulfillment was evident. They were truly a part of this journey, a part of my story, and the history of Maku Gifts.
~ Annette
#lavagirltal
#lavagirltravelsFrom a kitchen table to a shopping mal
My family visited me this weekend in Port Moresby where we have opened two new shops in recent months. It made me think about those early days and the fun we had deciding on what the business would be, what it’s products would look like and what it would be called
The kids were younger then, Alfons was doing great at his work and I had just quit my full time job to do a MBA. I also did some consulting work under my marketing business and started this company
There were nights of long talks, hours of planning and then the never ending money worries. How to fund the business: machines, tools, stock, staff
What little savings we had was used up in giving the business idea a “face”. And so our kitchen counters and the dining table became our HQ, our meeting venue, and our production table
It was on that table, one July night in 2014, the four of us sat illuminating possible business names we had come up with over time. One after another, we crossed off the list, there were several good ones, but Maku Gifts stuck. Maku - a Tolai word in Kuanua to mean “In-laws”. I was a “Maku” ofcourse☺️
Fast forward the challenges but the many wins, and after 5 months of establishing “proper shops” in the city with a properly made logo, it was an honor to have the original 3 visited the shops this weekend. This was the first time they saw the shops, and even bigger - first time to see Maku Gifts in actual signag
“Mum, is this for real?
“So that’s how you want the shops to look?
“How many workers at your shops?
The questions were endless but the look of excitement and fulfillment was evident. They were truly a part of this journey, a part of my story, and the history of Maku Gifts.
~ Annette
#lavagirltal
#lavagirltravelFrom a kitchen table to a shopping mall