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Eternal flame
[Wed 20/07/2011 04:48:09]
 When was Enjoy Lighting Australia launched?
Enjoy Lighting Australia officially launched at the 2010 February Home & Giving Fair. The opportunity itself ticked so many boxes—the product is fabulous and there was an enormous gap in the Australian market for a life-like quality product at an affordable price.
The brand Enjoy Lighting is recognised as the leading brand of flameless wax candles in the US and our operating style and background experience align with those in the US. It is also a great vehicle for both my husband David and I to work together and apply our skills honed in the corporate environment.
Who are the key figures behind Enjoy Lighting Australia and what expertise do you each bring to the business?
Xtracorp, trading as Enjoy Lighting, is based in Melbourne, Australia. I’m director of sales and marketing and David is director of finance and operations. We both bring to the table a wealth of experience, more recently as business consultants—I was formerly a buyer and business manager for Coles Myer. David, a banking and finance specialist, was managing director of the family business.
What inspires you when selecting products?
For us, we have to love the product and it helps that all the glossy magazine editors and mid- to high-end retailers and stylists love our flameless wax candles. Our candles are so realistic your friends will try to blow them out and as parents we strongly believe in enjoying the ambience of candles without the risk of fire.
How did you come to represent Enjoy Lighting in Australia and New Zealand?
A supplier of mine from when I worked at CML—who I hadn’t spoken to in 10 years but with whom I always enjoyed a fabulous working relationship—called me hoping I still had the same mobile phone number. He was looking for a distributor. I asked him to send me samples and he did. We loved them so much he didn’t need to look any further.
What makes Enjoy Lighting products different to other candles?
Our signature series candles have a unique patent pending technology that sets it apart from every other candle in the world. Using triple LED technology, the three LED globes are programmed to randomly flicker, impossible to predict as they cast dancing shadows, just like a real flame.
Unlike other flameless candles on the market, our signature series require only AA batteries to offer 300 hours of battery life and the LED globes will last more than 10 years and if you use the ‘set it and forget it’ timer function, which allows you to programme your candles to turn on and off at the same time daily, you will only need to change you batteries five times a year.
Enjoy candles are all hand finished with a melted top edge so no two candles are exactly the same—some let out more light, some let out less light and this all adds to the realism.
The top one third of the Enjoy candle permeates light and becomes translucent, while the bottom two thirds of the Enjoy candle remains solid in colour.
What do you believe is essential for successful wholesaling?
Don’t compete with your retailers—be a wholesaler and stick to it. Don’t diversify and take two bites of the cherry by offering a shopping cart function for consumers. Good stock management is fundamental—always be in stock of the best-selling lines as it’s so difficult for retailers to re-establish their rate of sale once they’ve compromised it.
What have you learnt from working with retailers?
The best retailers are the ones who have passion. You can feel their energy when you walk into their store. They are the ones with whom you want to partner and it’s their feedback we value the most.
 How important is your website to your business?
It’s a critical tool to establish and maintain your brand positioning and if you engage in a PR company like we have, you need to ensure that you are directing traffic to a place where the brand has the opportunity to put its best foot forward. You only get one chance to make a good impression and we see our website as our face to our customer.
What is the best advice you have been given in life?
Planning and preparation are fundamental, and in retailing stock turn is the key to success. Also, if you want something done, give it to a busy person.
What would be your top tips for others starting out in this industry?
Do your research, know your audience, have a business plan and know your strengths, so you can surround yourselves with experts in the areas that you are not.
Do you have a philosophy you apply to managing Enjoy Lighting?
Enjoy what you do (no pun intended). Surround yourselves with stakeholders who love retail and love customer service. Ensure everyone at every level is engaged and strive to keep a work environment that is efficient, personable and approachable.
What have been your greatest highlights and challenges?
The greatest achievement was getting ready for our first trade fair in February. We had less than three weeks notice that our last ditch effort to be included was successful and we had to pull out all stops to design and build a stand, book flights and accommodation, build a website, design and print a catalogue and find care for our six year old son. It was fun but crazy.
Also, being the first flameless candle supplier to be offered a stand-alone booth at the Decoration + Design trade fairs was a highlight for us. Candles have long been the cornerstone of the gift industry, but never has a flameless candle been so accepted by the interior design industry.
What do you envisage for Enjoy Lighting’s future?
Emulating the success of our licensor maintaining long-term mutually viable trading relationships with the retailers who supported us from inception and having Enjoy candles go some way to reducing the seven per cent of all house fires in Australia that are caused by an unattended flame.
What is the secret of your success?
We love what we do, we love our product and we are excited about the opportunity to bring to the Australian market what the discerning consumer in the US has been enjoying for many years. We also make sure we surround ourselves with stakeholders that are passionate about this opportunity.
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