{"id":477420,"date":"2026-06-14T21:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T21:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/477420\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T21:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T21:29:08","slug":"tiny-anvil-founders-on-swapping-airline-careers-for-garden-design-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/477420\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiny Anvil founders on swapping airline careers for garden design success"},"content":{"rendered":"

What inspired you to start the business?<\/p>\n

Paula: It was born out of something that we couldn\u2019t find on our own, so we just decided to do it ourselves. We did a bit of work around Papakura and I was the former chair of the business association there. We wanted to do some beautification projects and there really wasn\u2019t anything big that wasn\u2019t hugely expensive.<\/p>\n

We went the route of designing our own and looking offshore, and then we decided to fill up the rest of the container and sell them, basically to pay for them, and it organically grew from there.<\/p>\n

Kurt lost his job right at the start of Covid-19, so we decided to put everything into the business. It was a good time for us because while everybody was stuck at home, they were buying stuff and renovating their gardens, so the timing worked out well.<\/p>\n

\" Tiny Anvil produces premium luxury steel planters and garden d\u00e9cor, all created with 3mm Corten or coloured steel.<\/p>\n

Where are the products manufactured, and how did you grow the range?<\/p>\n

Paula: We started with the planters because that\u2019s what we wanted initially. I designed them and came up with the sizes and shapes of what we thought might be popular. From there, the additions have really been based around what I like and what other people might like, it\u2019s really trial and error. Our latest addition has been the water features, which we\u2019ve expanded again recently.<\/p>\n

All of our steel and products are made in China, but we\u2019ve connected with a local family company that we work with. We go up every year to see them, and we\u2019ve recently just come back from a visit. We were pretty lucky, as they were the first business that we contacted to get samples from.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t control the supply chain so we do test the steel when it comes down, but quality is the number one thing; we want to provide the best quality we can.<\/p>\n

How do you plan to grow the business?<\/p>\n

Paula: We\u2019ve just recently moved into a warehouse that is three times the size of our old warehouse. That old warehouse was really not fit for purpose. Now that we\u2019ve moved, we can add more products, so we\u2019ve got a few developments in the pipeline of what we want to do. It\u2019s also looking more at the commercial products, and potentially expanding into the United States.<\/p>\n

Kurt: I think the New Zealand market, as small as it is, is a great market. There are so many people here who have a real eye for design and they want really high-quality products. I think there\u2019s a lot of room in Otago and Christchurch for us to expand into, but we definitely have big growth plans.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe business also creates custom pieces for customers depending on their needs, including for one customer a large outdoor steel table.<\/p>\n

You both had careers before this business. What lessons did you carry over?<\/p>\n

Kurt: So I was a pilot with Virgin Australia, and Paula flew for Air New Zealand, so both from the airline world. I fly private jets and private planes for some people, mostly on the side.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d say project management and contingency planning are something you learn with that job. Flying a Boeing 747 across the ocean, you have contingencies. Everyone goes swimming if you get it wrong, so you want to get it right. It\u2019s a similar thing in business. Paula\u2019s also always had great leadership qualities, which flows through the rest of the business.<\/p>\n

Paula: Airlines are really structured, so [there are] a lot of standard operating procedures, which we\u2019ve brought into the business. If you can have everything so it\u2019s all lined up and everyone does the same thing, it helps for a range of problems, whether you\u2019re in the business or in the warehouse. It keeps everything standardised and running smoothly.<\/p>\n

What would be your advice to a budding entrepreneur wanting to start a business?<\/p>\n

Paula: Just do it, honestly. Take the first step, even if that\u2019s just to ring some suppliers or email someone to inquire. You just have to start; once you do that, you\u2019ll find your way.<\/p>\n

Kurt: It\u2019s a lot of work, so understand that you\u2019re going to have to [take a] risk and you\u2019re going to have to work very, very hard.<\/p>\n

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What inspired you to start the business? Paula: It was born out of something that we couldn\u2019t find…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1443,4376,240439,138,3121,19707,501,2082,19363,71,8589,17240,2454,77339,111,139,69,90,52990,2171,24390,56629,3502,201,95014,11227,165,44263],"class_list":["post-477420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-about","tag-airline","tag-anvil","tag-business","tag-careers","tag-cofounders","tag-design","tag-for","tag-founders","tag-from","tag-garden","tag-grow","tag-industry","tag-kurt","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-paula","tag-plans","tag-raynel","tag-schultz","tag-success","tag-swapping","tag-switching","tag-talk","tag-their","tag-tiny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}