I am constantly inspired by the creativity, resourcefulness and bravery of those who start their own businesses. While having your own business affords you certain benefits, it also comes with risk and significant hard work. I love to support other small businesses where I can, so today I am showcasing some small businesses you might like to check out.
I have no financial affiliation with any of these businesses but I have personal experience with all of them and definitely recommend them.
A Fresh Legacy
Kyrstie from A Fresh Legacy encourages mums to Grow Just One Thing as a first step on a fresh food journey. I have wanted to start a veggie garden for years. Every now and them I would get inspired and plant some herbs in a planter box only to have them die through my lack of attention and skills.
One of the services A Fresh Legacy offers is to help families set up a vegetable garden for their unique requirements, helping children experience the benefits of fresh food. Kyrstie came to our place in May and with my mum and my daughter started planting our veggies in the garden bed my husband had made.
Two months on I am still completely loving the veggie garden – doing slug patrol at night with the help of my daughter, adding crushed egg shells to help keep them out and most of all loving being able to head out the back door and pick some fresh herbs for dinner.
Kyrstie has also created The Kitchen Garden Box ®. It is a gorgeous wooden box which is aimed to help families enjoy the benefits of growing their own fresh food. It includes:
- Certified organic seeds
- Recipes to inspire your family meals using your harvests
- Tips and information to guide you in the process
- Copper plant labels
- Printed on recycled card stock
- Bonus 12 month email support and additional seasonal content
You can see the other products and services offered by A Fresh Legacy here.
Operation Move
Zoey Dowling is the Director and Head Running Coach at Operation Move and is Level 2 Accredited with Athletics Australia. If you follow her Instagram feed you will realise not only how inspiring she is with her running, but also how encouraging and thoughtful she is to those in her running community.
Operation Move have a series of running training programs for all abilities and their next Learn to Run program kicks off on August 14. Learn to Run is a 12 week online coaching program for women. It has been designed to ensure a gentle, safe and fun introduction to the world of running for beginners.
The program includes training plans, access to a Facebook group which is facilitated by an accredited athletics coach to help address any questions you have, initiate discussions about best practice and provide guidance throughout your program. You can head here to find out more about it. If you have always thought you would like to give running a go but have not known where to start or have tried before and couldn’t pick up the habit, check out the Operation Move success stories here.
Peak Chocolate
I received my first batch of Peak Chocolate this week and I loved that the owners took the time to include a handwritten note! To me it is the small things like this that make it such a pleasure to buy from small businesses – there is the human connection.
They dub Peak Chocolate the world’s first, performance chocolate! It is designed as a pre workout and is made with 80% cacao, premium dark chocolate fused with the added benefits of Creatine, BCAA, Himalayan Salt and an extra shot of Caffeine.
I have never taken a pre workout before so am enjoying experimenting with one of my favourite foods – chocolate! So far I have found it super handy to have when I don’t want to have anything big to eat, but I know I need something before I start my run. The 18 year old in the house also gives it the thumbs up.
You can buy Peak Chocolate online here or check out their stockists page to see a location that sells it near you.
Swish Design
If you read my posts via email, have you been to the blog recently? If not you really need to come and check out its wonderful new design. The design was the work of Kelly Exeter owner of a Perth based small business called Swish Design. I am so happy with how the design looks – it looks professional, but still has a heart. It has more white space and is so much easier to read.
Kelly was fabulous to work with, understanding what I was after, but also providing recommendations on how to increase the readability and aesthetics of the blog. I can highly recommend Swish Design if you are looking to update or create a website.
Kelly also writes a fantastic blog on Swish Design aimed for small businesses. If you are a small business definitely sign up to her newsletter to receive excellent posts like How to do a re-brand that allows you to make more money and spend more time doing the stuff you love.
Funch
The talented Melbourne duo, Tanya Duncan and Lisa Bourne have developed a range of healthy food snack mixes to create tasty and wholesome snacks like protein balls, cookies, slices, luxe balls and bliss balls. There range is super allergy friendly with gluten free and nut free options and most products are also vegan and dairy free. Making up the mixes is super easy, for most of them, all you have to do is add water and one other ingredient, such as honey or rice syrup.
Their range is perfect for the health enthusiast or parents who are looking for something quick and healthy to whip up for the kids’ lunch boxes and you can see their full range here to buy online or check out where your local stockist is here.
Love2Learn
It has been a few years since our youngest attended Love2Learn, but this is a small business who is doing great things to help kids with literacy. They host 3 year old, 4 year old and lower primary literacy classes focusing on phonemic awareness activities using the Little Learners love Literacy program. This is an Australian Developed program published by ACER, written by Maureen Pollard. This program has been tried and proven to be effective and is based on evidence based research.
To see what classes actually look like you can read a previous review here. They are now located at 46a Hamilton Street in Mont Albert and you can sign up for a free trial class here.
Sustainable Wraps
I have had a few different types of bees wax wraps, but I recently bought a new set at a farmer’s market and they are the best ones I have had! Sustainable Wraps are handmade by two sisters in Melbourne with love and laughter using natural bees wax, coconut oil, pine resin, and cotton fabrics. You can purchase them through their Facebook page here or follow them on Instagram to see new stockists and what markets they will be attending.
Is there an Australian small business you would like to give a shout out to? Let me know in the comments below!
Top photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash.