The sisters who’re doing it

Over the years there have been a number of sisters perform well in New Zealand’s business environment. One of the most high-profile teams was Sarah Gibbs and Catherine de Groot, who together built up the Trilogy brand of natural skin care before selling the company in 2010.

In May this year NZBusiness ran a story on Waikato sisters Paula and Amy Sutton and their successful artwork business AMPA Designs.

But without doubt, one of the strongest business partnerships involving sisters in recent times is Chloe and Florence Van Dyke – our cover story this month, and an inspiration to sibling business owners everywhere.

Chloe and Florence are close, that’s obvious. They know and understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and they each bring different skillsets to the business.

When you read their story you’ll discover there’s a special bond and mutual respect – they make a formidable partnership. It’s no wonder that since Florence came on board, Chia Sisters (as the brand is now known) has flourished. This is a brand worth keeping your eye on – the sisters are only just getting started.

One of the pleasures I get from editing the magazine is seeing start-ups that have featured on these pages going on to great success out in the big, wide world.

A recent example is Aider – a business start-up that brings human- centric artificial intelligence and digital assistance to small businesses – as featured in our March 2019 issue.

Founded in 2017 by Brendan Roberts and Pete Weaver, Aider has recently announced success on the North American front – simultaneously unveiling integrations across the US and Canada with Square, Shopify, QuickBooks Online and Amazon Alexa. Not exactly a bad start in a brand new destination for this clever start-up.

Could it be that the pages of NZBusiness offer that Midas touch for fledgling businesses? I look back on past stories and see so many start-ups that have gone from strength to strength to become well-known market brands – and often in new, emerging segments. This month’s story on Easy Crypto could well be the latest in a long line. Enjoy the read!

Glenn H Baker editor@nzbusiness.co.nz