Woodyoubuy Turns 3

2020 started normally with the 1st quarter being a bit slow. John was still working part time at his IT job and I'm working full-time at Woodyoubuy plus taking care of my 2 year old girl and Kindy little boy.

Then, COVID happened. Australia was in lock down and we were kind of thinking to panic-buy all the timber & materials we needed so that we can still make our products. I was glued to the TV awaiting news announcements of restrictions and policies regarding lock-down. Thank god that it wasn't as strict as I thought it would be and we were still able to purchase our timber supplies (although with a little bit of hiccups here and there).

I also remember being so worried with the uncertainties that came with COVID - supplies that we were purchasing from other countries were being cancelled (shops suddenly closed), materials already purchased overseas didn't arrive, and the most problematic one was the orders that were shipped out internationally was super delayed (like 2-3 months) and some never arrived. We had to deal with these issues all at the same time. I normally panic and get super stressed when these things happen but I was so relieved that we were able to source our supplies here in Australia (and most importantly support Australian businesses too). Then I had to deal with customers who were complaining about their orders not arriving. I was so lucky that most of them were very understanding when I explained where their orders were, and the current situation.

Another COVID-related thing that happened was our sales suddenly increased! I wasn't really expecting it and we were so unprepared for it. So there were many changes that happened during these times:

• We decided for John to be 100% onboard at Woodyoubuy. It was a little bit of a tough decision as this means that this small business will be our sole income. There were many what-ifs but we just went on with it. We thought that in case anything happens, John can still go back to his IT job next time.
• We also got some more people to join our team. They've helped us enormously as we were already having a lot of backlogs at that time.
• We've made Woodyoubuy a company! Yay!
• Invested in one of our most expensive machine so far - which we are just starting to learn and use.
• Built a "soundproof" extension workshop area where most of the sanding and building of products are done. John also tried to soundproof the old workshop area (aka garage) where most of the noisy power tools are.

Whew! thinking about it, that was a lot of change in a span of 3-5 months? I am really proud of what we accomplished last year! But as always there were challenges that we needed to overcome like, complaining neighbors! Haha, we received an "anonymous" (but we know who she is) letter asking us to be quiet. But now, I don't think she'll complain anymore as our workshop areas are now soundproofed. Hopefully, we don't get anymore letters from her.

We also had to deal with working together as husband and wife. You know, the mentality of "the wife is always right"? He had to deal with that! Haha. Honestly it's a little bit hard to separate the business with the personal side of things but we are learning everyday!

And working with our small team has been great! I felt that our family has grown bigger with them included.

Probably that's it! As always, we are thankful. I think I keep on saying this but I really am. I am thankful for the problems and issues we've encountered as these are valuable lessons we learned and are still learning. I am thankful for all the people who supported and believed in us. And, we are most especially thankful to God for all these blessings. Our hearts will never grow tired of thanking everything that has happened and everyone.

And lastly and most importantly, we're planning something BIG this year! So stay tuned!!!

P.S I forgot to add that we've reached 8K+ sales orders for 2020 vs 2K of 2019 

Yours truly,

Woodyoubuy