Life is full of serendipity. Sometimes we ignore it. At our peril.
Sometimes we don’t know what it means.
But sometimes it’s so in your face, you can’t ignore it because you keep tripping over it.
In 1994, The birth of The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover was the birth of our rural business.
And it was an accident.
My partner is Victor Pleshev, an architect.
His mother, Rita, was recovering from her second mild stroke in 18 months. A significant side affect was the complete loss of feeling in her right hand.
Visually, she looks perfect.
Functionally, she can barely hold a teacup without spilling the contents.
Her determination to make a come back included taking back the ironing from her husband.
Yes, you read that right.
To prove she was back on track, she decided to do what everyone else in the world wants to avoid doing.
The ironing.
The complete story is on my blog The Ironing Board Cover Lady. And it’s funny, heart warming and devoid of sales hype. Go and read it after this.
On a visit to her home in Carlingford, in Sydney NSW, her son was watching her iron. And observed that her flimsy cover, which never stayed put, was dangerous for her.
She was a burns accident waiting to happen.
She juggled the cover, her husband’s shirt and her hot iron all at once, just trying to keep her cover on the board.
It was only a matter of time before she lost control of the iron at the same time she lost control of the cover and her husband’s shirt.
On the drive back to our rural property, Victor mused that if he could get a multi-story building to stay up, he could get an ironing board cover to stay on her board.
And he did. And we did.
It took six weeks of 16 hours days to develop.
Along the way we lost a few friends because we were too preoccupied to socialise; convinced our new rural neighbours we really were crazies from the city; and stepped on each other’s toes so many times, we could freeze an abattoir full of meat in the atmosphere in the sewing room.
At the end of 6 weeks, the cover Victor designed for his mother as a gift was finished. We dropped it down the mail chute at our local post office and it was on its way to her. As a surprise.
Victor’s mother loved her cover so much, she rang all her friends in the Russian community and rustled up 20 orders in the blink of an eye.
And we inadvertently gained a business.
It’s now 2008 and we’ve sold more than 100,000 covers around the world, without any national or international retail distribution.
Each cover sold one on one. Individually. To one person at a time.
And our customers swear by their Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover so much, they spread the word for us all over the world to their friends and relatives.
And come back to buy more as gifts.
Why?
A few reasons.
Simple solutions are always the best ideas.
The simple crisscross tension cord that’s the secret ingredient for keeping The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover taut and secure is really like Botox for ironing board covers. The cover never moves, wrinkles or creases.
Just like a botoxed face.
Although the supermarket cover is still the biggest selling cover in the western world, a significant number of people want to buy quality. And quality at an affordable price is much harder to find than rubbish.
We never cut corners.
We use exactly the same quality of materials today that we used in 1994. Because our customers don’t want to buy cheaper, they want to keep buying the best.
We have two questions that are asked most often when a customer finally wears a cover out.
First: Thank goodness I’ve found you. It took so long to wear my cover out, I thought maybe you might not still be in business.
Second: I hope nothing’s changed about the cover. Has it?
We love each and every customer. And show it. And not only do they feel it, but it’s such a warm and cosy feeling that they’re not used to, they shower it back onto us.
Believe me when I say you reap what you sow.
Be the first to show and give love, and be overwhelmed at the response.
Visit our website at Fitz Like A Glove Ironing Board Covers to see why we have such a dedicated following.
Then click on Finer Points to see for yourself how powerful loving your clients is.
We help others. And when you buy from us, you help others.
Everything we design is made with love and care in rural Australia by men and women who have a disability. They’re our heroes because they put their heart and soul into everything they do. And it shows.
To be honest, we did what everyone said we couldn’t do. We established a world wide business from our remote property in the Central Tablelands of NSW, before the internet, email, call waiting and Telstra MessageBank!
And we’ve never looked back. Escaping the city lights for the rural life was a life changing experience. For the better.
Stay tuned. There’s more.
Take care,
CAROL
Carol Jones
Director
Interface Pty Ltd
Ilford NSW 2850 Australia
Designers of The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover
Our simple design solutions change your attitude and make every product a joy to use
The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover, Roadworks Apron, Log Lugger, Travel Bug Shoe Bag, Mr Chin’s Laundry Bag and Sweet Shoo are all simple solutions for difficult problems. And every one is a joy to use.
We’ve developed markets for these 6 products without national or international retail distribution. To see what we’ve achieved, click on our website at www.interfaceaustralia.com.
Read the story of how our business began on The Ironing Board Cover Lady. No sales hype. Just a down home story about how we started our business on the dining room table of our rural property, driving on ‘L’ Plates, without an instructor.
A comment about LinkedIn. If you’re not a member of LinkedIn, when you click View Full Profile, you’ll be asked to join. It’s free and the option is yours. There are benefits to joining. Once you’re a member, you can key in the name of any person you do business with. If they’ve taken the trouble to complete a Profile, you’ll be able to assess their background, their capabilities and the calibre of person they are. You might be, as I am, often pleasantly surprised. So go have a look.
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