For this seventh episode of Hey Sendler, we were joined by Finders Keepers’ Co-Founder, Sarah Thornton. If you don’t know, The Finders Keepers is an online marketplace full of incredible Australian makers selling their wares.
In this episode, Jenn chatted with Sarah about how they got started with the marketplace, the effect of COVID on their makers, and what she sees for the future of The Finders Keepers.
Watch the whole thing or read the full transcript below.
Finders Keepers, 2020 and beyond, a chat with Sarah Thornton of The Finders Keepers (full transcript)
Jenn: Hello everyone, welcome to our seventh installment of Hey Sendler.
I'm Jenn, Sendle's Community Manager. I'm based in Seattle, but tonight, or your lunchtime, I'm gonna be chatting with Sarah, the managing director and founder of Finders Keepers. So excited to be here.
Really excited to be chatting with Sarah, learning a little bit more about Finders Keepers, about their inspiration for starting the market, The Marketplace, and we're gonna be chatting about a few different things, how Covid has impacted the market and retailers and sellers. We're gonna be talking about what they anticipate for the future, and sort of where things are right now.
So before we get started, I'd like to acknowledge that we're on the traditional land of the first people here in Seattle. We recognize the Duwamish for their continuing connection to land, waters, and culture. We pay our respects to elders past, present, and future. With that, I'd like to welcome Sarah on to Hey Sendler.
We're warming up, waiting for Sarah. Connecting. Hi!
Sarah: Hi.
Jenn: Welcome. How are you?
Sarah: I'm good, thank you for having me. Sorry, I'll just adjust myself. [chuckle]
Jenn: Thank you for being here. How's your morning going so far?
Sarah: Yeah, all good. Just working away in the background.
Jenn: Perfect.
Sarah: At home. [chuckle]
Jenn: Yeah, I love it. So really quickly, I just wanna give everyone a little bit of housekeeping.
So, obviously, Covid has meant that lots of us are working from home, everyone's doing kind of webinars and web things, so if the internet is spotty, if we get disconnected, if you can't hear, our apologies sincerely.
Try to disconnect and come back; if one of us gets kicked off, we'll disconnect and come back. If you have questions specifically related to packages, or parcels as you like to say down under, please send us the DM.
My lovely colleagues Nina and Crystal from our support team are gonna be holding down the DMs, they'll be happy to help you with any questions that you might have.
We're gonna have lots of time for questions at the end. So before we get started, Sarah, I'd love for you just to tell us a little bit about yourself and Finders Keepers, and then we'll kind of jump right in.
Sarah: Yeah, no worries. So my name's Sarah Thornton, I'm the Co-Founder and Director of Finders Keepers.
So I have a business partner, Brooke, who's not with us today, and we started The Finders Keepers in 2008. So we're 12 years old now.
Jenn: That's amazing.
Sarah: Yeah. We're a... So for those that don't know, we're a curated marketplace for makers, designers, and entrepreneurs.
We've started a market with 20 stall-holders, so really small and humble back in the day, and we're in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.
Now we host over 200 stall-holders at each event, and it's a multi-day event so it goes for three days, and there's music, food, and entertainment as well, so... Well, that's what we did up until Covid hit, obviously. [laughter]
A little bit different this year, which we can go into. But yeah, we've been doing that for a while, and we've also started an online marketplace which has been a massive focus this year, obviously with Covid and the changes.
And yeah, that's about it.
Jenn: I love it. You guys are almost teenagers. It's very exciting.
Sarah: Yeah. Definitely grown a lot since we started and then changed and... Yeah.
Jenn: Yeah, definitely. What was the inspiration for starting Finders Keepers?
Where did you find yourself in 2008 thinking like, "You know what, we really need this sort of presence here in Australia," and what was your background before Finders Keepers, kind of were you working as a small business entrepreneur, or how did you find yourself in the position that you're in now?
Sarah: So our background is designers. So both Brooke and I were working in jewelry and fashion at the time, in our early 20s.
And Brooke had just started her own jewelry label and at the time there wasn't really anything to showcase her work, there were no design markets at that time.
There were only local events and exhibitions, so more high-end kind of stuff that didn't really fit the, I guess, the person that we were... Or, she was trying to attract, that like-minded group of people.
And an opportunity came up for us to use a space for free, and we kinda came up with the idea of, why don't we create a place that we wanted to go to, an event or a market. So we did just that.
We had put the word out, I think... There was no Facebook or Instagram back then, it was all Myspace.
Jenn: Yes. [laughter]
Sarah: Which is hilarious. And basically word-of-mouth. It was very organic.
So, we basically just told our friends, emailed a bunch of people, said, "Do you wanna get together? Let's do this thing".
Grabbed some musicians, got some food and alcohol, and the rest is history. The first event was a hit and basically, word-of-mouth grew from there, that people were looking for that type of thing as well.
Jenn: That's so awesome.
Sarah: Yeah. So lots of small kind of rustic events with a bunch of friends doing cool stuff, and we just developed and grew from there, and it was a really exciting time.
Back in 2007, when we first were talking about it and doing this, there just wasn't anything exciting going on, and it's a different landscape today.
Jenn: Yeah.
Sarah: I've lost count of how many design markets there are now.
Jenn: Yeah, totally.
Sarah: But there was just nothing like that at the time. So yeah, that's kind of the inspiration and how we started, and we really fell into it, I would say. It wasn't like I went, "I'm gonna start a market."
Jenn: Right.
Sarah: It was just one of those things we did on the side, as something we were passionate about.
And I think we got a couple of years in and were like, "We can make this into a business. This is really taking off." So, yeah, that's how we started.
Jenn: So, I know you all launched The Marketplace, and that's separate from the market, I guess, and so... And that was kind of pre-Covid, even.
So I'd love to know a little bit more about your push into trying to do an internet marketplace and what the thought process was behind that.
And then how you found yourself in a, I guess, serendipitous situation where you were kind of ahead of the curve in a lot of ways, of being able to have a space that was already up and running, so that makers, retailers, small businesses had somewhere that they were able to pivot in light of Covid.
Sarah: Yeah, I think it's definitely taken off because of Covid, but we were already looking at online, I would say like five years ago. [chuckle]
Yeah, it's something that has been in the pipeline for a long time, and it's just recently that we decided to implement it.
And it never really replaces what we do at our live events and the markets because that connection with the maker, the feel, the touch, the smells, and the conversations with the makers, is really important, but we just felt like there was an opportunity to move online to continue for those makers to connect with their customers, and for people to find what they're looking for all year round, not just at our events.
And I think also the connection with the rest of Australia as well. We had a lot of people saying, "I can't travel to your event and I'd really like to buy from your sellers. Do you have a directory?"
And we had a directory for the whole time and it's just a really great opportunity now for sellers to be able to continue selling all year round and doing it online.
So yeah, we were definitely ahead a little bit in that aspect and now it's paramount that we've got that experience as well for people to connect. So we were lucky.
Jenn: Yeah, that's really cool. Tell me about one of the ways that Covid has impacted you all the hardest.
What's something... I know you've had to cancel some markets and you just had a big online market but what are some of the things you all were really looking forward to this year that kind of... Maybe something new or something different that you've had to either shelf or you're just looking to the future about?
Sarah: Yeah, well, this year was a pretty significant impact because we canceled our entire year of events so that's our Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter season.
And up until this point, that's 80% of our business is live events, so the online aspect is really only new and not something that had a big factor into our business. So yeah, the impact of Covid was pretty detrimental.
And luckily, in Australia, we've had the support from our government with JobKeeper and some other incentives that really helped us keep alive. Because, yeah, if we didn't have online and we didn't have that government support, I'm not sure if we'd be here or be surviving very well to this day.
So yeah, it was pretty significant for us but luckily we've been able to keep going and surviving. And I guess this year was... It's hard to say where it would have gone if we had events and Covid didn't happen but it's gonna look different into the future, and might not be a bad thing as well, so...
Jenn: Yeah, that kind of idea of a new normal, switching things up, or maybe things get kinda complacent 'cause you've been doing it for so while and you're kind of reticent to change it.
I think that we're all kind of in this space, yeah, where you're just exploring new possibilities and everything.
You and I talked about this for a hot second earlier today but I think that one of the things I've noticed even here in the States is that the pandemic really highlighted the fact that marketplaces are small businesses too, where before I think that there was this idea of marketplaces being untouchable, right?
You churn out this great content, you curate these beautiful events; it really feels like a stable part of small businesses and their retail schedule and everything, and then Covid hit and it's...
Everybody's sort of in the same boat, which I think brings a lot of solidarity to small businesses and makers, kind of understanding that you're not this limitless talent pool and you don't have this unlimited budget.
And so I wonder if you can tell us a little bit about some of the ways that you all are thinking about the future and some of the makers or small businesses that you know who have really inspired you all through this season.
Sarah: Yeah, I think that's a really good point and something that people don't really understand about our business sometimes, 'cause we do appear big with big events.
But we're a very small team and a very hands-on team that do a lot, and we look after our community, and we've worked really hard this year to keep serving our community. And I think that Covid has highlighted and been able to show that vulnerability, that more business owners have been able to be transparent and show their real stories and struggles.
And I think that we've always been really strongly about community over competition, so collaboration, and listening. You know, happened this year that we've reached out to other events and other businesses doing it tough, and opened up our insights and shared with them and really been like, "We're all in this together."
And hearing from our community is really important. So hopefully they can see that we're putting in the hard work and trying to listen and support as much as we can, so...
Jenn: I love community over competition, especially right now where it's just so necessary for all of us to come together and show that we're sort of all in everything together.
And that we support everyone as best we can. I wanna say hi really quickly to everyone who's joined us. I'm Jenn and I'm Sendle's Community Manager. I'm chatting with Sarah from Finders Keepers.
If you have questions, feel free to use the little question icon down at the bottom, you can pop them in that way. If you have parcel-related inquiries, you're more than welcome to send us a DM, and Nina and Crystal are holding it down in the DM section to be able to get you any help.
So, when you all are thinking about what next year looks like, what does next year look like in your heads? Like, best case scenario? And what does 2021 look like if things are kind of same same but different, I guess, depending on where things end up?
Sarah: Yeah. Oh gosh, it's so hard to know, isn't it, where the pandemic is heading?
Jenn: Yeah.
Sarah: But obviously, things will be different. I think we all know that. But we're hoping that all our events are able to go ahead.
They are gonna look different and we are going to change things to be Covid-safe and all those precautions to making it a safe event, which is the most highest priority for us.
But we're hoping that we're able to keep on going and move ahead because all our sellers need to start connecting again with their customers. And we all need to get out of the house and...
Jenn: Yes. [chuckle]
Sarah: In the most safe way. But yeah, I think that we do have to move on with business anyway. It's gonna be different. But we're hoping 2021 is a turning point and we can keep moving safely into the future.
Jenn: Yeah, definitely. I love the small business survey that you all put out and just the data behind it. And I'd love for you to talk to us a little bit about why you decided to put it out, what you were hoping... What information did you think you were gonna find out?
What was the most surprising thing when you actually looked at all of the data? And where did you find inspiration, like, what was hopeful coming out of that?
Sarah: Yeah, so we did a small business impact survey back in March. The reason behind that was because that was really when everything was in lockdown and changes were happening in Australia.
And we knew that our community was hurting, we were hurting, and we wanted to reach out and for our community to have a voice. Because I guess in our area of business, we're in a bit of a gray area, there's no real representation, like, we're not arts and entertainment exactly.
And we're not really music industry. So we wanted to be able to provide an opportunity for our community to tell us what's going on for them. Data always helps with everything.
Jenn: Yes.
Sarah: And so we asked a few questions about what impact that had? And we really were wondering what... Not having the market events running all this year at all, what kind of impact that has on our sellers?
'Cause we knew how important it is for them to connect. And we were also asking questions about what we can do to support you, how we can help. Because at the time, yeah, we just... It was really hard.
Everyone was treading water and we wanted to know how... and what we can do to help people. So the biggest thing that came out of that for us was the dollar impact, and we ran a few averages, and looking at a whole heap of answers ranging from high to low, we were looking at an average of $18,000 loss instantly from not running markets.
And we calculated it at $130 million for just one year of no... Or even just a season of not running markets. So for that... Seeing that loss was pretty significant. And knowing that having a voice for our community and giving them support was really important for us.
Jenn: Yeah, it's such a staggering number. And it really is overwhelming to think about. Especially for small businesses.
I love... You guys put out some tips for small businesses. And one of the tips that I love most was, "Pivot don't pause." And so I just... I'm wondering if, when you asked your community, "How can we support you?"
What were some of the things that they said? What are people... Like, what were they looking for?
Sarah: Yeah, we decided that going ahead with small business support was one of the most important things we could do at that time because people were just feeling really lost.
A lot of anxiety and panic at the start. And so we came out with a Together We Are Stronger campaign, which was all about small business support. We asked a whole heap of experts that we knew to contribute and send videos and tips and just give as much back to the community as we could to help support them through this time.
And a lot of people, obviously, had to transition online and their business will be looking very different today. And in some of those instances, they've actually changed for the better as well.
So there's been some amazing silver-lining stories about businesses that have made changes or pivoted online or changed something that has been for the better. So there's some good that's come out of it.
Jenn: I love that, yes. It feels like the kind of year where you take all the good news you can get, and you just kinda hold it close and relish it because...
Sarah: Yes, definitely.
Jenn: Yeah. It really is.
Sarah: We do want to keep being that beacon of hope for people, and there was a lot of helplessness. But what can we do now that's significant, that can help support people during this time?
So, yeah, that's been one thing that we've had running and it's been really successful, so we're happy that we can keep doing that.
Jenn: Yeah. I'm gonna pop in, somebody asked us a question, so I wanna see, okay, "Will we offer express shipping any time soon?"
So that's a Sendle question, feel free to pop it in the DMs, and like I said, Nina and Crystal will get back to you. I wanna say hi to everyone who's joined and who's giving hearts and thumbs up and all the things, we appreciate you being here and chatting with Sarah from Finders Keepers about their inspiration for starting the market and the online marketplace, kind of COVID impacts, and then 2020 and beyond.
Sarah, you mentioned earlier today that you have little ones, and so you're parenting in the pandemic, and working and running a business, and I just am curious to know how you're doing and how you and Brooke are kind of handling what it looks like to be running a small business that so many small businesses rely and depend on.
Sarah: Yeah, it's definitely been a struggle this year. We had the kids home for extended period, and I definitely felt that, struggling to run a business at home with children running around and homeschooling, but I know a lot of other parents are in the same boat.
So we had some pretty funny meetings with kids running in the background and just made it happen. Our team also has... There's a lot of children in our team, so a lot of our WIP meetings has babies sitting on hips and...
[chuckle]
Jenn: Perfect.
Sarah: Yeah. We're all in it together just trying to make it work. And I think there's a realness in that.
And yeah, it's just been an interesting time but it's also great to talk to so many other people that are like, "Yeah, my kids are at home too."
Jenn: Yes. Yeah. I have a three-year-old. He was home for a little while too. And it is quite the adventure.
You just kinda like roll with it and make it work, or you just like go blank on a meeting, like you turn your screen off and you're [chuckle] trying to manage all of the things outside of your little box.
Yeah. Okay, so what's the next thing that you all have coming up on the Finders Keepers calendar?
Sarah: Yeah, so we just literally finished our second virtual market, so we've had two this year. Finders Keepers at Home, which was amazing.
And we've got one extra Christmas online event coming up on the 25th of November... Hopefully, that's the right date.
[laughter]
Sarah: And yeah, we've just had to make that pivot to run online, and couldn't do anything else. So just trying to support our sellers and keep our shoppers happy 'cause they all wanna still support small business, and that's really important right now.
So I guess they've been our events for the year. And our online marketplace is running all year round as well.
Jenn: How do the virtual events work? What's the format for them?
Sarah: So we had the, I guess, a lineup, which is a shopping directory, and we had all the sellers in different categories, and a lot of them had promotions or special market exclusives that they've ran over that time, which made that time a bit special.
And we've also had maker videos, so, behind the scenes and stories and how-to demonstrations. Which was a really lovely aspect of what we did because the markets for us are all about connecting with the makers and having conversations and meeting people in real life, but how can you translate that online?
You really can't, unless you do Lives with every single seller, which wasn't really gonna happen. So, we decided to run this video content, which... Yeah, it was really nice as well, to tell those stories and get people to connect online as well as they can.
And I think, just on a side note for that, it's been really important and special for sellers to realize they can do that.
They can do that on their own Instagrams, and try and connect with people and tell their stories as well. So yeah, it's been good.
Jenn: Yeah. That's awesome. I love seeing how many small businesses are using video or Instagram Live for the first time, in the pandemic, where there was this sort of apprehension to being on camera.
It's not my favorite thing either. "I don't like hearing my sound." I don't either. But you need to find ways to show people, like what you were saying earlier, this kind of tactile thing that we're missing, not being able to go to markets and feel and touch.
And so I love seeing makers who are just on Instagram Live and are like, "Look, at my thing... Look at my earrings, this is what they're made of, this is how they feel, this is the weight, this is what they look like," because it really just helps me...
Well, it lures me in, because I love this kind of more insight, more information, all of these things, but it really just gives me more fodder for being, "Yes, I do need this thing in my life, right? I need this necklace, or this shirt, or this sweater, or something," but being able to really experience it through the maker is so special.
It gives you so much more... You feel their love, all the things that they're putting into these things that they're putting out in the world.
So that's been one of my favorite things about how people are pivoting, is just seeing people on video more. Or meeting people behind the account, 'cause sometimes it's all product and then you see somebody on Live, and you're like, "I had no idea who you even were."
Sarah: Yeah.
Jenn: Which is really cool. We just got a question, and it is, "I love your Instagram page.
What's your advice for businesses on how much time they should invest on social, and how do you decide when to use social versus what you might save for newsletters or other kind of content ideas?"
Sarah: That's a really good question. It depends what your business is, I think, and where your customers are; I think that's the most important, to think about where people are shopping from and where they're seeing you.
So, Instagram's a great place for visuals and for shopping and for all that beautiful content, so naturally, Instagram is pretty good for designers and sellers. In saying that, I think email marketing is important and shouldn't be undervalued for any business.
So yeah, I think it really depends what you're doing. If you're a maker, you should be posting regularly, even if it's a couple of times a week. Sharing interactive content is really good, so videos and stories. And getting people's email addresses is really important.
So sending newsletters regularly, even if it's just once a month, dropping in people's inboxes, and sharing what you're up to or what's going on is important too.
So yeah, I think it varies depending what you're doing, but for us, socials is really important because that's where we find our people and our communities, on Instagram, so it's one of the most important channels for us.
Jenn: Tools that you're using, yeah, definitely. I'm gonna hop into some of the questions that we got from some people who registered and then if you all have questions who are joining us live, feel free to pop them in the question section or send us a comment.
You're also welcome to DM and Nina and Crystal will let me know. Let's see, how do you feel this year has changed the Finders Keepers marketplace forever, and... Oh, do you feel, excuse me, that this year has changed the marketplace forever, and online events are going to play a part as we move forward?
So is everything changed forever and do you anticipate the virtual events in the online marketplace staying forever?
Sarah: That's a great question. I think definitely this has impacted everybody forever, and I think it'll change moving forward.
For us, I think even though the online marketplace has been great and virtual events and connecting with people digitally, real events are super important to us, and it's not something that we're gonna... We don't wanna change.
Jenn: Right.
Sarah: It might be just the formatting that we have to change. But I think during this time, the need for connection is really strong, and people are gonna be looking for that again.
As much as I love online shopping, there's something so special about meeting the maker and being there in person to really feel the fabric or see something, so I think in both ways the markets will become strong again 'cause people will be craving that connection and those experiences but now that people have pivoted online and we're used to online shopping, I think that's gonna remain quite strong and evolve as well, so yeah.
Jenn: Yeah, definitely.
Sarah: Does that answer the question?
Jenn: Yes. [chuckle]
Sarah: Yes.
Jenn: We don't know. Hopefully, maybe, we'll see, I think is kind of...
Sarah: We're all open to change and seeing where we're moving to, but yeah, I do think that both online and real-life events are important for us moving forward.
Jenn: Yeah, definitely. Okay, do you feel this new format might make it more accessible to wholesalers because it is more affordable?
Sarah: That's a hard question for me 'cause I'm not a wholesaler.
Jenn: Okay.
Sarah: Not as much in we are, I guess, direct to customer event, so we're not really a wholesale event.
But we do help sellers find new wholesalers. So I think in some ways it might affect it, but it really just depends on what the sellers are doing in their pricing and everything.
I can't really comment on that, yeah.
Jenn: How do you create excitement around a brand launch that engages your customers and audience?
Sarah: That's a good question too. Yeah, so I guess we've changed how we run campaigns. Traditionally we do... Our events our Autumn/Winter, which is I guess the Fall/Winter for you guys, and Spring/Summer.
And we've always had like a featured artist campaign for each of those seasons and everything that we've done online revolves or has an anchor, to a campaign. So we've had all of our content feeds into Spring/Summer for Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne events.
But this year we were like, "What are we doing?" [chuckle] And so we launched the Together We Are Stronger campaign, I guess you can call it, which was all about small businesses, and then the Finders Keepers At Home virtual event.
Sarah: So for us as creatives, creative content is really important. And we've always found that creating some excitement and hype towards building a season or building an event is really important.
And visuals are really important too. So changing up colors and images and things makes it really exciting for people that want to be involved and come to our events as well.
So, I don't know if that really answers the question but I think... Yeah, I guess, to put things plainly, I think for a brand it's important to have an anchor to a campaign, or something creative, like a creative look.
You know, fashion designers do it really well. If you look at that as an inspiration.
Jenn: Yeah, yeah.
Sarah: And something that people get excited about, seeing the new look and decor and creatives that we come out with each campaign, as well. So hopefully that answers the question.
Jenn: Awesome, yeah, definitely. Okay, what are some things you recommend doing to build an authentic community between all your small business owners through like Finders Keepers?
Sarah: Something we recommend doing?
Jenn: To build an authentic community?
Sarah: I think just be authentic is the first one. [chuckle]
Jenn: Yeah.
Sarah: Yeah, like for us, we were authentically behind the stall selling as well as being a customer. So we knew what it was like, from the small business struggles to how to sell and how to market our brand.
And also, we were creating experiences that we wanted to be a part of and places that we wanted to shop. So I think for Brooke and I, the brand is very authentic to us and who we are, and the connections that we made.
You know, back in the day, it was just the two of us, and we talked to every single person, we answered every single email, and we were really in the thick of it. And we really understood who our customer was.
So I think you've got to be really ingrained in what you're doing. And it's really important for that authenticity to connect with your people.
We always ask for feedback every single time we did something, always we're listening, always we're changing and evolving. So being open, being transparent, and connecting is important. And then I think if you're doing those things and you're being your authentic self, it really shines through.
We started really organically and it was all word of mouth. Like we didn't have an advertising budget. Back then we were hardly making any money at all.
So that connecting with our people and that word of mouth and that trust and loyalty started in the early days. And I think for people wanting to start their own businesses, you've got to go in the trenches and you've got to be a part of every single aspect of your business to make it grow.
And the community grows with you. So...
Jenn: Yeah...
Sarah: There are some sellers that, yeah, have been with us from the start, and we love them, and we still have, you know, special relationships with them. So, yeah, it's really important.
Jenn: Yeah. I love that. In February... Sorry, I usually wear glasses because it's hard to see when it's so far away.
If February in Melbourne does go ahead, will there be a time limit on the amount of certain people to be able to attend at once?
And then I think a suggestion maybe booking ahead for customers into a time slot for the days, just so the maximum number of people can get through.
Sarah: Yeah, 100%, we've been considering all those aspects of our new COVID-safe planning, which would be allocated time slots for people to attend so there's a safe amount of people in the building at one time.
And definitely allocating, you know, the timing and tickets and stuff, as well. So we're onto it. Don't worry, guys, we've been doing lots of planning behind the background, and we're working with COVID-safe planning experts and local state councils and everything. So we will look after you all.
Jenn: You will be safe. I love that. I have one more question for you, and then I want to give everyone some time just in case they have a few more.
But I'd love to know if like COVID or 2020 has shifted sort of long-term goals for Finders Keepers. Like, when you all were thinking what Finders Keepers would look like three years from now, or five years from now, or 10 years from now, has 2020 changed that at all?
Or are you all like steadfast and just, "This is who we are and what we're doing and kind of we're gonna stay on track regardless of what this year has brought to all of us"?
Sarah: Yeah, I mean, I think it's definitely changed our trajectory a little bit. Obviously, the focus we're having online as an aspect is going to keep moving forward and growing and it's an important part of our business.
But yeah, we really do want to get back to doing what we love and what we've been doing for so long. 64 events in, we're not giving up yet.
Jenn: Yeah.
Sarah: But we do feel like, yeah, things are gonna naturally change and pivot, and we're looking at how we can keep moving forward to support small business.
Not just in the big states as well, like how can we do that regionally in smaller areas of Australia? So there's definitely some ideas we've got bubbling away and seeing where we can move the business forward that is gonna be the most, I guess, useful and important.
So yeah, I think, watch this space. [chuckle]
Jenn: I love that. Thank you so much for joining. Everyone, again, I'm Jenn, I'm the Community Manager for Sendle.
I'm here with Sarah, who's the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Finders Keepers. I'd love to give you all a moment. If you have a question, now is your time, pop it in the question box, or in the comments.
I'm gonna pop this open one more time to make sure I didn't miss anything. If you don't mind, while I give people some time to marinate on an amazing, smart, fantastic question, telling us kind of where people can find Finders Keepers online?
And again, if you wanna plug the next event and tell us... You know, anything else you'd like us to know, that would be awesome.
Sarah: Yeah, no worries. Well, you can definitely find us on Instagram with this handle, finders_keepers. We're there pretty actively, weekly.
We've got a website obviously; we post blogs on sellers and makers, and now more recently, small business tips and things. So you can subscribe to our newsletter for more updates on what we're doing.
And also our website, thefinderskeepers.com, you can shop the marketplace. So click through there and you'll find 300, I think, sellers online.
Jenn: That's amazing.
Sarah: Yeah, so we're actively always promoting what people are doing online, and we're now gearing up to our last virtual event of the year, which is our Christmas event, and that will be all online as well.
Of course. [chuckle] And yeah, I think that's really us in a nutshell.
Jenn: Thank you. Okay, so “Thank you for your support of new businesses.” “Love your content.”
Sarah: Thank you.
Jenn: "Why doesn't Sendle do express post?" "You're a dream." Thank you. [chuckle] Please feel free to pop your comment into the DMs, and Nina and Crystal will take care of you.
I think that is everything I wanna say. Thanks again for your time and for sharing your story and your energy and your space with us. It really means a lot.
If you all are interested in learning more, please follow Finders Keepers, check out their website. We'll have a transcript of our chat available on Sendle's website soon.
We'll share some resources when we get everything up on our blog, and you can follow Sendle here at Sendle, check us out at sendle.com.
And again, if you have questions, comments, feedback, anything, feel free to pop them in the DMs and my team will get back to you, or we'll make sure that the right person gets back to you. And I think that's the same for the Finders Keepers as well.
Sarah: Yeah, I was gonna say, likewise, if anyone has any more questions and stuff that you wanna learn from me or anyone in my business, I've got a great team; we're such an open book and we're happy to help as much as we can.
So, thank you so much.
Jenn: Thank you. Okay. Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Everyone, thanks for being with us.
We'll be back with another Hey Sendler before the Black Friday holiday, which I know is much bigger in the US than it is in Australia right now, but I think November 19th here in the US. And yeah, we'll get some information out soon.
Thanks for coming everyone. I hope you have a good day.
Sarah: Thank you.
Jenn: Thanks, Sarah. Have a good one.
