Venu Cameron left behind a corporate procurement career and city life four years ago to found her own business venture, Venuzi Pit Paste. Venuzi Pit Paste produce all natural, organic and vegan deodorant pastes, and have a commitment to protecting the environment and driving social change.
Venu has grown her ecommerce business to achieve national distribution, and also reach customers internationally, while living and working completely off grid in the rural NSW town of Lillian Rock.
How does your previous career in purchasing help your business Venuzi Pit Paste?
Understanding the operation of wholesale and retail businesses helped me to scale the product. Gaining contacts in the right department, working professionally and consistently.
I have always had a big business mentality with a small business approach, professional with personality.
What steps did you take to transition from a city to living off grid?
When we lived in the city, we worked hard but didn’t spend much time at home. When we moved Off Grid, we now work really hard, but now have a sense of achievement.
All the resources are free and readily available, working with us (most of the time) Sun, Water, Earth.
In the beginning we made many mistakes, but had fun learning some lessons:
- Rubbish removal and storage, then keeping rats and pests away.
- Water usage, storage and access, also water waste and irrigation, how to get it moving.
- Solar Power, the weather and how to gain power, store it and don’t overuse it.
- The compost toilet is great, but not the most discreet waste solution.
- Firewood, storage, chopping and creating warmth in winter and not chasing our tail.
Tell us about your work life balance living in Northern NSW.
I have a office area at home, and dedicate work time, planned at the beginning of each week, a minimum of 2 days. The mornings are my most effective, so I work mornings performing stock production, ordering, sales calls, visits or computer work.
A priority is caring for my family, and looking after the Off Grid property. The business has allowed me the freedom to work when I decide, or incorporate the business into our daily life.
Sometimes a workday can change. Interruptions have taught me to be flexible, and consider if the interruption is urgent, or can it wait? One of the challenges of working from home is that if you work from home, people assume you are free and will offer many interruptions.
How did you grow a national distribution network from a rural town?
The internet is a great tool for rural businesses to promote national growth. I live Off Grid, and still have internet. The connection showcases my business to the world.
Local sales visits are done in person, but I can also gain new suppliers over email or social media. My approach has allowed for growth, mainly with persistence, consistency, and reliability. Also a fun approach helps.
Most proud of?
The product I created – Venuzi Pit Paste – is now popular with many people around Australia and even overseas! The business has grown out of a passion to provide all natural, ethical, sustainable, organic and vegan products. It was important to me, to gain a wider audience and help inform people about natural alternatives, that are effective for you and the planet.
Living close to the land has offered this opportunity. With the continual support of my family and friends, I have managed to grow my business from a small rural town to national distribution.
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