Nelson cabin business racks up milestones

Kitset cabin provider SheShed is now a trans-Tasman operation with more than 1000 cabins sold across both New Zealand and Australia.

SheShed started in Nelson eight years ago after the company identified opportunities to supply the burgeoning garden shed and cabin market.

“We were at the Christchurch home and garden show promoting home and outdoor garden products. Everyone kept asking about buying the shed we had on a poster,” Luke says. “We went out and registered a domain that day.”

He says customers embraced SheShed’s offerings from the start.

“Our website features some 500 customer photos and more than 120 customers have taken the time to provide testimonials,” he says. “We’ve got tens of thousands of Facebook and Instagram followers alongside almost 100,000 Pinterest monthly views.”

Luke says kitsets have a few major advantages, being a pre-engineered structure under 30m^2, so they don’t need to utilise a qualified builder and can be assembled with a few common tools by anyone with basic DIY skills.

“By being under 30m², the cabins can fit within certain exemptions in the building code allowing them to generally not need a council building consent, providing massive cost and time savings,” he says.

“Having said that it’s important for people considering such a solution to check with their local council to confirm the exemption applies.”

Luke says that the company was careful to research suppliers to ensure they were able to deliver a quality product.

“We’re committed to a process of continuing improvement and refinement,” he says. “On top of this we’re always expanding our range and exploring new ideas and applications for our cabins.”

SheShed now employs 10 people across New Zealand and Australia.

“Eight years in we’re still expanding from our Nelson roots,” Luke says. “We’re fortunate to be able to offer products that suit current market conditions. Our high levels of customer satisfaction are testimony to the quality of what we sell and the fact that people can have confidence in dealing with us.”

Pictured: SheShed’s Nelson team (left to right): Elizabeth Ross, Tanya Carney, Nish Inwood, Josh Bryant, Brent Shatford.

www.sheshed.co.nz