The Lismore CBD has gained another local business, The Off Grid Shop, which opened a shop front on Conway Street, not far from Ongmac.

The Off Grid Shop owner Mike Haydon had five businesses wiped out in the February 2022 floods. The offices for all five were in Snow Street, South Lismore; nothing survived.

"We had 24 Hour Solar, which was more focused on grid-connected customers and doing installations, The Off Grid Shop was more selling physical products and people that lived off-grid. We had an investment business, a sort of cryptocurrency business and a media business using YouTube and podcasts.

"We had all of those businesses, and then overnight, they disappeared after the 2022 flood, and I had to make a decision to pick one. You know, it's like picking your favourite child. I had to pick a business to survive and get back out of the floods. I couldn't run all five businesses again by myself, and we were really struggling to find staff.

"I chose The Off Grid Shop. It's probably the thing I've been doing the most, the longest and that I'm most passionate about. And at that point in time, it was really easy for me to grow that business because I've been doing it for 15 years without a huge amount of staff."

After two and half years of working from home, Mike decided to get an office in the CBD to have more exposure and to let people know, "We're back in business and back in town".

The consistent issue for many business owners in Lismore and the Northern Rivers was finding staff, especially immediately after the big flood. Mike has survived the last two years by getting work outside of Lismore, "That is what has kept us alive," Mike said.

"Now, it's time to grow the business, so we've moved to the CBD. We want a presence here and thought, let's get back into this and get an office."

Pre-flood, Mike employed ten (10) staff, and post-flood, Mike lost everyone.

"The two people that didn't lose their houses, that worked for my team, moved out of town, so it was a bit hard."

The good news is that Mike wants to hire more staff again, if he can find the right people.

"Right now, we've got an advert for a Business Manager. I'd like a right-hand person who can shadow me and understand the business like I do. We've also got a roll-up at the moment for an entry-level front-of-house person that we call 'The Director of First Impressions'. Basically, when someone walks into the shop, they manage the impressions that they first have with our business or through our online media presence."

"Then, our next strategic role is to hire a Solar Installer who works for us, but not to actually do installs but to manage our contractors. I think we've had a great deal of success over the years working with some really good contractors, and we've built some good relationships over the years. We want to maintain those relationships and continue to grow working with contractors. But, we do want someone who has all the tickets and licenses."

"The next person on the agenda is a Sales Person. We really want someone that's passionate about being self-sufficient. It's not really about the solar batteries, but their whole lifestyle being sustainable."

"That was one of the biggest reasons I moved to Lismore. I believed Lismore was one of those communities where everyone was into sustainability and wanting to do the right thing. That was one of the main reasons we picked to move here and bring our kids up here."

If you are interested in applying for any of the jobs mentioned, email admin@theoffgridshop.com.au.

If you want to learn more about solar, check out Talking Lismore, our new podcast series. Mike talks about how to save money, what solar panels and inverters you should look at buying, how the big electricity suppliers work, what is the future of solar and are batteries worthwhile adding to your system. Click Podcasts to view the episodes and listen to the episodes.

You will find The Off Grid Shop at 3/80 Conway Street, a few doors down from Ongmac. Mike is still waiting to finalise his signage, so look for the 'Solar and Battery Experts Inside' sign out the front or check out his website: https://www.theoffgridshop.com.au.