While it may be a given that The Village Pump hits your letterboxes each fortnight, the paper was quietly at a crossroads in 2023 after facing distribution issues. Enter a group of entrepreneurial brothers who have expanded their local cleaning and yard maintenance company into mail distribution; allowing your local source of news to continue to be delivered and attracting some new clients for themselves along the way.
Tialyn and Sheldon Loechel started their small business NEAT in early 2022 in response to continued local shout-outs for cleaning and garden help, with Josh Beaman joining the team later in the same year.
“I thought about the crossroads of my past experience and skills in helping around the neighbourhood, mowing, hedging and landscaping. I saw that there was a huge need by so many locals for high quality, reliable work,” Tialyn said. “I have always been a bit of an entrepreneur and have wanted to create my own business since working at Drakes, planning and thinking about it while I stacked the shelves every night. So this has been a great and challenging journey so far; it’s so rewarding helping others achieve their goals with their properties.”
The Village Pump reached out to Tialyn after meeting him at a Samford and Districts Chamber of Commerce meeting, and asked if he was up for the challenge of pivoting his business to include a distribution arm.
“Boy has it been a challenge, but we’ve pulled through thanks to the team we’ve now built at FLEAT, run by Josh Beaman. This has been his first big chance at leadership and project management and he has just smashed it out of the park; and all of our amazing riders are locals,” Tialyn said. “It’s amazed me that we’ve just had so many calls from people keen to get around this beautiful district having fun riding the postie bikes – and getting paid while they do it.”
One of the biggest challenges the new business faced was managing distribution logistics.
“Ensuring that the right number of newspapers were delivered to the right locations, on time and within budget was a big task, and it required a lot of planning and organisation,” Josh said. “Having the Progress Association (SDPPA) on our side with the delivery of The Village Pump has been such a huge help. That was a big success that we can now confidently and consistently deliver this newspaper to everyone every two weeks. And we are filling up quickly with all the local businesses doing flyer distribution.”
The team feels strongly about creating change in the world, with plans to opt for fully electric equipment in the future, keeping their overall carbon footprint as low as possible.
“Something our parents and oldest brother (Grant, Lea and Kaydon from ‘iPlan Financial Services’ here in town) have helped us align on is that life is not all about money and material things. Creating change in this world for the better is far more important and fulfilling,” they said. “The future is to really nail our service and quality here in Samford and to build genuine relationships with everyone.”
What was a hurdle for The Village Pump has become an opportunity for Josh, Tialyn and Sheldon, who remain grateful for the journey they’ve been on so far.
“Just a massive thank you to everyone for their support and for helping us grow and be able to take on young locals, and give them solid skills that will help them throughout the rest of their careers. Whether that’s with us or not, we are creating a team that helps others, clients and staff. So thanks to everyone in Samford, look forward to meeting more of you.”
Tanya Hall
If you’d like to be part of the FLEAT team, get in touch with Josh on 0491 097 507. They’re looking for riders who are keen to help deliver the fortnightly newspaper as well as other local flyer distribution.
If you’re a business wanting to promote your services locally, FLEAT is the ONLY distributor who covers the Samford and surrounding area.